OK Computer - Radiohead

It's hard to believe it but Radiohead's OK Computer just turned twenty. It was released on May 21 1997.  The first I heard of Radiohead was their 1993 song 'Creep' which I don't recall thinking much of at the time. I completely missed their second album 'The Bends', though looking back I recall 'Fake Plastic Trees' which was on the soundtrack to Clueless.

OK Computer came out at just the right time for me, I was at Uni and my classmates were introducing me to a range of artists I hadn't heard before and I was looking exploring new music.

I loved the album on my first listen, I remember it being an album that was best listened to with headphones as there was so much going on with both Thom's voice and the band playing behind. I loved Thom's voice which was so unique, and I loved how it changes within and between songs.

The highlights for me back in 97 were Paranoid Android, Exit Music (for a film) and Let Down. Radiohead still have a knack for putting out albums with bleak lyrics, and probably are one of the few bands I listen too were the sound gets me more than the lyrics.

It is an album that hasn't aged, each of those tunes sounding as fresh now as in 97. It was their 1998 live show which really cemented to me how great the band is.  I just remember being stilled by the music, the performance was almost note perfect.

Worth reading this Rolling Stone piece about the album ahead of Friday's release of the anniversary issue.

Sports shorts - 18 June

I've skipped a week, but bye weekends are not so much fun, I want more games not less.

NRL

• Anyway, Rugby League is dominated this week by the build up to State of Origin II.  Seems strange this year with NSW settled and Queensland having selecting dramas.  With the game in Sydney, NSW might not get a better chance to wrap up the series
• On the field this weekend wins for Souths, Melbourne (in a great game against the Cowboys) the Sharks and Eels. Maybe just maybe we'll see the Sharks and Storm face off in the Grand Final again this year.  If so, I'll be on the Storm. 

AFL

• Another win, and the Swans improve to 5-7. Hard to know if the win should be down to great effort from Sydney, or Richmond being 'Richmondy'. Just one win outside the eight. If they make the eight, they'll be the team noone wants to play. Next week will be another tough test against the Bombers. 
• Great to see Melbourne doing so well this year- just percentage outside the top four. 
• While its true the competition has been even this year, has it been good footy? I don't remember many standout games from the season so far.

Rugby

• The Lions tour is heating up, the Lions split their games this week losing to the Highlanders before a much better performance and win against the Maori.  The first test is next weekend and for me is shaping to be a good contest. 
• The All Blacks has a 78-0 win over Samoa. They looked good in patches, but have some improving to do still. 
• In other results, Scotland upset Australia 24-19. 
• The future of NZ Rugby looks good with the U20s All Blacks winning the final of the World Cup 64-17 against England. England's women team reversed that result beating the Black Ferns 29-21 in their four nations match. 

Other

• Forgot to mention last week, the Warriors won the NBA title with a super performance against Cleveland. 
• Watching the America's cup - NZ lead 3-0 but memories of losing after leading 8-1 last time are still fresh in my mind. 
• The Confederations Cup started, interested in it to see how the All Whites go, against Russia, Portugal and Mexico a point might be a stretch but we'll see.  Australia's group isn't much easier with a young German side, Chile and Cameron awaiting them. 

Sport shorts - June 4

AFL

• The Swans had a bye this weekend. I guess that is a good thing. They've got a tough game against the Bulldogs on Thursday night.  After the last up loss to the Hawks, they do need a win. 
• On the field, West Coast were disappointing in another away loss (this time to the Gold Coast).  The Giants are now on top of the ladder after an impressive win against the Bombers. 
• Unlike last year, I think we still may see movement in the top eight, though the top four are slowly becoming more fixed. I suspect Richmond will swap out for Port Adelaide, but GWS, Adelaide and Geelong look fairly settled. 

NRL

• Another week and another loss of the Warriors. The Warriors still have yet to win a game outside of New Zealand.  
• On the Origin, was surprised by the performance of New South Wales. Will be interesting to see how they go in Sydney in the few weeks, and it will be intrigued to see how Queensland approach selecting the team for game two. 

Super Rugby 

• Not much has changed in the playoff picture.  The Crusaders remain unbeaten and are probably favourites for the title now. 
• Australian teams are 0-23 against their NZ opponents this season. Not that I'd read anything into that, but its an interesting stat.
• The Lions have touched down in New Zealand and won their first match 13-7. Hard to read much into that seeing as they virtually went to the ground from the plane.  Tomorrow's game against the Blues will be more revealing in terms of how the Lions are travelling. 

Other

• The Stanley Cup final series is underway with Nashville taking on Pittsburgh.  Its now level at 2 games a piece.  Hoping to see Nashville win, but we'll see
• The NBA finals are also on with the Golden State Warriors 2-0 leaders at the moment in a best of seven series.  The Warriors are one impressive team, will be interesting to see if they close the deal this year. 

What I'm in to - May 2017

Its hard to believe another month has been and gone, and we've now hit winter.  So its time for a post about what I've been reading, watching and listening to the past month.

Reading: It has been a quiet month for reading.  I only managed to read one book. I finished off 'Finding lost words: the church’s right to lament'. I found it to be a really important book highlighting the place of lament in the both the church and individual believers life. There was a great resource about planning a lament service and a couple of great sermons on Psalm 13 and 88; a few of the lament Psalms in the bible. Really recommend getting a hold of the book and reading it.

The goal for June is to read more than one book.  I've just started Susan Carland's book: Fighting Hislam, talking about women in Islam. So far it's been a really interesting read. Telling the story of women fighting for equality in Islam from within.

Watching: Mostly I've been watching the Voice.  They are now into the battle rounds, and to me at least there's no one who is really standing out. I suspect its more taste than talent that is making me make that call.  The moments of the show for me were ones that didn't come with a chair spin.  Boy George paying for a country singer to go to Nashville, and a female duo Mercy and Mia who sung 'You Are My Sunshine'.

I've always thought that the best battle performances are the ones that seem like a duet. This one from season three between Annabelle Eve and Talia Gouge is still my favourite.

Other than The Voice I haven't been watching much, though I'm keen to start Nashville, Suits, 13 Reasons Why and House of Cards.

Listening: Here's a list of the songs that have been on heavy rotation during May. Fair to say some of these songs I'm listening to because of the U2 tour, others because of the season of life I'm walking through.

The Pogues - A Rainy Night in Soho

December - A Sort of Homecoming

Simon & Garfunkel - America (Live)

December - Where the Streets Have No Name

Charles Esten and Sarah Siskind - When Trouble Comes

Katie Herzig - I Want to Make You Proud

U2 - Miss Sarajevo (Live, from Milan 2005)

Casting Crowns - Oh My Soul

Lara Landon - Give me Jesus

Joe Grushecky & Bruce Springsteen - That's What Makes it Great

U2 -The Little Things that Give You Away

The Frames (w/ Holly Throsby) - New Partner (Live from Sydney 2007)

The other music adventures during May were catching the Vivid shows from the Fleet Foxes and Lisa Hannigan. The thing that struck me about both of the shows was how quiet the audience was during the shows. Lisa Hannigan just has one of the more beautiful voices you are ever likely to hear. Her absolute delight in playing the Opera House was infectious. 

The striking thing about the Fleet Foxes were the harmonies between the singers.  It was a different show as they performed a lot of material from their soon to be released album 'Crack Up' so I didn't know many of the songs. It was a relief they also played some of the better known songs from their earlier albums too.

I've also been following U2's tour of the Joshua Tree. It was really interesting to see what songs they chose to book-end the full performance of the Joshua Tree album, and also the snippets of songs they included. The two that stand out are Simon & Garfunkel's 'America' and the poem The New Colussus (by Emma Lazarus). Both snippets add to the narrative of the show of the two Americas.

In terms of the show, the highlights for me are Red Hill Mining Town, Exit, Miss Sarajevo and the new song The Little Things that Give You Away.

The shows from Lisa Hannigan and the Fleet Foxes are the last ones I have planned unless U2 surprise us all and announce a tour of Australia & New Zealand.

In terms of other music on the horizon it is a year of re-issues - along with U2's Joshua Tree 30th Anniversary reissue, REM are releasing a 25th Anniversary version of Automatic for the People and Radiohead are releasing a boxset for the 20th Anniversary of OK Computer.

Other

Another two highlights for the month of May were going to QandA and Vivid.  It was the first time that I had been to QandA. The one I went to was part of the Sydney Writer's Festival so while politics did enter the discussion it wasn't the centre of it.

The panel for the show was Niki Savva, Journalist and author; Lawrence Krauss, Theoretical Physicist & Cosmologist; Mikhail Zygar, Russian journalist and writer; Mona Chalabi, Data editor of The Guardian US; and Paul Beatty, Author, The Sellout.

Lawrence Krauss dislike of religion annoyed me, as did the 'ganging' up on Trump. I'm no fan of President Trump but you do have to wonder what purpose it serves (and whether or not its counter-productive).

Viivid was great.  I really enjoyed the installations at the Botanic Gardens, especially the sunflowers and Kiwis and the Zoo was spectacular as usual, I loved the Tigers, the Bilby and the Port Jackson shark you could walk through. 

Update

Time for a little update on how I've been travelling. The last scan I had showed slight growth in the tumors in my pelvis. As a result I will have Radiotherapy targeting these tumours specifically. The treatment is likely to start on the 4th July and run for four weeks. I will have treatment each week day during this period.

Please continue to pray for effectiveness in the treatment, that I manage the side-effects well, and for Fiona, the kids and I as we continue to live our lives. Thank God for the wonderful Doctors and nurses who look after me.

Sport shorts - 28 May

NRL

• Four games this weekend is too few. Can't complain about the results though, especially the Warriors. Though I was nervous at 16-0 and 22-10.
• On Origin, people seem to be talking NSW up, I'm not so convinced yet. 

AFL

• I didn't watch the Swans-Hawks, so I can't comment on that suffice to say we lost. We're still only two wins out of the eight, and three wins from 4th, so it is not time write off the season yet. 
• Adelaide would have to be the favourite for the flag at the moment, I have them slightly ahead of the Giants. 

Super Rugby

• The Hurricanes had another win, and are now sitting in fifth place 
• In other news the British and Irish Lions tour of NZ starts next month. I'm pretty excited as I will be going to the Second Test in Wellington. 

Other

• Glad I was wrong about the FA Cup. Congrats to Arsenal winners of the 2016/17 FA Cup. Still hopeful for a better performance in the league next season. I'm looking forward to seeing Arsenal play Sydney and WSW during their visit in July. 
• After some thought I decided to support the Toronto BlueJays baseball team. The team is now four games below a .500 record (23-27), sure there's work to do but they've put some good performances together. They were 10-20 when I decided to support them, not that I'm making a link here ;)

Sports shorts - 21 May

AFL

• The best thing about the weekend, was the debut of Eleni Glouftsis as a field umpire. She umpired the Bombers - Eagles game.  Hopefully a day is coming when we will see women calling and umpiring the game, and hopefully that day is soon. 
• On the field - another win and the Swans improve to 3-6. Still a long way from finals, and probably still not a contender to win, but if they keep winning who knows. 
• GWS and Collingwood both had impressive comeback wins, with Richmond losing their third game by under ten points, Hard to believe Collingwood came back from a 36 deficit and quarter-time.

NRL

• We now enter the pot-luck part of the season, called State of Origin.  I'm hoping the Warriors will be able to capitalise on it.  Truth be told its unlikely if they play like they did last week.
• Hard to know what to make of the Origin teams.  Gut feel, is that its Queensland's series to lose. We'll see how next Wednesday goes 
• I'm a fan for holding the Origin over three weeks, Maybe Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday and no other games being held. It doesn't make the season longer.

Rugby

• A more successful weekend for the Australian teams, but it doesn't really alter the playoff picture

Other

• Ice Hockey - there's an 'underdog' story in the form of the Nashville Predators who have made the Stanley Cup fina series for the first time in franchise history.  They will play either Pittsburgh or Ottawa in the final. 
• Basketball - four is about to become two with the Warriors sweeping their third straight series and will play either Boston or Cleveland in the finals.  Cleveland lead the series 2-1. The remaining games will be interesting. 
• FA Cup Final - I'm looking forward to the game, and the opportunity for Arsenal to win something this season.  But my gut tells me, Chelsea will win.

Sporting shorts - 14 May

NRL

• The Warriors showed why they are a difficult team to follow. In this weekends loss to Penrith they led 16-0 and 28-6 before finally losing 36-28. Still, they are a win from the eight, and still a chance to play finals.
• But great to see the Knights upset the Raiders and Titans upset Melbourne. 

AFL

• The Swans improved to 2-6 after a second straight win. Still hope if they string some more wins together.
• It's an even comp at the moment, a ladder is tight: 9th is just % off top 4 & one game from 1st.

Super Rugby

• Crusaders remain undefeated, after a 20-12 win over the Hurricanes.  Play off picture doesn't change. 

Other

• Chelsea are Premier League Champions. Arsenal are now fifth, okay its still mathematically possible for them to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League. Though when you talk mathematical possibilities its not looking good. 
• The NBA championships are almost down to the final four, with one of Boston or Washington joining Golden State, San Antionio and Cleveland. 
• After watching the AFL on Friday night I was left lamenting the absence of the women's voice in the Commentary box. There are female commentators out there who are better than the men in the box.  I'm thinking Samantha Lane and Neroli Meadows to name a few, the same is true of NRL. Would love to hear Yvonne Sampson or Erin Molan commentate. Each of these women know the game as well as the men. 

A reading life - lament.

Over the past little while I had been thinking about the place of lament within Church life. Certainly the season of life I'm walking through has made this resurface for me.

I just finished reading Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times by Soong-Chan Rah. The book examines the church's relationship with a suffering world. It does this through looking at the book of Lamentations. The book talks a bit about race-relations in the United States, which I found interesting and recognise while its perhaps not directly applicable to Australia, there are certainly lesson to take in how we approach our own history.

Soong-Chan also critiques the churches focus on success, (and American excecptionalism), and it does seem to me that we have the same issue here.

The book reinforced for me the importance lament has alongside praise in our Christian life. Given the above, it is not an easy read, but it is a necessary read.  It provides a great discussion of what lament is, and the place it can occupy in our faith.

I am now reading Finding Lost Words: The Church's Right to Lament, which has also been a really helpful read about this topic.  The chapter I have read highlighted why lament may not be practiced as much, suggesting lament may not be practiced as much because the understanding of God's sovereignty was eroded by ability to acquire and use knowledge, our ability to control and understand our world and our fear that expressing lament shows a lack of trust or faith in God. Rachel Ciano (the author of the first chapter) argues that biblical criticism played a role too as how the book of Psalms was understood and studied changed. The second section highlighted how some church leaders (including John Wesley and Charles Spurgeon) had understood the place of lament in the Christian life.  I'll write more about this book as I work my way through it.

We certainly do need to find space in our corporate gatherings for lament, recognising the world is not as it should be, recognising the hurt in each other's lives and recognising the church is not as it should be either. In honestly expressing all our thoughts we can then move to praise.

There's a great chapter in Sarah Bessey's book Out of Sorts: Making peace with an evolving faith which also deals with lament, and the point which struck me, was how she wrote we should leave space for silence, space for grief, and simply sit with the truth that sometimes life doesn't make sense, sometimes life is crap, and we just don't understand. In these moments, it is just being alongside people that matters.

Sport shorts - 7 May

NRL

• Representative weekend - the Kiwis got there annual flogging from the Kangaroos. The Junior Kiwis, the Women and Men's team all lost. Can't say I'm surprised, but hoped for better performances.
• Just like Union, I'd love to see a combined Pacific Island team tackle the best Australia, NZ and England has to offer. Would certainly be a competitive team. Australia and New Zealand owe more to the region. 
• I'd also love to see the NRL do more for Country areas. Would love a knockout cup (like the FA Cup), or a round where all the games are played in regional area. 

AFL

• Quite a nightmare round for tipping. But it is showing the even nature of the competition. With St Kilda, Gold Coast, North Melbourne having upset wins. The most impressive was North Melbourne - who's first quarter against Adelaide was stunning (61-0).
• That said, glad to see Sydney in the winners list. A long way back to salvage the season, but winning breeds confidence (and Sydney need some of that).

Rugby Union

• The competition is hard to follow. Things might change, but the conference leading Brumbies on sit on 18 points (3 wins) qualify for the finals ahead of other better performing team, simply because they are the top Australian team, the Stormers on 26 point are just as fortunate. I don't know how they improve the competition but it needs to be done.
• On the field the Hurricanes won again, and I'm looking forward to their match against the unbeaten Crusaders next weekend.

A-League

• Congrats to Sydney FC, clearly the best team all year and delivered today; albeit in a penalty shootout. Horrid way to lose a game, but can't think of another way to decide. 

Sport Shorts

NRL

• The Warriors were a pleasant surprise and beat the Roosters, and improved to 4-5 (11th); with four of the five losses on the road. 
• Penrith are the surprise packets this year, I had them down in my top eight and potential winner but currently on four points have a bit of work to do. I didn't have St George in my top eight but they're currently sitting second.
• Am looking forward to the international football this weekend though something tells me its not going to be a good weekend for the Kiwis.

AFL

• The biggest surprise this year is the form of Hawthorn (1 win) and Sydney (0 wins). I don't think many people saw this coming. The other big surprise of the round was Collingwood's win over previously undefeated Geelong.
• The rivalry between the Bulldogs and Giants is growing with the Giants avenging their Preliminary Final loss.

In general, I've been thinking about the Grand Finals, and I'd love to see them move around rather than stay in Melbourne or Sydney. Imagine the AFL Grand Final at a sold out Adelaide Oval, would just be magic. 

Not reading anything into it in terms of the Wallabies, but this year is to date the worst season in Super Rugby for the Australian clubs with the Brumbies (Australia's conference leader) the best performing club with 18pts, 23 points behind the top placed Crusaders.

What I'm to April 2017

It has been a quiet month reading wise. I have a growing number of books on my to read list, which I do need to make a dent in. I am about half-way through Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times by Soong-Chan Rah. The book examines the place of lament the Christian faith, through an exposition of the book of Lamentations. I'm have another book on that topic to read (Finding Lost Words).

I've been watching a lot of TV, mostly sport but I have really enjoyed watching We the Fans which focuses on fans in Section 250 of Soldier Field (home of the Chicago Bears, a NFL franchise). I can relate to the fans enthusiasm for the team but love how it weaves the fans stories together. Can't recommend it more highly. There's only eight episodes in the series with the final two being shown on May 2. The show is on ESPN but I think you can watch some of it on the website.

The Voice started this week and I've managed to see a few episodes . No-one has really stood out for me yet, but there is still a way to go. Good to see Seal back among the coaches, Delta's is the only remaining coach from last year. The new coaches joining the show are Boy George and Kelly Rowland. I was surprised how many people sing a coaches song.

I'm also looking forward to MasterChef starting next week. The only thing that would make the show better, is being able to smell and taste the food they cook.

I've really been getting into the Baseball. Like Cricket, it is a statistic heavy sport which appeals to me.  The (Washington) Nationals have been the team to watch in the first month of the season.

Onto music. I've been listening to a fair bit of the music we sing at our church, and will be listening to Lisa Hannigan and Fleet Foxes as I see them in concert in May. I've also been listening to the new mix of Red Hill Mining Town. I love the brass band which was added to the song.

While I am not going to an actual concert, I'm excited for the start of U2's Joshua Tree tour on 12 May. Can't wait to see what they play, and whether they play the album in full (and in sequence).

Sport shorts - ANZAC Weekend

Before I get into a few points from the weekends action can I just say I'm over seeing gambling adds on the official websites and during the game.  If people want to gamble, that's fine with me but the volume of advertising is excessive.

League:

• The Warriors go down fighting against the Storm. Hard not to be impressed with the Storm's ability to grind out results.  Next week's Dragons-Storm game should be a cracker, and now has top spot riding on it. 
• Not a fan of players announcing they are changing clubs mid season. Something needs to be done about that. 
• I'd also been keen to see a player draft, but not sure that's likely. 
• As a friend of mine says, the ladder look better if you turn it upside down. 

AFL

• The Swans lost again, now 0-5 for the first time since 1993. If they can string a few results together they are still a chance to make the eight, and if they do that who knows how it could go.  
• At the moment the two most impressive teams are the Giants and Adelaide, You can't forget Richmond and Geelong (who along with Adelaide remain undefeated).  We will get a better handle on Richmond after they play Adelaide next weekend. Geelong are just amazing, they keep unearthing great players and their fourth quarters are super impressive out scoring their opponents 191-38.

Super Rugby

• Still amazed at the Hurricanes-Brumbies game. I looked at the score just after halftime, and it was 21-14 to the Brumbies. I was staggered the final score was 56-21 to the Hurricanes. 
• Super Rubgy is a hard competition to follow, with a weird structure, and with changes a foot for next year which are just taking forever to be finalised. Australia and South Africa are apparently going to lose a team but we are waiting for the final announcements. 

Football

• I am an Arsenal fan, so I'm delighted to see the Gunners make the FA Cup final, where they play Chelsea.  It's been a frustrating year supporting the Gunners so this is a chance to salvage something from the season.  
• Messi. I've run out of words for how good he is. Just a wonderful goal in the Classico this weekend. The win means Barcelona are a chance to win the La Liga title (It does rely on Real Madrid dropping points though). 

Footy notes - Easter

AFL
Have to say I'm surprised by Hawthorns dip in form. Wouldn't have picked them to be 0-4.  Hard to judge this early in the season, so I'm not yet prepared to say they'll miss the eight.
Sydney have had their worst start since 1993. Sure we don't have our best team on the park, but its equally true the team we have on the park isn't good enough
Eddie Betts, what a star. A week after being subjected to racial abuse was brilliant for Adelaide against Essendon.

NRL 
Brisbane and Melbourne mastered the art of winning ugly I don't know how Brisbane beat the Titans and Melbourne almost squandered a 30 point lead remaining scoreless in the second half.
Surprised by the Dragons start to the season - they're still sitting on top of the ladder
The rest of the top eight is not surprising, though I did expected the Panthers to be up higher.
The Warriors unsurprisingly lose to the Raiders in Canberra, they're sitting just outside the eight.

One year ago...

About one year ago I was sitting in a Doctor's surgery receiving the news that there was a cancerous tumour in my bowel, on the 15th April 2016 the tumour was removed.

In June last year, I started chemotherapy. That round of chemo was finished in November. Following the discovery of new tumours in my post chemo scan I restarted chemo. These tumours have been responding well to treatment to date.

But that isn't the whole story, on New Year's Eve 2015, I looked at the past year and said, Everything's going to better in 2016, but clearly that wasn't the case. 2016 was an incredibly tough year. I learnt a lot about myself, and not all of it was pleasant, I learnt about our church's almost limitless capacity to love and give, I also learnt that while everything won't necessarily be better next year, it will provide opportunities to love, give and share from my experience.

On New Year's Eve 2016, the song that was running around my head was Gratitude. The song by Nichole Nordeman has challenged me (watch the song and read the lyrics here). Gratitude has become my word for 2017. It's the word governing how I approach life.

The challenge to me is to be grateful for everything I am dealt this year. Life will be up and life will be down, but no matter what life throws at me, I can choose how I respond. I want to be grateful for each and every day; grateful for the challenges and opportunities they bring. Grateful, for the journey I am on, and what I can give from where I am, thinking 'why not me?' not why me?.

I don't know what the next years will hold. But I do know I can chose how to respond to it, I can chose to be defeated, or chose to make the most of the days the Lord has given me. God is still my strength, my song and my salvation.

Footy notes - 9 April

Some thoughts abut this weekends action.  Firstly I have to say how much I don't miss Monday night football. It's great to have all the action complete on Sunday, and read about everything on Monday.

AFL
Yep it is Sydney's worst start for some time, but I still back them to make the eight.
Was great to see Freo's win over the Bulldogs and the Suns smash the Hawks.  Both pretty well expected by no-one.
Nice to see Adelaide doing well - undefeated after three rounds including this weekends win in the derby.
All the above said it's difficult to read to much into three rounds.

NRL
As above the Tigers win over North Queensland was the highlight - totally expected but great to see.
The Warriors win two in a row with a win over Parramatta, If the Warriors can maintain their record at home, they will be a chance to make the eight.
The Dragons are the surprise packet for me, sitting at the top of the table with a 5-1 record.

Lost at Sea: Songs of (or from) Faith amidst trial

 It's no surprise how much I love music, so I thought I'd take some time to share a play list that I have been listening to over the past 11 months. At various points I get stuck in certain songs, but the movement of the playlist in some ways resembles my own journey. I gave the playlist the title: Lost at Sea: Songs of Faith Amidst Trial.

Lament - St Paul's Castle Hill: I cannot say how thankful I am this song was written. The song is based on Psalm 88. The Psalms have been a source of encouragement to me. The authenticity with which the Psalmist knows his own emotions, how he cries out to God, recognising this is not what life should be, but often returning to a declaration of faith.

Lost at Sea - Carisa Turner:  Decided to include this one as there is no telling how many times in the past year I have just felt lost or all at sea.

Oh My God -Jars of Clay and Vice Verses - Switchfoot: These songs were both included as the cry of my heart to find meaning to it all..

Darkest Night - Chasing Summer: Loved how the song reminds us we are not alone even in each of our darkest nights. They have been a few of thoses, but as the Psalmist writes 'Joy comes in the morning'.

When the Rain Comes - Third Day:  A reminder from a friend that though they can't stop the pain, they will stand with you.  I have been so blessed with all of the friends who are standing with me in the rain.

Carry Me - Jenny & Tyler (w Mac Powell):  Not only that, amidst the pain, the author of life has had my cries, and is carrying me. Providing strength, when I have none. In terms of the song, I just love with Mac Powell adds to it.

Hold On - Nichole Nordeman  A beautiful reflection on the love of God, how it is with us wherever we are, and believes we are worth it.

You Hold it All Together - All Sons & Daughters  A great reminder that, no matter how messy things are or get. They are all held together by God. In Him remains our salvation, our strength, and our song.

You Never Let Go - Rebecca St James - A reminder that God is with us in and  through the storms of life. A day is coming when all of these storms will be stilled.

Desert Song - Hillsong. "all of my life, in every season, you are still God. I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship".

Blessed Be Your Name - Rebecca St James The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, and our hearts chose to bless the name of the Lord.  Whatever the Lord, gives, or doesn't give me, I know He has given what He intended me to have.

Find You On My Knees - Kari Jobe - I have certainly found prayer hard at various points during the year. But I think that there's certainly truth in the words of this song. When the pain is real ...  I hope to find God in the place I am.

We'll Rise Again - The City I Long For A great reminder of what this broken world is destined for, renewal and rebirth.

We Declare - Carisa Turner - Like the Psalmist I wanted the playlist to end with a declaration of praises. As I'm often at  this point too, I am holding on to the promises of God. Sometimes it seems like its with a monkey grip, at other times I'm clutching for fingernails.

Live it Well - Switchfoot I've included this song as a reflection on how I want to be living - living for more than just a funeral. One Life, One Story to tell.

My Musical Journey with U2

I have been meaning to write this post for sometime, and given March has been 'U2 month' (thirty years since The Joshua Tree, and twenty since Pop) it seemed like the perfect time to write about what the band means to me. 

I am fairly sure the first I heard of U2 was listening to Rattle and Hum in a friends car heading down to a church camp. The version of I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For really struck me.

In 1991 U2 released Achtung Baby for the first time and was totally blown away by both the music and lyrics. The taped copy I owned is now worn out from being played so much.

The first CD I bought with my own money was a recording of their Dublin concert during the ZooTV tour (28 August 1993). In hindsight I wish I went to the Sydney show. 

After the Passengers album I was more excited for new U2 music. Pop was the first album I really got into and was really excited when it was released. I joined the mailing list Wire and read what I could about the album and the tour. I remember tracking down singles for If God would Send His Angels. I loved the B-sides too - Slow Dancing (w Willie Nelson), Edge singing and playing Sunday Bloody Sunday on his own. Not to mention North & South of the River.

After Pop and Achtung Baby I explored U2's back catalogue. The Unforgettable Fire became another of my favourite U2 albums.

PopMart was the first time I saw the band live. It was just a special show. I'll have to post my thoughts about the concert too. The two lasting memories of that night were hearing the first notes of Bad and the performance of One.  Bad has always been one of my favourite songs so it was awesome to hear them play it live. The second moment was at the end of the concert when Bono dedicated One to Michael Hutchence, the band turned off the lights and the screen and played illuminate by an electrical storm. That moment highlighted to me what a special band they were. and how Bono was able to create extraordinary moments out of nothing.

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is the only album I queued up at midnight to buy. I was pretty excited for the album after hearing Vertigo  I sat in bed reading through the booklet and listening to the album through headphones.  For me, it would be one of the strongest albums in terms of the song-writing. I love Edge' solo in Miracle Drug, just magical.

During the Vertigo tour, I saw U2 overseas for the first time, watching shows in Miami and New York, before seeing them play in Sydney on my birthday.

Each of the three shows was memorable in different ways - Miami for Miracle Drug, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses and 40, New York, for Original of the Species and Bad, Sydney for Kite. 

The band is the soundtrack to my life, with a song for every occasion. Songs of faith, doubt, love, political songs, and some fun romantic songs too, Wild Honey for example :). 

I have often see I Still Haven't Found as a theme song, I love the restlessness in it 

What I really love about the band is the timeless nature of their songs - their music is as relevant (or more relevant) than when they recorded it. So for me its hardly surprising the band is performing shows to celebrate 30 years since the release of The Joshua Tree. It is not a tour based from nostalgia, the album hasn't aged, and the themes are as relevant today as they were when the album was released in 1987.

Other songs, are reborn due to historical events - Please during 2001 and during the last tour Bullet the Blue Sky, Zooropa and Where the Streets Have No Name were used to speak about the refugee crisis, which worked perfectly. 

I can't think of another band who would have handled playing New York after 9/11 and Paris last December as well as U2. The class of U2 showed when they brought on The Eagles of Death Metal to play with them (and play one of their own songs) and the respect they showed to the victims. 

My favourite albums change, but at the moment, its Achtung Baby, Pop, and The Unforgettable Fire (with How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb  just missing out).  They are the albums I keep coming back to.  

The other great thing about U2 is being introduced to great new artists, that I may not otherwise have heard. Also through reading interviews and books I have also found new artists or films.

Pop- 20 Years on ....

March is a big month for U2, in 1987 The Joshua Tree was released. In 1997 U2 released Pop, what was then and still is now one of my top three U2 albums.

A favourite both in terms of the song writing and the music which was unlike anything U2 (or perhaps anyone) had done before. I vaguely recall hearing Discotheque prior to the album release. 

After the album was released I joined the U2 fan email list WIRE so I could find out more about the album and tour. It was the first tour I followed, and eventually the first time I saw the band live. It was also the first time I made an effort to buy each single. The highlights being a new mix of If God Will Send His Angels, Slow Dancing (w/ Willie Nelson) and live versions of Please and Staring at the Sun and the stunning acoustic version of Sunday Bloody Sunday from Sarajevo sung by the Edge.

Back to the album, I recall being struck by the lyrics the first few times I listened to the CD. It was one of the deeper albums U2 have written. The standout tracks for me were If God Will Send His Angels, Staring at the Sun, If You Wear that Velvet Dress and Please. The album still resonates with me as much as when I first heard it, primarily because the songs have not aged, Please is as relevant now as when it was written.

PopMart was the first time I saw the band live. It was just a special show. The two lasting memories of that night were hearing the first notes of Bad and the performance of One.  Bad has always been one of my favourite songs so it was awesome to hear them play it live (complete with snippets of Waltzing Matilda).

The second moment was at the end of the concert when Bono dedicated One to Michael Hutchence, the band turned off the lights and the screen and played illuminate by an electrical storm. That moment highlighted to me what a special band they are. and how Bono was able to create extraordinary moments out of nothing.

It still bothers me that U2 seem to have forgotten the album exists. With only Gone, Discotheque, Please and Staring at the Sun played in concert since the PopMart tour. PopMart is up there as my favourite tour. I would have loved to see at 20th Anniversary Edition of Pop complete with another PopMart show and other remixes from the era. 

Supporting feminism

So I was taking the time to ponder the list I shared on Facebook last week.  I do identify as a feminist, I certainly believe there should be equality between the sexes, as a father I believe that raising children and housework should be split 50-50. I am becoming more concerned with the way women are portrayed in the films, television and books I (and my kids consume). It irrks me that Amal Cooney's speech to the UN was reported as her "showing off her baby bump", and Amal is referred to as George Cloney's wife rather than by name. These things matter.

In pondering the list, there are things I'm good at, and there's a lot I'm becoming aware of, and there is also a lot more I need to do.

I've been always been good at doing housework, but recognise I certainly lag in doing some of the things I'm saying I'll do.

Over the last year, I've become more aware how white and male my reading lists are. so I sought to diversify the lists. I haven't done so well on making it less white, but I have actively sought female authors to read and female musicians to listen to. Representatin matters. The challenge is also to make sure I pass this on to my kids. I'm continually looking out for books written by women, and with strong female characters  to read to my kids. I have certainly given or switch pronouns in the stories I've read my kids, because representation matters. (As an aside read this about the work Geena Davis does. There's also a scary chapter in Tara Moss' 'The Fictional Woman' covering the same information. On the positive front, I'd recommend looking at the 'A Mighty Girl' website.

There's more on the list I'm not good at, I certainly can't say I'm doing 50 % or more of emotional support in the relationships I have.

Some of the others on the list are possibly common sense, but also things we don't normally do, like giving women space, but not tolerating sexist talk or jokes, and also believing a women who tells you something is sexist.

I'm also trying to make sure I am actively seeking to read or listen to women's voices on the things I love, like music, sport, and politics. Different perspectives matter.

To be clear, I've got a long way to go, there's certainly more I can do. I'm certainly not good at standing up to sexist jokes or other unwelcome behaviour. Needless to say I'm also guilty of the occasional ogle.

In closing this, I'd encourage you to read more of the original article and listen to the women in your life, rather than my just my post.

Weekend sport review

NRL
A couple of points from the weekend. Just how good is Thurston. Two weeks in a row he's the man who has made the winning plan. He's certainly one of the best players I've seen.

I feel for Brisbane and Canberra who both lost to North Queensland in extra time. I'd like to see the loser awarded a point for the draw after 90 mins, and if you have a winner in extra time, they can get another point.

Personally I'd scrap Golden Point, and have the result after 90 minutes stand. I'd have Golden Try in the final series. The teams would play five minutes each way. You could kick a field goal, but the other team has time to respond.

The Roosters have started much better than last year with two good wins, maybe we can file them as a dark horse. But hard to read the form lines at the moment.

AFL
Brisbane qualified for the Grand Final,  and will get to host the game.  I'm hoping the AFL decides to hold the game in Brisbane, and as a stand alone fixture, rather than making it as part of a double header with the Lions-Gold Coast Men's match. It seems that it will be Adelaide or Melbourne who join them in the final.

The Swans had another good but tight win in the Community Series, 77-74 against St Kilda. Can't wait for the season proper to start.

Super Rugby
Hard to know what to make of the competition. A couple of huge wins didn't really help the Hurricanes (who lost to the Chiefs) The Crusaders had a stunning 22-17 come from behind win against the Reds.

UEFA Champions League
Maybe 2017 will be the year of amazing come from behind wins. With the Patriots winning the Superbowl from 3-28 the biggest in SuperBowl history a prime example. In UCL history no team had come back from 0-4 down in a tie, But Barcelona who led 3-1 at home, needed to score three more goals to win the tie.

They left it to the 88th minute, when they scored the first of the three they needed. I still can't believe that it happened. It brought back memories who trialed Perth Glory, 3-0 in Perth before scoring three goals in the second half to force extra time and penalties which they then won . The speed of the Goals brings Manchester United's 2 stoppage time goals to win the 98/99 Champions League Final to mind.

The Joshua Tree - Thirty years on

I don't recall the first time I heard The Joshua Tree. I have a vague recollection of hearing I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For on my sister's radio. I have a stronger recollection of hearing the Rattle and Hum version during a car trip down to the South Coast. I know the first U2 album I bought was Achtung Baby. The first album I was really excited about was Pop. I know I explored the U2's back catalogue between the two albums, but I can't tell you when I first heard it. 

The Joshua Tree is an almost faultless album. I can't just listen to one or two songs, I have to play it right through, which is exactly what is intended

Where the Streets Have No Name is the best opening track to an (maybe any) album. The way it starts, builds in intensity before easing off is just magical.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For is a great song, and in some ways became my theme song. I love the restlessness in the lyric.  I know that Bono talks of it being a song from doubt, but I've always seen it as a song of or from faith. 

Even though the album is now thirty years old, the themes the album wrestles with are still present today. One of my favourite lyrics is In God's Country, 'We need new dreams tonight'.  I can't help but look at Australia (and America) and say where are the dreamers, where are those who would lead and guide us to be all that we can be, as people or as a nation.

The other songs which have resonated with me Running to Stand Still (about Heroin), Red Hill Mining Town (feel this song is so relevant in Australia as our manufacturing industry suffers and the mining boom ends), One Tree Hill (on the death of a friend), Mothers of the Disappeared (political prisoners).

Listening to it recently, I am valuing Trip Through Your Wires more, it's the song that lightens the mood, and prepares you for the second intense wave of emotion.

Speaking of emotion - With or Without You is just a magical song, and it goes to another level when the band plays it live, with the 'Shine like Stars' and 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' snippets. 

The album's strength is show in the songs left off the album - Walk to the Water, Luminous Times (Hold on to Love), and Spanish Eyes. Each of these are powerful and emotional songs and deserve to be more well known. I'm hoping, but not expecting, we'll see and hear some of these in the tour later this year.

Weekend review..

NRL

Some observation from the first round of the NRL competition.

Most impressive - between the Wests Tigers and St George. I thought Canberra were impressive too even if they didn't win.

On the Warriors - at 0-8 and 20-22 I thought that the game was gone. But the Warriors found a way to win. I think it's the first time a  number of years they have won their first game of the season.

Super Rugby

The Hurricanes have started this season well two wins and scoring over 70 points in both games. Next week should  be tougher with  game against the Chiefs.

AFL

Second last week of the pre-season, and it was good to see the Swans get a win. Looking forward to their first game of the season in two weeks. 

Was a great weekend in the Women's AFL.  The Giants got their first win, and every game was decided by less than a goal.  The game between Adelaide and Brisbane lived up wot the billing, with Brisbane winning, and are favourites to host the Grand Final. S

Cricket

The second test is now underway in India, and Nathan Lyon showed his class taking 8/50 on the opening day. It is great to see Steven Smith show some more faith in Lyon. Not at all surprised by the cricket so far. Was surprised how many people wrote Australia off.  They haven't won yet, but they are certainly in the box seat at the moment. 

Wasn't a good weekend for the NZ cricket teams, but the Men's and Women's team lost the final match in the series, against South Africa and Australia respectively.  In spite of the final results, there was some great cricket played. Meg Lanning and Amy Satterthwaite  were excellent. 

The Men's team starts their test series against South Africa this week in Dunedin. Hoping for a great contest.

Tennis
The weekend was great for Australian tennis - stoked for Ash Barty who won the ATP Malaysian Open.  Nick Kyrgios showed why  lot of Australia s frustrated with him. He displayed his potential with a straight sets win over Novak Djokovic It was a reminder of his exceptional talent and frustration that he sometimes seems to be wasting it. 

What I'm in to January/February edition

So, I know I'm a little late on this, but here's a sort post on what I've been in to over the past few months.

Reading

It has been quite a light month for reading, the only book I was able to get through last month was 'The Memory Artist' (Katherine Brabon). The book is set in Russia from Stalin to Gorbachev era, and deals with memory of Russia's past. Quite a well written novel. 

Watching

So, after quite some time I have finally finished watching The X-Files, well just the original series. The quality was a little uneven. There were some great episodes and some not so great. The overarching story for the show was quite good, but the ending didn't seem right (that said I'm not sure how I wanted it to end).  I am chasing up the most recent episodes to see what they add to the overarching story

I also started re-watching The West Wing, and have just finished Season Five, and I have been reminded how great (and even) the shows writing is. I had often recalled that Season Five was one of the weaker seasons, but this time around I have been really struck by this season - and the story lines with CJ and the President at the beginning of the season, and the tension between Josh and Donna toward the end of the season.

The episode which really hit was Access (a documentary about CJ Cregg), it provided a great reminder about what the Press Secretary in the White House. A role the current Press Secretary doesn't seem interested in.

The other arch that is striking is the tension between Toby and Will about the Vice-President and potential Presidential candidate Bob Russell.

I also finished Borgen. I watched the first two seasons but hadn't seen the third season. The third season was equally as impressive as the first two, and again focused on some meaty issues. I was struck with how differently the shows dealt with Prostitution. 

Additionally, I have been watching some the Women's AFL.  The game so far have been great ,and well supported with large and passionate crowds attending. Almost halfway through the season and interesting two unexpected teams are on the top two places.

Music

I've mostly been listening to recordings of some of Bruce Springsteen's concerts and a little bit of Coldplay (A Head Full of Dreams), and Lydia Cole's new album (Lay of the Land). I've just bought Conor Oberst's albums.

I hadn't really listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen. I knew a few of his songs, and wanted to hear him perform live.  The concerts have been great to listen to. He's quite the performer, and I love how he lets the songs speak for themselves. 

I am really enjoying Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams, especially after seeing them in concert. Just a fun positive album to listen to.

2017 ... Footy's back

We're now at what is perhaps my favourite part of the football season. The Nines are done, the trials are finished and the season is about to begin. Now its a blank page, with the great stories about to be written, Over the course of the next eight months we will see legends born, fall, we will be surprised with how well (or poorly) some teams do, and perhaps see a new champion crowned.

The season may end in disappointment, but it begins with hope and optimism.  Best of all, win or lose our team is running around again.

Super Rugby
The Hurricanes started their title defense with a 83-17 win over the Japanese based Sunwolves in the Super Rugby. There's certainly no pleasure in seeing a scoreline like that, and it does spell a warning about the competitions future. I'd predict the Hurricanes make the finals, and they are a good chance to go back-to-back.

NRL
In the NRL, the Warriors will begin the season by hosting the Newcastle Knights next Sunday 5 March.  My prediction is that we'll finish ninth. Foran needs time to settle into the team. We need to start winning most of our home games, and more consistency in our performances. The team needs to stop giving up leads, and beating the team below us on the ladder. If the team can do that, we may just end up in the eight.

For the record, my top eight (not in order): Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Penrith, North Queensland, Cronulla, Sydney City.

AFL
The Women's AFL Season is almost half gone with Brisbane and Adelaide as the top two (both undefeated, Adelaide play Fremantle to finish the round).  I was not expecting this..  so we'll see how it develops.

The Men's Competition is a little further away, with the season beginning on the second last weekend in March. The Swans host Port Adelaide. I feel the Swans should again be top four. The Giants are favourites. It will be interesting seeing how they go as the hunted rather than a hunter.

My top eight, (not in order): GWS, Sydney, Western Bulldogs, Adelaide, Hawthorn, Geelong, West Coast, Melbourne.

Coldplay - review

There are only a few bands that can really pull off a stadium show. Where the music, performance and staging combine to reduce the size of the arena and bring the audience together, and break down the barrier between performer and audience. U2 are one and attending Coldplay's December show last year confirmed that they belong in this category.

The first thing I noticed was Chris Martin's energy, he ran and jumped onto the stage, and didn't stop running for about two hours.  Everyone who attended the show was given a wristband, which was illuminated in different colours at different points of the show, which just looked awesome. The other highlight was the balloons which were released during Adventure of a Lifetime.

Setlist, December 13, 2016
O mio babbino caro (Intro) / A Head Full of Dreams / Yellow / Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall / The Scientist / Birds / Paradise (with Tiësto remix outro) / Always in My Head / Princess of China / Everglow / Clocks / Midnight / Charlie Brown / Hymn for the Weekend / Fix You / Heroes / Viva la Vida / Adventure of a Lifetime / Kaleidoscope (tape) / In My Place / Green Eyes / A Sky Full of Stars /  Up&Up / Christmas Lights.

It was hard to be disappointed with their setlist. They played all my favourites, and a few surprises including 'Christmas Lights' (their Christmas song). They also snippeted John Farnham's You're the Voice at a couple of points during the show. have been together for 20 years now, and it shows in the chemistry they have.

The music and positive energy really filled the stadium and created an electric atmosphere, which I doubt would have been replicated at Homebush.

Bruce Springsteen - review

Last week I went and saw Bruce Springsteen & the E Street band in Sydney. He has always been on my list of musicians to see live, and needless to say I was not disappointed. One of the first things I noticed on the way to the show was the average age of the concert goer. His shows have been described as a religious experience, I might not chose those words, but it was an awesome night, with a crowd who were really into the show.

I really love both his voice and the passion he sings with. Hard to believe at 67 he's still powering on, even crowdsurfing.. I also love how a lot of his songs are telling stories,which less seems less common these days. It was great that he let the songs speak for themselves, which is perhaps more powerful than speaking before or after the song.

What really struck me at the show was the chemistry between the band members. It was awesome to see a tribute to the original saxophonist Clarence Clemens during 10th Avenue Freeze Out. I love Jake Clemen's saxophone, particularly in Jungleland, Dancing in the Dark.  The saxophone adds so much to each song.

Setlist:
New York City Serenade / American Land / The Ties That Bind / No Surrender / Out in the Street / My Love Will Not Let You Down / Hungry Heart / Long Tall Sally / Wrecking Ball / Darkness on the Edge of Town / American Skin (41 Shots) / Youngstown / The Promised Land / Mary's Place / Candy's Room / She's the One / Downbound Train / I'm on Fire / Because the Night / The Rising / Badlands / Thunder Road / Jungleland / Born to Run / Dancing in the Dark /
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out / Shout / Bobby Jean.

There were so many highlights in the show.  I was really excited to hear American Skin, Jungleland, Dancing in the Dark, and really loved New York City Serenade, complete with a string section. The other awesome thing about the show was seeing the energy he put in to connecting with the crowd that night, and making it special.  He played at list three songs from sign requests, and pulling people up onto the stage for Dancing in the Dark.

I certainly would go back and see him again if I got the chance, but the other awesome thing with Bruce Springsteen is that you can buy a CD or digital recording of the show and relive it :)  Personally I wish more bands would do that.

Music ..

Given it is almost February, I thought it about time to write about my favourite music from the past twelve months.

The top five are

5. All Sons & Daughters - Poets and Saints
The album is a journey into the lives and stories of a handful of Christ-followers God used to wake up the world. The songs on the album reminded me that God never changes, but God changes everything.

His Spirit moves among those who seek Him"forged in fires of suffering and brokenness"poets and saints continually redeemed and restored by His grace.

An album which was what I needed to hear through the past year.

4. The Rescues - The Rescues
I just love the sound and harmonies of the band.

3. December - I Will Let You Have Your Say
I first heard December when they penned a tribute song to Alison Stewart in 2015.  Their full length album was released in 2016, and I wrote about it here. Love the concept of the album, and the stories it tells. They also include an awesome cover of 'A Sort of Homecoming' (one of my favourite U2 songs).

2. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
Just a great album it reminds me of both In Rainbows and Kid A. Would love to hear the album played live, but to date their are no rumors of concerts in Australia. :(

1. Switchfoot - Where the Light Shines Through
Easily the most played album of the past twelve months for me. The lyrics really spoke to the circumstances of my life, and the social and political situation in the US.

The songs which really hit me from the album were Where the Light Shines Through, I Won't Let You Go, and Live it Well.

The lines which struck me were about darkness being where we see the light, and from the song Live it Well - I'm living for more than a funeral, I wanna shine brighter than the dawn; is a huge challenge in how I face this year.

Hon Mentions
Audrey Assad - Inheritance - a beautiful collection of hymns an album I've played to preach to myself through the past twelve months.
Lisa Hannigan - At Swim
I love Lisa's voice and this is just a great collection songs.

Others: 
I've excluded these because they are Christmas albums. But Garrell's Christmas album is one of my favourites from the year. The other two I listened to were JJ Heller's - Unto Us and Jenny & Tyler's Christmastime.

The other albums I've listened to through the year were R.E.M's Out of Time (which was reissued during November when it celebrated it's 25th Birthday); the Hamilton musical, recordings of several Bruce Springsteen concerts and Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams.

The other musical highlights for the year where seeing Glen Hansard and Coldplay. I'll post about the Coldplay concert shortly. As I write this, I have a Bruce Springsteen show to look forward to next week.

There are rumours of a U2 tour, but I will believe that when it's announced. I am looking forward to reading about U2's Joshua Tree tour, running from May to August in the US and Europe. The other great music news for me is that Pearl Jam will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

Sport - Cricket team of the year

Following on from my post about the Cricinfo awards, I thought that I would write about my team of the year in Test Cricket. I'm less concerned about the other two formats :)

My team is below, and I think most of it picks itself.  The unlucky man for me is Josh Hazelwood. He for me was the pick of the Australian bowlers during the Test series against South Africa and Pakistan.

1.     David Warner (Australia)
2.     Alastair Cook (England) (captain)  
3.     Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
4.     Steve Smith (Australia)  
5.     Virat Kohli (India)
6.     Jonny Bairstow (England) (wicketkeeper)
7.     Ben Stokes (England)
8.     R. Ashwin (India)
9.     Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka)
10.    Mitchell Starc (Australia)
11.    Dale Steyn (South Africa)
--
12    Joe Root (England)

Ten albums

I've seen this in a few places, list ten influential albums when you were a teenager.  I've taken this to mean that albums influential to me while I was a teenager. I've limited this to one per artist. Most of the albums were released in 1991 or 1992.

U2 - Achtung Baby (1991) - Not much to say about this album than hasn't already been said. Almost the perfect album for me.

R.E.M. - Automatic for the People (1992) - Was a toss up between this one and Out of Time. Automatic for the People got it because of Everybody Hurts (the film clip is one of the more moving ones you will see).

Bon Jovi  Keep the Faith (1992) - Loved the film clip for Bed of Roses. Keep the Faith was not only the first Bon Jovi album I owned, and one of my first CDs. I've never forgotten their Eastern Creek Show in 1995. Jimmy Barnes and Keanu Reeves band (Dogstar) were support. But I think Dogstar didn't play because of the weather. We stood through a massive hailstorm before Bon Jovi took the stage.

The Corrs - Forgiven not Forgotten (1995) - I've always liked traditional Irish music, and The Corrs were easy and fun to listen too. One of the first concerts I saw too.

Jewel - Pieces of You (1994) - A distinctive voice (and sound), and I love her lyrics.

Def Leppard - Adrenalize (1992) -  Loved the attitude of Let's Get Rocked (which was my introduction to Def Leppard).  They one band that I would have loved to seen live.

Living Colour - Stain (1991) - One of the bands which were big with my school group. They were the first band I saw live (at the Hordern Pavilion, in 1993, Set list). I'd only heard their song Love Rears its' Ugly Head (on a compilation tape).

Genesis - We Can't Dance (1991) - I recall being moved by their song No Son of Mine.(the song is the story of a boy who runs away from his abusive home and then returns home to be rebuked). Really love Phil Collins voice. The album also features the fun I Can't Dance.

Roxette - Joyride (1991) -  Really enjoyed the title track, and the distinctive voices of Pers and Marie. Was such a blast seeing them live in 2014, such a fun show.

Bryan Adams - Waking up the Neighbours (1991) - After Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Every I Do (I do it for You) was heard quite frequently in our house, and I got into the album from their.

A few other albums I recall fondly from the period were Extreme's - Pornograffitti (1990) (the song with the biggest radioplay was More than Words) and Mr Big's - Lean into It (1992) - a great album, and the biggest (only) single was To Be With You. Though I wasn't into them at the time, Pearl Jam's Ten is another brilliant album from that era which I'v grown to love.

2016 in Sport

That theme of 2016 in sport, would be unexpected. Looking across different competitions last year was certainly the year of the underdog.  Leciester City winning the Premier League, Cleveland the NBA, the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series, and in Australia, both the Sharks and Bulldogs broke long droughts to win Premierships (and the Sharks won their first). Not to forget Ireland's win over the All Blacks in Chicago. 

Those stories are great for sport, a reminder that on any given day, anyone can win. They usually don't, but they can. 

The Rio Olympics were also held during 2016. I've written about my highlights here.

Who knows what 2017 will hold. In terms of my expectations - I'm hoping to see Australia and New Zealand both qualify for the World Cup in 2018. Interesting to see they are expanding the cup to have 48 teams in 2026 (Read more). Meaning, theoretically at least, qualification for the next World Cup will be easier. 

As always, I am hoping to see the Swans make the top four. I suspect the Giants will begin the season as favourites, and it will be interesting to see how they handle that. 

I am anticipating a the Warriors to start slowly, show promise, then crash and burn, but who knows :) The Rugby League World Cup is held later this year, suspect Australia will win that. 

January also brings the Australian Open, which seems more open than in previous years. Still hoping Federer has another Australian Open in him... 

Rugby - excited for the Lions tour of NZ in June-July.  Will be quite an interesting series. The Women's World Cup is held this year too in Ireland.

I'm excited for the launch of the Women's AFL competition next month, and the relaunch of the Netball competition. It is an exciting time for Women's sport. 

Cricinfo awards

It's now the end of January, so Cricinfo has published their nominees for the performances of the year in the three formats of cricket. I am also stoked that this year they have included the best performances in Women's Cricket too.

Read the Men's nominations and the Women's nominations. Its great to reminded of some of the great performances from the past year.

So my picks are below:

Women's Nominations:
Batting: Ellyse Perry's 93* which guided Australia to a tense 2 wicket win against South Africa.
Bowling: I'd pick Leigh Kasperek, her 3-13 guided NZ to a win over Australia in the World T20 cup.
Full nominations.

Test: 
Batting: Kusal Mendis 176* against Australia in Sri Lanka. His innings turned the test in favour of Sri Lanka. Who won their first test against Australia in 15 years (and eventually their first ever series win, 3-0).
Hon Mention: McCullum's 54 ball hundred in his final test.
Bowling: My pick is Mehedi Hasan Miraz. His 6/77 guided Bangladesh to their first win against England.
Hon Mention: Kagiso Rabada his 5/92 turned the Perth test in favour of South Africa.  It was an impressive performance (and more notable after Dale Steyn was injured and took no further part in the series).
Full nominations

ODI
Batting: David Miller, his 118* guided South Africa to a successful chase of 372. Currently the second highest successful chase.
Bowling: Kane Richarson 5/68 v India. He removed Kohli and inspired another Australian victory.
Full nominations

T20
Batting: I still find it hard to remember many T20 games, but its hard to forget Carlos Braithwaite's four sixes to win the World Cup final against England.

Hon Mention: Glenn Maxwell's 145* against Sri Lanka.
Bowling: I'd pick Mitchell Santner's  4/11 against India in the World T20 cup.
Full list of nominations.

Three albums...

A while ago I saw a lot of people post about influential albums to their life.  I've finally taken the time to list mine. Each album prompted me to not only know more about the artist, but also through their tastes, and interaction with other fans my musical taste was broadened. 

(1) Achtung Baby - U2

One of the first albums I bought with my own money. An almost perfect album, I love both the music lyrics. The darkness of the album is one of its' strengths. Standout tracks (10 years later), Love is Blindness, One, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, So Cruel.  Love is Blindness is still one of my favourite U2 songs, the live version is just magical.

Can hardly believe the album is now 25 years old. Would pay so much to hear U2 play it straight through and can you imagine if they played it with an orchestra!

(2) Jars of Clay - Jars of Clay

Jars of Clay were the first "Christian" band I listened too.  Love the authenticity of the lyrics.  World's Apart is one of my all time favourite songs - the music and lyrics blend perfectly together.  Through Jars of Clay I discovered so many other artists.  My love of Jars of Clay has grown with each album, and I think their song writing has also developed a great deal.

 

(3) The Swell Season - The Swell Season 

Another almost perfect album. Glen Hansard's voice matches perfectly with Marketa Irglova. Like the others above, its an album you listen to all the way through. Hansard and Irglova bring light and shade to each song and the result is just beautiful. Just can't rate this album highly enough.