Friday, February 24, 2006
costello gets tough
Some interesting comments were made by Peter Costello yesterday, and I for one am glad that he said them. His speech was directed primarily at immigrants from Islamic nations, but I believe that it applies to all immigrants coming into Australia. (and no, I don't believe that makes me racist).
An excerpt from an article on his speech, found here:
An excerpt from an article on his speech, found here:
"Mr Costello stood his ground.
He said his point was that those entering a mosque would be required to take off their shoes as mark of respect.
"If you don't want to take your shoes off, don't go into a mosque. If you want to come into Australia, you will be asked to have respect for its values," he said.
"If you don't have respect for those values, don't ask to come into Australia.
"This is what we ask of people. We have to preserve a way of life which makes us the greatest country in the world."
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
bad news...
....for all Lano & Woodley fans.Apparently, after 20 years together, the best comedy duo IN THE WORLD, otherwise known as "The Two Men", have decided to call it a day. Their farewell show "Goodbye" is touring to 32 cities across Australia, including most capitals, and regional tours in each state. I'm in the middle of organising all of my friends with me...get your tickets now before it's too late!Farewell show & ticket info
Monday, February 20, 2006
mega church?
ever aspired to be the pastor of your very own mega-church? well, there's no need to dream about it any more!
(HT: *Blogstar)
more info here
the weekend
I got my car back on friday night! It's been too long - I had the accident on Dec 5, so it's been a while. Here's a picture of the car all fixed (although it groans a little now....like someone with an old injury.
Sunday night we had Jason Stevens (ex-Cronulla player and star of the NRL Footy Show) speaking at church. He's a great speaker - knows what he wants to say and how to say it well. Here's a pic of me with Jason after the service (courtesy of my friend's mobile): (I'm on my toes, and Jason's pretty much bent in half!)
And then after the service we headed off to Max Brenner's - a chocolate restaurant in Parramatta...here's a pic of the fondue I shared with a friend...
Sunday night we had Jason Stevens (ex-Cronulla player and star of the NRL Footy Show) speaking at church. He's a great speaker - knows what he wants to say and how to say it well. Here's a pic of me with Jason after the service (courtesy of my friend's mobile): (I'm on my toes, and Jason's pretty much bent in half!)
And then after the service we headed off to Max Brenner's - a chocolate restaurant in Parramatta...here's a pic of the fondue I shared with a friend...
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
what the bleep?
I'm having a not so good day at work today, but this helped cheer me up somewhat. Unneccesary censorship - good fun!
(HT: casual.mondays)
I think I need to look for a new job.
(HT: casual.mondays)
I think I need to look for a new job.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Karaoke is strange
I'm with some friends at a birthday, and we're all sitting around the TV doing karaoke. I personally don't enjoy singing karaoke, but i do enjoy watching and listening to others singing - it's always a good laugh! However, what's with the videos on the karaoke? Women in bikinis and scary looking statues! And not to mention that They're always unrelated to the actual song; sometimes to the point where we've stopped singing and started laughing in disbelief at the film clip!
Thursday, February 09, 2006
current events
I'm procrastinating at work again, so here's some quick thoughts on current events:
The Cartoons: I've seen them, and I really don't understand what all the furore is about. Apparently the Moslem faith doesn't permit images of Mohammed, because it may lead to idolatry. (But isn't he their god anyway?) As a Christian, we're submitted to ridicule constantly, and not just from "outsiders" - we do a good enough job of making light of things anyway! (check out The Door!) (And not to mention those fantastic tele-evangelists from the good'ol US of A!) [some thoughts on this topic have been collected by Bruce, and can be found here]
Easter: Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns have been in the shops for at least a month already. I've been tempted to purchase some hot cross buns - I love them toasted with a little butter - but I figure, that will just ruin easter for me! Rehearsals for our production "Beautiful Day" start soon, and Simon (our new Worship Pastor) mentioned on Tuesday that it's going to be featuring songs by U2 and the Foo Fighters. Sweet!
Bananas: We've just (in the past few weeks) got Foxtel put on. And now I've discovered Bananas on the Australian Christian Channel! Comedy you can watch without worrying about content or language, and it's actually funny!
NCIS: I love this show! I've got a feeling this season's going to be great. Summer programming annoys me - all the good stuff on at the same time, and usually when I'm not home!
That's about it for now.
The Cartoons: I've seen them, and I really don't understand what all the furore is about. Apparently the Moslem faith doesn't permit images of Mohammed, because it may lead to idolatry. (But isn't he their god anyway?) As a Christian, we're submitted to ridicule constantly, and not just from "outsiders" - we do a good enough job of making light of things anyway! (check out The Door!) (And not to mention those fantastic tele-evangelists from the good'ol US of A!) [some thoughts on this topic have been collected by Bruce, and can be found here]
Easter: Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns have been in the shops for at least a month already. I've been tempted to purchase some hot cross buns - I love them toasted with a little butter - but I figure, that will just ruin easter for me! Rehearsals for our production "Beautiful Day" start soon, and Simon (our new Worship Pastor) mentioned on Tuesday that it's going to be featuring songs by U2 and the Foo Fighters. Sweet!
Bananas: We've just (in the past few weeks) got Foxtel put on. And now I've discovered Bananas on the Australian Christian Channel! Comedy you can watch without worrying about content or language, and it's actually funny!
NCIS: I love this show! I've got a feeling this season's going to be great. Summer programming annoys me - all the good stuff on at the same time, and usually when I'm not home!
That's about it for now.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Thankyou!
I'd like to say a big thankyou to all my regular (and not-so-regular) readers that have stuck with this blog - even though I'm not very consistent, and don't always have interesting or nice things to say. It means a lot to me that people will take a few minutes from their day to listen to what I have to say (or rant) about something - and then even to leave a comment!
(And, I'd also like to thank the random readers who come across this blog by searching for some pretty random stuff!)
I know there are more regular readers than I'm going to mention, but these are the blogs of the ones I'm aware of (just off the top of my head:
The Journey
His Method
Supersimbo
Bloggie McGee
I know I'm missing a lot of people, but hey, my mind's stopped working!
And so....after all that, I'd like to share this video with you that I discovered today courtesy of ifilm. It's a Budwieser add from the Superbowl, and it almost made me cry! How sad :)
Enjoy.
edit: there should be an embedded video in this post, but it's not working, so use THIS LINK instead :)
edit: here's a direct link to the mp4 file
(And, I'd also like to thank the random readers who come across this blog by searching for some pretty random stuff!)
I know there are more regular readers than I'm going to mention, but these are the blogs of the ones I'm aware of (just off the top of my head:
The Journey
His Method
Supersimbo
Bloggie McGee
I know I'm missing a lot of people, but hey, my mind's stopped working!
And so....after all that, I'd like to share this video with you that I discovered today courtesy of ifilm. It's a Budwieser add from the Superbowl, and it almost made me cry! How sad :)
Enjoy.
edit: there should be an embedded video in this post, but it's not working, so use THIS LINK instead :)
edit: here's a direct link to the mp4 file
Thursday, February 02, 2006
a dilemma
Disclaimer:! The following post may "offend" some people. This is unintentional, and I am sorry if it does. I wrote this after a morning of frustrating phone calls at work. However, the underlying issue is one that I have been struggling with for quite some time. I might have been able to phrase some of what I've written better, but hopefully you hear my heart, and the struggle that I face every day.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Every day in my job, I take lots of phone calls. Not as many as when I was working a switchboard, but enough. And it's these phone calls that have caused a situation in my life.
I've never thought of myself as racists. Growing up, I lived in a country town where the population consisted of primarily "white" australians, and aboriginals, with a few immigrants from europe thrown in. Many of my closest friends at school were aboriginal. Many of my friends in high school were from other countries, and I really didn't even consider that until just this year.
Once I made a comment to a friend about how I'd never met an indian person until I moved to Sydney. Then I started talking about a friend from school, Rajeev. Hmm. That's not an english name! In all honesty, I believe that the fact that he was indian didn't even factor for me. It was probably just another fact - like if he had a dog, or what music he liked.
But lately, every time I answer the phone, it seems as though I'm speaking to someone who either doesn't speak english, or speaks english very badly? There have been times when the first thing asked by the caller is "do you speak (insert)", and when I say no, they hang up! Just this morning I spent 30 minutes on the phone with someone, trying to explain to him that we were unable to repair his door. 30 minutes!!! If he could speak (and understand) english, then it would have taken not even 5 minutes! Often, I need to ask the caller to repeat themselves many times, just so that I get some idea of what they are speaking about!
It frustrates me no end, and this is my dilemma. I say that I'm not racsist, but I'm becoming extremely frustrated with people who live in our country, and don't speak the language. Is it too much to ask that people who move to Australia from another country learn to speak english? It doesn't make sense to me. It's along the lines of escaping your country because of certain issues - religion, freedom, etc., but then establishing your own "mini-country" in the city in which you settle!
I don't believe that I'm racists, as from what I understand, racsim comes from a fear, or hatred of another race, and I'm not in that boat. If anything, I love the diversity that comes from living in a multi-cultural nation such as Australia. So what does that make me? Or does it just tell me that I need to be more accepting and patient? I keep trying to think what it would be like if I moved to another country where english was not spoken. I'd like to think that maybe I'd take some intensive language classes before I moved there, and continue them after I arrived. Mastering the language would be the first thing on my list. I've heard from friends who've lived abroad that after 12 months immersed in a different culture and language, you find yourself even dreaming in the native language! Understandably, if you've only been in a country for 12 months, you wouldn't have to much of an understanding of the language. But after you've been there for 5, 10, 20 years?
Maybe I just need to go and pray about it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Every day in my job, I take lots of phone calls. Not as many as when I was working a switchboard, but enough. And it's these phone calls that have caused a situation in my life.
I've never thought of myself as racists. Growing up, I lived in a country town where the population consisted of primarily "white" australians, and aboriginals, with a few immigrants from europe thrown in. Many of my closest friends at school were aboriginal. Many of my friends in high school were from other countries, and I really didn't even consider that until just this year.
Once I made a comment to a friend about how I'd never met an indian person until I moved to Sydney. Then I started talking about a friend from school, Rajeev. Hmm. That's not an english name! In all honesty, I believe that the fact that he was indian didn't even factor for me. It was probably just another fact - like if he had a dog, or what music he liked.
But lately, every time I answer the phone, it seems as though I'm speaking to someone who either doesn't speak english, or speaks english very badly? There have been times when the first thing asked by the caller is "do you speak (insert)", and when I say no, they hang up! Just this morning I spent 30 minutes on the phone with someone, trying to explain to him that we were unable to repair his door. 30 minutes!!! If he could speak (and understand) english, then it would have taken not even 5 minutes! Often, I need to ask the caller to repeat themselves many times, just so that I get some idea of what they are speaking about!
It frustrates me no end, and this is my dilemma. I say that I'm not racsist, but I'm becoming extremely frustrated with people who live in our country, and don't speak the language. Is it too much to ask that people who move to Australia from another country learn to speak english? It doesn't make sense to me. It's along the lines of escaping your country because of certain issues - religion, freedom, etc., but then establishing your own "mini-country" in the city in which you settle!
I don't believe that I'm racists, as from what I understand, racsim comes from a fear, or hatred of another race, and I'm not in that boat. If anything, I love the diversity that comes from living in a multi-cultural nation such as Australia. So what does that make me? Or does it just tell me that I need to be more accepting and patient? I keep trying to think what it would be like if I moved to another country where english was not spoken. I'd like to think that maybe I'd take some intensive language classes before I moved there, and continue them after I arrived. Mastering the language would be the first thing on my list. I've heard from friends who've lived abroad that after 12 months immersed in a different culture and language, you find yourself even dreaming in the native language! Understandably, if you've only been in a country for 12 months, you wouldn't have to much of an understanding of the language. But after you've been there for 5, 10, 20 years?
Maybe I just need to go and pray about it.
