I don’t know what you’re talking about dude, it hasn’t been that long!
Oh, what, ten days? OK, so maybe longer than I said I would leave without calling, but hardly the kind of timeframe that ruins a friendship or anything, right?
Right?
If it’s any consolation, I have been fairly busy.
Hey, don’t laugh!
Yeah, I know, I thought holiday time would mean that life is cruisy too, but it never seems to work that way.
Well, I guess it’s like that because I wanted to make sure that I am on top of things for next term. That means putting together Bible study series….
Hey, as a digression, how do you pluralise a word like series? Serieses? series’ serii? None of them ever sound right.
Anyway, where was I?
Oh yeah, between Bible study stuff for youth group, writing a couple of sermons… Did I mention that I got sick? Nothing serious, just a cough & a cold, but it was enough to take that sparkling edge off me. Anyway, add all the other minutiae that make up the average week, and things just disappeared.
Like I said though, it wasn’t all bad. Do you remember Tom & Ruth? They’re from the halcyon days at Dural Anglican. Anyway… hey, do I use the word “anyway” too often? anyway, Tom & Ruth offered us free tickets to come with them & see the Swans play at Telstra stadium! Yeah, I know, sweet, but it gets better. We were only 4 rows from the grass, right in the middle of the field. Dude, seriously, Barry Hall broke his wrist about 3 meters from where I sat. Unfortunately I had already put the camera away by then…
Yeah, I took the big camera.
Look, tell you what, let me go to bed now and I’ll promise to get back to you real soon, and just to sweeten the deal, I’ll pop in a couple of the pics from my night out. Deal?
Deal!

Look, I know it is obligatory, but it really catches the mood of AFL. As a sport, they continually seem to be tipping their hats to the 30s & 40s… gotta love the streamer-wall anyway…

I’m not going to pretend like I know any of their names. I can appreciate the sport, but you know I am a rugby guy. Anyway (there I go again!) you have to appreciate the athleticism, plus you get an idea in this pic of how truly close we were!

For some odd reason, a lot of my photos are of the Eagles taking marks. Quite odd, considering how much they got beaten by!

That’s better. We got to see a lot of this that night, which is perfect for your first night of live AFL! I’ll have to thank Tom & Ruth properly later!

On Saturday I went to Matt & Lisa’s place for lunch.
Good times.
It’s nice to catch up with one of your oldest mates & just kind of chill.
It’s even better when the two of you are married & you can bring along your wives (and not too bad when his lovely sister-in-law and husband are there too)
And it’s truly good times when they have two gorgeous boys for you to hang out.
Young kids are just like free entertainment. Who needs foxtel when you can watch the wild hijinx of “T” and “W”. Will “W” be able to fit a whole piece of cake in his mouth at once? How psyched up can we get “T” as he heads lots of sugary stuff, then how likely is it that we will be able to beat Matt at Wii tennis, if “T”, a four year old, is his partner?
Here’s a couple of pics from the day. (Oh, and much thanks needs to go to Lisa for all her fantastic hosting skills. We were serious when we said the lasagna tasted awesome!)

“T” is rockin’ it out old-skool style.

I’ve never seen such a whole-body effort when it comes to eating lunch.

They must be used to cameras… “W” is trying to push “T” out of the way. Who wants to share a closeup?

This was one of the early attempts of “W” to use his hand to eat cake, before he resorted to simply diving his face into it. Very cute!

(He was happy to splash in a puddle, at my feet, while I waited for a tour-boat in Venice.)
Do you ever ponder those chance meetings in your life? Surely we all play this game. I suspect most people just accept this idea & get bored of it by the time they are 8 or 9, but I am still fascinated by it.
As I looked at the picture of this bird, I found myself struck with a little sadness, thinking that the chances are it is now dead.
Following this little avian life could have made a lovely short film. After all, he lived in Venice. He bathed in Piazza San Marco, and possibly roosted in the eaves of a building centuries old. He watched countless tourists walk by. He’s probably been snapped by a fair few of them too. He could be the black dot that looks too much like a dust mark in someone’s otherwise flawless photo. But here he is centre stage.
Is that the joy and the sadness of a photo? Here I have this point of contact. He might be dead, and at best he is still 10,000 miles away, yet at this desk in Australia’s central coast, his image is still evoking emotion. It makes me happy to look at him, and who knows, maybe he’ll make 50 other people on flickr happy too.
If only God had a “where are they now” button installed in the air, a foot above every character on earth. I could press the button & find out just what happened. Is the bird still alive? Did he find love? Was he actually a she?
What mystery do you want to know the answer to?

Oh that it were true.
Instead there are so many shades. Ever more so today as truth becomes a subjective.
Anyway, here is some more pictures of Scotland to encourage my sister…

Merchant street. Down in the Grassmarket area.

You have to be ready at any time in Edinburgh to escape the rain. On this occasion (in 2004) escape lead to the excellent opportunity to try out a deep-fried mars bar!

(Looking down on St. Louis from “The Arch,” July 2004)

So I continue to potter around with old photos.
I have to admit that for the last little while I have worried that I have lost a bit of my passion for photography, but just playing around over the last little while has been great. I found a HEAP of old photos that I put onto lightroom & it’s been great being able to breath new life into old shots, relive the old days & see how I have also developed in my craft.
With all that said, I think I will have to give my poor congregation a bit of a rest from the endless photo-essays at church. They get to enjoy every whim & fancy that I come up with.
Please enjoy a couple more shots from Scotland. No matter how I feel about photography, my love for all things caledonian remains!

The roof from the apartments across the road from where I lived. Why do they call them APARTments, when they are all stuck together?

They call this place “The Meadows.” It is a lovely big park area just outside the centre of the city. Man it was nice to head there when the weather was warmish & thousands of people were just chilling & enjoying that foreign object to all Scots, the Sun!

Occasionally I find out new things about certain programs on my computer. Just yesterday I found out that you can download “presets” for “Adobe Lightroom“, which are the optimum technical settings for different styles of photo. A preset for the “Lomo effect”, or HDR, even Velvia style… Lots of fun.
Occasionally I remember that I have thousands of old photos that I can look at & remember. It’s nice to travel through Europe again, or relive first year of college.
When my revelation last night met my interest in some of my old photos, I decided to have a go at fixing/playing with some of the oldies. I am happy with the following, but would appreciate feedback. You never know as a photographer, whether you are more excited by the new process you have applied more than the photo itself…

Easyjet is a beautiful thing! Cheap flights everywhere. I think I got 6 flights for the equivalent of about $400!

I caught a train from Venice to Nice in this carriage. A short while after this shot I went to go to the bathroom. When I got there, the floor was flooded & I was just in socks, so I headed back to my cabin & found a guy fiddling with the door, trying to break into my room. He saw me & then just walked away. Had I not turned back, I could have lost my camera & a bunch of valuables! God is good!

Edinburgh itself is a beautiful city. I really love it. This is looking from George IV bridge, down onto the Cowgate.

So it’s back to work after a big weekend of Easter.
I had a good time over easter. We had Sim, Dave & Michelle up for the weekend, which was fun. I got to do a kids talk at church & felt like it went down a treat, so that was a bonus too. Finally, on Sunday evening we had a dinner as a church & it was great. Nice food, good company & instead of having a sermon, we had 4 readings done by different members of the congregation where they injected their own thoughts/feelings/ideas into the reading. It was a good time.
I’ve started a new blog for our Youth Group called “The WAY”. At the moment, the only info on it is mirrored in stuff that is being done here, but I assure you (probably 5) readers that there will be lots of original information going up there in the very near future. Check it out anyway.
Well, It’s also a sad week this week. My little Bro, his wife & child are moving down to Melbourne tomorrow, which will be the source of much sadness for Shona & I.
The only good news to come out of the move (hopefully) is that P,K & C will have to be more diligent in their blogging, so we can all keep up now… Here’s hoping!
TCG.>.

We’ll start with the new… Next is the latest in the series that my youth kids have started. It speaks for itself…

I have Bible study in a couple of hours time & I am looking forward to seeing if we can come up with something else new..
Next is a couple of older shots. These are both from Scotland. One in 2004 (the church ruin) and one from 2007 (Glenlivet stable). Anyway, I’m just looking through old stuff & dragging it up. I almost felt like crying looking at Scotland photos. Man I miss that place!

It appears that one of the unexpected benefits of living up on the Central Coast is that going into Sydney City itself becomes exponentially more exciting. As you roll over the Harbour Bridge in the train, looking out at the Opera House & the city splayed behind it, it’s just breathtaking.
So the other week, Shona & I got to head into the city for dinner; a gift from a bunch of her Brisbane friends. We’d chosen to use this universal voucher at the Hotel Intercontinental, going to the “Cafe Opera” restaurant.
Now, even I am ready to admit that when I think of class & sophistication, the word “buffet” rarely appears in the list of words floating through my mind. However, “Cafe Opera” is a totally different story. Amazing Sushi & Sashimi, awe inspiring salads, lovely bread, seafood, and the desserts were so beautiful I didn’t know whether or not to eat them or photograph them! (Amy, you would have liked the Creme Brulee that was the size of a large salad bowl…)
So we ate, we chatted, we ate, we laughed, we ate & then we ate some more just in case. It was a magical night, just to be in the city, around the buildings, watching people bustle by & feeling like we were in a different world to our daily experience at home.
I think I need to visit more often. Maybe a chance to really get stuck into some photo taking again?
Anyway, here are a couple of photos from the occasion. (Out of respect for my wife & the fine institution of going on a “date” I refrained from food photography in the restaurant…)

The foyer of the Intercontinental

Shona, waiting for the train on the way home.