OK, so I have survived a week without my computer, but I am feeling the pain! Not being able to do essays. Not being able to listen to music in my room, not being able to watch DVDs, stuff like that all sucks!
Well, there are other things in life to think about anyway.
This last week has been “Preaching COnference” week at http://smbc.com.au and it has been a lot of fun. David Jones spoke each day on different parts of Matthew 13. I would love to put up my notes @ some time, but they are not with me, so you get a repreive.
Gary Miller, from Ireland, spoke on preaching the OT & there were a bunch of other talks that happened too. I particularly enjoyed the lectures on “Preaching Leviticus” and “Preaching in a post-modern world”. GOod times!
SO much more to write, but so much reading to do for my Church History essay, so that comes first.

I’ve always craved for an artistic outlet.
I love music, but have neither the patience or talent to play anything well.
Painting or drawing? I love them too, but I don’t have the deft touch required.
Poetry is another thing I love. Maybe one day I will write something that’s OK. Who knows?
Photography….
I love taking photos. I take a lot of them & some people think that some of the are fairly good.
Like Eric Liddell in “Chariots of Fire” I feel God’s pleasure when I capture something in a unique way, even if I am only catching a dim shadow of what we look forward to in heaven.
Today my laptop was stolen from a locked hall at my church.
FOrtunately, I have a fair whack of photos backed up, but I have lost at least 3 months worth of pictures, some of which were realy favourites!
I’m thankful that I didn’t loose my cameras too, but it is still a mind numbing blow. All of my emails from up to 5 years ago, archived from my old computer. Letters, pictures, documents, memories, gone.
How do I tell friends, who I took wedding pictures for (thankfully not the primary photographer) and who I planned to give framed pictures as a gift to?
Well, there are so many questions and tonight I feel devoid of answers. I just thought I would let you know why this little page might be a little quiet while I sort this out.
TCG.>.

I neither confirm, nor deny!
Here’s a couple of pics though.

Who needs big speakers in your room? These bad boys pump along just fine for my ears only.

Of course, the clock in our common room never tells us the right time, but we keep it anyway.

Writing: my report on Haddon Robinson’s “Biblical Preaching”. A good book, worth a read for anyone who plans on speaking from the Bible.
Reading: “A short history of the Papacy in the Middle Ages” by Walter Ullmann, so I can write an essay on Gregory the Great. I’m also enjoying R.L. Stevensons “Kidnapped”. I usually only get to read a chapter now and then in the bathroom, or to get me ready for bed, but I am enjoying it lots. Heaps of Scottish language.
Hoping: I get enough work done tonight so that I can enjoy a day out with people from college tomorrow.
Listening: to “Party Started” by The Cat Empire. You have to love a band that utilises the recorder! Very funky indeed.
Sleeping: not enough. I had the youth group sleepover on Friday night. It was an awesome time, but I need more than three hours sleep!
Quoting: Henry Ward Beecher. He said:-
“A sermon should not be like a Chinese firecracker to be let off for the noise it makes. It is a hunters gun and at every discharve the deliverer should look to see his game fall”
Leaving: This blog now, so I can go & get ready for leading the service at church tonight. Should be fun.

We all have them.
They are the ‘Lighthouse’ moments of our life. If you draw to close to the light, you know you are going to run onto the rocky shores of reminiscence. They are those moments of your life that typify what it was to ‘be’ when you were young. It’s the Toyota Tarago that deposited you at a thousand rugby games. It’s Chinese food on Sunday night as the whole family sits together watching “60 Minutes”, or the later years where you and your brother sneak out back to catch the new hit series “Alf”.

Continue reading “Come ashore” →

Inca, Pierre’s (A lecturer) dog does some good work on any tennis ball that rolls his way.

Mike, deciding how to ‘go to school’ on Dave. A welcome distraction from study.

6 or so years is a long time between drinks. Last night was a good chance to catch up & chat with Chris.

Occasionally I play “link tag” where I visit one of my reciprocal links (tonights visitee was Mal) then I follow a link of his that I don’t know, and then follow a link of theirs too! This goes on till I am lost or bored.
Tonight I ended up at Lara’s page. She had an interesting quiz on books, so I couldn’t help but give it a crack!
If you could be any character from a book, who would you be and why?
I feel bad about having to mention Lord of the Rings these days, because they movies have made the books such a cliche to love. I have loved the books since I was 9 though. Sam was always the go-to guy for me. Totally the hero of the books! He was often seen as simple, but he had a wisdom which expressed itself most often through his actions & when pressed through well thought out, deliberate words.
Which book do you wish you had written and why?
It would be nice to have written the book “Compelling Reason” by C.S. Lewis. It is actually a collection of essays. I wish I could have written it just so I could have the clarity of thought that Lewis displays.
What book(s) have you wanted to change the ending of?
A couple of Stephen King’s books. I never read his Horror stuff, but many of his other books rock, EXCEPT for the fact that he often likes to leave the ending very open. I usually like to have some kind of closure after investing my time.
The ending of “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Doestoevsky was also a bit of a letdown. The book tended to be a bit of a slog & the ending didn’ really feel like an appropriate pay-off.
What is most important to you in a book and why?
Story/Plot? Character? Language? Ideas? Other?
I would probably go with Characters. I have read books that don’t go that far with the plot, but it is all good if the characters draw you in. Language is also great. Part of the power of the Narnia series is lewis’ ability to use such simple, but elegant language.
In your opinion, who is the writer who is best at:
Story/Plot? Character? Language? Ideas? Other?
I did think that Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” was a great story. I don’t know if it was the best. Maybe I am just saying that so I appear well read.
Tolkien’s Characters have real meat on their bones. The land itself becomes a character. You know you are reading a good book when you feel like you can smell the grass under the feet of the characters.
Lewis has an elequence that amazes.
C.S. Lewis also has an amazing mind for ideas. A unique way of looking at things. You often have to read his books of essays to get a true feeling for the guy though. Don’t get daunted, they read like stories anyway!
Which book(s) have you most wanted to burn/obliterate the memory of off the face of the planet?
The Viscount Herbert Samuel said “Libraries are thought in cold storage”. I have never really wanted to obliterate anything, because whether it bores, frusrates, or excites me, in every book you pick up, you have hundreds, if not thousands of hours of thoughts, ideas and efforts from people. You’ll never be them, but that book can be a window to their mind.
Describe your favourite place to read (plus essential accompaniments, etc. tea).
Bed is a good place. I long for the day (which will never come) when I can have a room which has wall to floor shelves and a big brushed leather seat with footstool, big arms & headreests, just like “Alistair Cookie” in Seasame Street’s “Monsterpiece Theatre”.
I also miss the old days when the “Allens” company made chocolate bullets. They were an awesome reading snack.
Which books are your “comfort” books? (ie. the ones you keep coming back to to read over and over again because you enjoy them so much each time.)
Lord of the Rings
the Narnia Series
Compelling Reason
Calvin and Hobbes comic books
Where the Wild Things Are. The greatest storybook ever, by Maurice Sendak.
What attracts you about your favourite genre?
Good question. I guess Fantasy books are the ones I read most often. I guess I don’t really care about the dragons & stuff like that, but often people can go somewhere you can’t in real life & express things in ways that we can’t usually. I am not ever sure that the modern conception of Fantasy is what I am all about. I think it is just “fantastic” situations that draw me. It could be sci-fi, it could be Lewis’ stuff like “The Great Divorce”, which is (loosly) about getting to the doorstep of heaven.
Which book has had the biggest impact on you/completely changed your life? (apart from the Bible)
LOTR was the first book I read where I felt like crying at the end, cause I just wanted it to keep going on & on. Really though, I guess I need to tip my hat to my th grade Librarian who got me to read “The Hobbit”. That really turned me into a Bibliophile.
Which book do you most want to see as a movie done well which has not been turned into a movie already?
It is hard to do a book into a movie well. Often things I like just wouldn’t translate. Maybe Stephen King’s “The Long Walk”.
Well there you go. It was a long slog, but if you made it, then I am proud of you. make sure to leave a comment if you decide to do this quiz on your blog!

The wall of a flour mill in Bathurst.

A flower in the WWII memorial gardens of Bathurst.

Yeah, so I have a couple of bits of writing that I will put up, but probably not till tonight. Busy days & all…
Here are a couple of pics though. (as usual, click for a bigger version)

Bethy, my youngest niece, is also the hardest nut to crack in terms of getting her to smile at me. It is all good when she does though.

My bro-in-law Andrew with Tobes & Joss. That girl is mean behind the wheel!

Yet another sunset from Dural…

I don’t know why I like taking pictures of barbed wire & fence posts, but I do!