Last night was Pete Murray. Well, for me it was. For lots of other people it would have been lots of different things - like a night in front of the tv, working late, smallgroup etc - but for me and about another 2000 people, and Pete himself, last night was Pete Murray. Mind you, for Pete it'd be Pete Murray every night. Imagine that, Pete Murray every night. I reckon sometimes he'd want a break. You'd get sick of it every night. Maybe for him last night was Matt night? Maybe I didn't go to see him, perhaps he came to see me...

Either way, there was much mutual enjoyment. I'd never been to the Metro theatre before - cool place. Culture-meets-industry kinda vibe. Also lots of very nice ladies. Unfortunately they were all with very nice men. The first support act (yes, there were two) was a guy from WA sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar singing about how much he hates reality tv. He was good - kinda chilled out. Not trying too hard. There weren't that many people there at that stage so it was very cruisy. The second support act was Avril Lavigne meets Jewel wearing leather. She was Australian although told us seven or eight times that she is currently recording in the States. She hated men. She introduced the first song by saying she wrote this right after her boyfriend broke up with her and we sat there and listened and thought 'no bloody wonder'. The next song was about her friend who broke up with her boyfriend and so on. After about the fourth "all men are bastards" song she introduced the next one (along the same lines) and a lot of the crowd turned to the people next to them and groaned or made comments about 'no wonder she's single'. She said obviously we could all relate to what she was singing about because she could hear us all talking. She finished the set by posing with the crowd for the cover of her upcoming album. Have to make sure I don't miss that one.

And then came Mr. Pete. He was great. His keys player looked like Mick Molloy and he had Guy Sebastian on drums. Very tight band. Great light show. Crowd really into it (the biggest crowd on the last night of a 4 night Sydney tour). Music much more rocky than I expected and they even did a cool funk encore thing. I hate to admit it but I used the word 'awesome' in an sms to a mate during the show.

One guy jumped up onto the stage and gave all the band members a hug. I thought that was a very fitting gesture. I don't know that I would have given Pete a hug. A handshake perhaps. A slap on the back. But I've already written about my male-to-male body contact issues. Not that I don't do hugs. I do do hugs so I guess this paragraph is mostly irrelevant. Just so long as Mr Pete didn't ask me to put suncream on his back I think we'd be right.

I don't think this is an issue I'm going to face in the near future...

Last night Helen spoke. She spoke about how we as Christians relate to those outside church culture. She talked about being cuturally relevant but counter cultural at the same time. Not compromising for the sake of fitting in, but not ostrasizing ourselves and our faith because of tradition. I sat there and listened and found a whole new respect for Helen.

Whereas I look at things within the "church" that make me angry and run away, Helen tackles them head on. When I throw the baby out with bathwater, Helen tries to clean up the bath for the sake of the baby. Helen's got guts and she says what she believes and last night it was particularly inspiring.

See, we can bitch about stuff all we want, but what do we actually do about it? I should start trying to affect change rather that assuming it could never happen. By seeing a problem and running away all I'm doing is ignoring it for the sake of my own well being. I'm deciding that I don't want to have to think about this so I'll escape it. I'm being selfish.

I don't think we can ever change people. God can change people and people can change themselves. However we can offer people a choice which may encourage them to think about changing themselves. That's what Helen did last night.

And it worked.

Stephens has just as much chance as Thorpie would have had in the event. Ian's had a chance, and he's blown it.
I was in a similar situation 10 years ago in Olympics trials. I ended up diving in the wrong direction and ultimately was disqualified. It's not a nice feeling missing a goal, but Thorpie will get over it.

Ian Beg (SMH)

Forget humiliation or not realising your goals, I'd imagine standing on the blocks and diving in the wrong direction would be pretty bloody painful...

Well, I've kinda been letting the comments speak for themselves for a while but I think enoughs enough - it's time to reclaim my blog. Feel free to keep commenting by all means - I'm keen to push it well over forty, but I might keep posting now...

Went down to Canberra on Saturday night and led at Vision down there. God taught me a lot of stuff. They're an incredible group of people down there, amazing heart after God. It's inspiring.

I've had a few things happen recently that have made caused me to explain my faith and its great. There are so many things we'll never understand but it comes back to the same sentences every time. God is good. God is love. How can we not respond to that?

And life goes on...

Today I managed to convince one of the Editors that I sold TupperWare for Amway...

Today I had a good example of letting myself cool down first rather than responding to something in anger...

Best not to bite people's heads off I say.

Yesterday's Inspirational Quote from my desk calendar:

"For many people the advantage of living in Canberra is that their relatives are interstate" - Alan Fitzgerald

Huh...?

Caught the little Forest Coach Lines bus to Chatswood yesterday and as usual it was packed with school kids. I have to say though - incredibly polite school kids. As the bus filled during the journey they would always get up and vacate their seat for an adult who got on. What I don't understand is how adults can accept it? I mean, some business man gets on the bus, 40yo, and a 6 year old girl gets up and stands for the rest of the journey holding onto the hand rail for dear life while he takes her seat...

I was hassling an editor for some material she's been promising me and when I reminded her of it she exclaimed "Aw, guocomole!" That'd have to become a new Christian swearword I reckon. It could even have a shortened version, like "Get Guocked"

Well, the Cheese Burger Challenge has been announced - no turning back now. There was a press leak at Maccas on Sunday night and now it's officially on. Chris & I will challenge each other as to who can down the most McDonald's cheeseburgers in one sitting. The tentative date of Easter Sunday has been set at Frenchs Forest McDonalds and we've decided it's not disrespectful to celebrate the resurrection with a hamburger. So, let the pre-publicity begin...

The News Limited website has just announced a HEALTH ALERT. Delta Goodrem had a virus... but she's fine now...

It is a gross humanitarian injustice for people to fart in a lift. Bernard is standing in the lift by himself, flying between floors and decides he wants to let one rip. He figures he's by himself, no one will know, he'd better get it out now before he's back in the corridors of his office and the opportunity is gone.

So he does, and he feels better. There's a sense of accomplishment, of satisfaction. Life is good again - a release of tension. The doors open, Bernard leaves.

The smell doesn't.

On another floor Stacey hits the lift button, completely unaware of the hell she is about to unleash. It's been a good day, not too busy, not too quiet. She's thinking about what she will cook for dinner tonight. She's still thinking about this when the doors open and she gets into the lift. It's only once the doors have closed and the lift has begun to move that the fragrance begins to encroach on her nostrils. And there's no where she can go, no place she can run. She considers hitting the emergency button because, after all, if this isn't an emergency she doesn't know what is. But that would mean the lift would stop and then she'd have to wait in this stench until the fire brigade arrived. She decides against it, instead quickly hitting a button that is a floor closer than her own. She's more than prepared to take the stairs in a case like this because right now she's beginning to go light headed.

She leans on the wall and waits. Finally the lift jolts to a stop and the doors open and light floods in. Standing outside the door is Frank - her boss. He needs to go upstairs. Stacey pulls herself together, tries to maintain her composure, stands up straight and walks passed him with dignity. He steps into the lift and the doors close.

And then it dawns on her. He'll think it was her and there's absolutely nothing she can do. No way of denying it. No way of covering it up. Her promotion opportunities forever shattered.

Meanwhile, Bernard sits at his desk six floors down with a stupid grin on his face, enjoying the pleasure of contented internal organs.

These are the things I think about.

I'm sorry, but I found this brilliant... I mean, I know that the trading of body parts is a particularly delicate topic, but you've got have a laugh. Or at least a smirk. Chuckle perhaps?

The bit I liked the best was the choice of wording in this sentence:

"The market in bodies and body parts is under scrutiny after two men, including the head of the Willed Body Program...were arrested for trafficking in stolen body parts. "

Maybe I should donate my body for landmine testing? Although they may prefer someone taller...

Got an email from Jesus today, but it went to my Junk Mail folder so I didn't open it. I hope he's not offended...

Hannah asked me this morning whether I have to try hard to disagree with things, or does it just come naturally. That was after I was telling her about The Purpose Driven Life which we were looking at in SmallGroup last night. It brought up an interesting discussion about whether God intends life to be enjoyable - to which I say an emphatic yes, not something everyone agrees with. Not to say things don't go wrong, or that every aspect of life is enjoyable, but I don't like the idea of everything in life being a test with God watching me like a hawk to see if I stuff up and then that'll effect where I rank in heaven when I get there. I don't know, his stuff just isn't sitting with me, and it's not the first time either. We looked at a couple of chapters of his at a weekend-away in the Blue Mountains last year and I didn't like him then either.

I've been reading a few different reviews, some very negative and overly finicky I think. I don't know - I refuse to take it as gospel just because the book has sold millions. I think I'll need to read it outside of small group and look up the bible references in the appendix because some of the things I've really wondered where he's getting them from. Has anyone else read it?

I don't want to disagree with things for the sake of being argumentative but I just can't sit there in a discussion when something is being taught that I don't agree with. We will all live for eternity - some in heaven, some in hell - but we have 70/80 years here and I don't see that as some temporary intro to eternity. God intended us to live in Eden, to enjoy it, to enjoy living in relationship with him. We stuffed it, and so the crap stuff that happens happens because of what we did. God didn't set up an obstacle course to see if we can get through it - he's given us the gift of life - he died so that that life can be spent in relationship with him. I'm not living in preparation for heaven - I'm living with God now. I'll worry about heaven when I get there... Anyway, if heaven were the big deal then why doesn't he talk about it in the bible a lot more. He talks about this life and how to live this life with him. We leave heaven up to God...

...that's my opinion.

Work is a madhouse today - everybody stressed and tired. Gotta try and keep smiling...

Woke up at 3am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep for ages. That's unusual for me. Thinking too much I think.

I heard a great analogy about helping people on the weekend. If someone's in a hole, you don't jump into the hole as well to help them get out, you lower them a rope and then it's up to them whether they choose to grab onto it or not. It's sympathy that makes you want to get in the hole with them, but empathy will make you throw a rope... That sounds damn good in theory, but slightly harder in real life. I don't know how counselors are able to disconnect themselves from people who are hurting without becoming stone faced and icy. But then, I've never been to a counselor, maybe they are...

I read Tom's post re: Soul Blokes. I also have issues with the whole holding hands, body contact with another guy thing, although my issues are probably more severe than his I think (or maybe not) - it's kinda ironic that we ended up partnered together though. For example, at the beach there is no way I would ever ask/let another guy put suncream on my back. Most of the guys don't mind doing this for each other, I don't want to do it for anyone and I don't want them doing it for me. Must be a personal space kind of thing, but then I don't think its that. Maybe its a homophobic thing, although I don't think I'm homophobic. Holding hands with another bloke for games such as the one on Saturday, same deal - hate it. Can't explain it, but can't stand it. I'll let my back burn before I'd ask another guy to put cream on it - stupid huh...

Tim's party was good fun - man that guy really knows how to set stuff up. Sound, lights, lounges... transformed a warehouse into a very classy establishment I have to say. Twas good to hang out with people and watch Jeremy make an ass of himself. Met a cool Kiwi bloke called Neil - we had laughs.

People came to drama yesterday which was good. I think our little sketch might just turn out all right...

Imagine if you found the person who was everything you could possibly want. Every aspect of them matched exactly what you'd been searching for. But imagine that person wasn't looking for you.

That'd be a bummer...

I would never have even thought of a cottage cheese, celery and ham sandwich...and Mum says she's not creative! But she's cunning too, because what's that 4 different food groups in one?

Ingenious...

18/24 - my Oscars score. I'm pretty happy with that - beat last years tally. Three of those I got wrong were the 2 doco awards and live action short of which I've seen none of the movies in the categories so I'm forgiving myself for those...

Ah well, there we go for another year. Billy did well. Good to have him back.

Hi-ho, hi-ho,
Back to Uni they go...

And about time too! Man, it feels so much better now to know that all Uni friends are now back sitting in lecture theatres rather than sitting on the beach. Now I can work without taking on that greenish tinge...

If we can say "I sat on a tac", then we can say "I put satay on my taco". That's all I have to say.

Well actually no, I have lots more to say.

I'm worried about Rach because she's 18 years old and has a caffeine addiction. It seems she's now moving beyond the denial stage though, which is a good thing. Now perhaps she can join a recovery group. She also needs to eat more salad - I ate virtually all of her McDonald's lettuce last night, and she'd already given away the tomato and croutons so I'm not sure that she actually had any of it...

Does anyone else find it amazing that I can send a package out from work at 4:00pm and it'll we be in someone's office in Adelaide at 9:00am tomorrow? So, while we're all asleep in our beds at home each night, there are all these little couriers running our packages all over the country. How incredible.

Went for a surf on Saturday morning. 4-6ft the life guard told me. The beach was closed and we had to catch the rip to get out because there was no way we could have made it passed the breakers. It was incredible sitting out the back, just coasting over these waves with 6-8ft faces - looking down the wave and seeing some surfer just start to pick it up. It's the biggest I've ever seen Freshy, although I didn't get down there on Wednesday & Thursday.

Just sent a rather strong email to the drama group after no one showed on Sunday. I don't like being harsh like that, but I've kinda got to be. It's a part of leading I guess.

The other day Lucinda told me that sarcasm was the 2nd lowest form of wit. I'd always thought it was the lowest, so I quizzed her on what was lower than sarcasm. She said Jackass. I tend to agree.

At work people have started tacking a pre(fix?) on people's names. For example, I am now Mr Matt. There's a Ms. Joan and a Ms. Jill. I don't know quite how it started....or, more to the point, why it's caught on.

I've informed my work collegues that we need to create a new rule for anyone who shares a cubicle/workstation. If one person decides to clean their half, they need to notify the other cublicle occupantee that they plan to do so. This has been brought about because the girl in the same workstation as me decided to do a big spring clean and I just haven't had time so mine now looks decidedly messy compared to her shiny corner. There's got to be some Equal Opportunities stipulation on that.

I didn't write. I slept. Lucinda's giving me crap. Fair enough. It's hard at the moment, it's just not happening. It's that stage in the book where I always get bogged. Stuck in the mud. The first half of Act Two. I know if I wade through it then I'll get out the other side, but it's so hard at the moment. I'm just hating doing it. I put my alarm on for 5am this morning to try and get some done before work but I just couldn't drag myself out of bed. Probably because I didn't get home until the early hours on Fri & Sat.

Stevie Wonder cover band at The Basement on Friday night. They were brilliant. I love the Basement - just the atmosphere, not the prices. There's nothing quite like listening to a band where every member is incredible, where there's no weak link. A five minute guitar solo in Higher Ground (the song the Chilli Peppers did a cover of) pretty much stopped me talking for the next five-ten minutes. Amazing...

I'm not a fan of blog talk I have to say. I enjoy blogging, I enjoy reading other peoples blogs, but I don't quite see the need to then get together with those people and talk about our blogs. What's the deal with that? It's also very exlusionary for those non-bloggers out there. I'd like to leave the blog to the world-wide-web and have normal conversation when interacting with others in person I think.

I just wrote a big paragraph about stuff but I've deleted it. I think that's best.