I have decided to call our baby isnack 2.0 for the time being. I hope we come up with something better before April 22.
Cotton-woolling our kids October 31, 2009
I agree with this article from smh.com.au, i have worried quite a while about cushioning the impact of life for our kids. Drawing a line between protection, neglect and over-protection is important.
Gloucester this week October 28, 2009
This week I wonder if I will get any teaching work. If it was a few weeks in a row I’d probably get worried. But this week I want to plant an orchard, build some steps and finish painting some rooms. All of which I didn’t get to do last week, or the week before. So for this week I’m ok with the idea of not teaching.
I’ll still say yes if they call though
My girl October 26, 2009
Sare had a birthday last Saturday- I do love the chance to make a fuss of her. The thing I got for her, which I don’t have pictures of yet, was an orchard. In real terms, 16 different fruit trees for our place at Gloucester. They look pretty cool when they’re all in rows. But I am not looking forward to the hard work of planting them all.
I think this was a pretty cool present to give her, I know she felt very loved and will get heaps of joy from her orchard. I have had better years though. What I’d really like to know is, what is the most awesome present you have been given? Let’s steal good pressie ideas here.
Akon and disrespect October 19, 2009
Maybe some of you have heard the new Akon song. Even though I’m not a youth pastor anymore, I try to keep my ear to the ground, listen to what people are into and tap into that. So I watched Flash Forward last night, really interesting concept. Maybe a little unsubtle at times, but a great idea and well shot.
Anyway, back to Akon, who in case you have never heard of, is a fairly big name in the R&B and rap circles (more R&B really). I don’t too much like his sound, or the lyrics, but this one was really interesting.
“She’s nothing like a girl you’ve ever seen before
Nothing you can compare to your neighbourhood hoe
I’m tryna find the words to describe this girl without being disrespectful”
Ok, one slip, but the rest of this verse is pretty solid. He sees/meets this girl, is blown away, can’t find the words to describe her without being disrespectful. Or he’s searching for the words to describe her. He finds them a few lines down…
Dam girl
Dam you’se a sexy b****
A sexy b****
Dam you’se a sexy b****
Dam girl
I think he should try harder to find words. Apart from the fact that this is the lamest sounding pick up line ever, it is also totally not respectful. It is being disrespectful, which he says he’s trying hard not to do.
Honestly though, this is the way a lot of guys see women. It is how I saw women for a lot of years. The hunted. And I was the hunter, so every other guy was competition, and every other girl was a target. I’m pretty sure it’s not just me and Akon who view relationships this way at times. So the advice I took for myself is the advice I’d give Akon- try harder. If you can’t find the words to say without being disrespectful, shut up or walk away. If you can’t see other people as people, ask God to open your eyes wider, see them more clearly, love them without being a predator, look for what you can give rather than what you can take.
Amazing what you can learn from a simple bit of R&B with bad grammar. I like that God speaks through everything in creation.B
Movie (?) Review #02- Black Books October 14, 2009
I referrred to this review earlier, and I know it’s not a movie, but it is of interest to people, so here we are.
for the uninitiated... (from left) Manny, Fran, Bernard
I have been a fan of Black Books for a while, and own the 3 series DVD which I have watched mroe than once through. Not really sure what it is the makes Black Books so appealing, but nearly everyone who knows of BB is a fan. Is it the cult following thing, being in on something that not everyone knows about? Is it the characters? The script? Probably a bit of all of these, and it seems especially to appeal to the sort of people who detest low brow American sitcoms, coz BB is intelligent and sarcastic humour, subtle stylebut very insightful at times.
If I stopped at this point my review would be 5 High Fives. But I have been in a dilemma of sorts recently about it. My main question, my main problem, is that I don’t see it bringing out anything Godly in me. I’m not saying it has to be theology in theatre or anything, that’s no prob of mine. But I don’t know what part of me finds connection with Black Books and the characters in it. What am I learning about me, relationships, the world, all that through Black Books?
I would love your thoughts, coz I realise that to many of you Black Books is as good as tv gets.
News October 12, 2009
For those of you who hear about the life of Soups through the blog, we do have some news. Sare and I are expecting our next child in April next year. Pretty psyched, love that God has given us another gift who we already love so much.
Just to cover the main questions off here…
How far pregnant is Sare: 13 weeks this week, which is the end of the first trimester for those partly in the know
What is the actual due date: April 22
Do you know if it’s a boy or girl: No, we can wait for due date so we can enjoy the surprise.
What names are you thinking of: us to know, you to find out. I’ll come up with a decoy name for you if you like, but the only person who knew the name Xavier before time last time was a random florist Sare was chatting to one day.\
Is it going to be a country baby or a city baby: Dunno in the long term, but in the short term it will be a Sydney baby. Our doc is at the SAN in Wahroonga, they’re nice.
Movie Review #01: Fame October 6, 2009
(as this title suggests, there is another of these coming soon. Possibly a little more controversial, so I wanted to warm up with this one)
As a man with young child, I don’t get to the movies much. So I was pretty disappointed when my first movie experience in ages was to see Fame. Now I was probably round when this movie was first out, and probably when the tv series followed. But I didn’t care then. And I don’t care now. So as you can tell, I went in with high hopes.
But I came out feeling ok. Didn’t mind it. The plot was pretty simple, just following the lives of all these kids as they began at this school for music and drama. I liked that there wasn’t one lead character, it was more like Dead Poet’s Society where there were heaps of lead characters. As a muso I totally had issues with the practicalities of mixing sound in a live setting so that apparently a human voice could carry easily above a drum without any mic. And it was pretty feelgood, so the theme of being yourself and living your dream no matter what is pretty strong. Mainly harmless I guess, but at another level this idea of just doing whatever you want and asking others to bend to it is very self absorbed.
I don’t know if you’d like it if you were a Fame fan of old, coz I think it has been changed and rewritten at will. But I didn’t mind it, I’d probably give it 2 1/2 High Fives (out of a possible 5 of course, just in case you are uninitiated with the Soupidis rating syste
SONset dinner September 27, 2009
Last night at church (SONset is the name of our evening service) we had a dinner together. Food is always a good way to get together I have noticed. People chat, you get to know people better and in a new way, and it is fun.
We have done these dinners a few times before, catering for about 20 people each time. But since moving to the new building we average more like 50 people each week. Still I thought it might be a few less coz it was a dinner. Not so. We had a packed house. I felt so proud to be a part of my church community. One of our guys played some cafe style music, a few different people shared stories, a poem (these things are always cooler and more powerful than I think they will be), a song, stuff which was real and honest and powerful. All these different people brought food along so that no one had to do it all. and it worked really well.
I don’t think we were trying to be an emerging church, or a cafe church. We were just trying to shift the boundaries of what corporate worship should look like. And, for this night anyway, it worked.
Pablo’s September 22, 2009
My fave cafe was reviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald today. I am pretty sure I know at least 2 people in the photo. The review is not bad, though not high enough praise for the awesome coffee and ignoring the fact that there are awesome nachos and a burger that is amazing on the food menu. But they are here, fyi
Pablo and Rusty's at Gordon (art on the wall by Matt Weatherstone, who is in my soccer team, random but cool)
