Yadda Yadda Yadda

We are playing again this Sunday at the Manna Gum Festival in Greensborough! Should be a whole heap of fun, so get along if you can. We'll be playing a 45 minute set, a mix of originals and covers. Hope to see you there!

So you know where it is! Melways Map 21 A2
You can click on the pic below for a bigger version of it.

I'm currently writing an exegesis paper on Psalm 51:6-12. It's such a beautiful Psalm. It is also a most beautiful song by the Sons Of Korah. It was written by King David of Israel after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba, and had her husband killed. I think it is a beautiful portreyal of his heart. I have felt this way at times in my life.



Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not case me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

I had my very first Thanksgiving dinner last night. The American exchange students/lecturers put on a big dinner for all of us at Kingsley College. It was a really awesome night just hanging out and eating lots of crazy American food. Pumkin pie is just weird. So is corn bread. Did you know Americans don't eat pumkin as a vegetable? They only put it in pies and bread and things like that. How odd! Anyway, we had an awesome night!


This is Katie, Alyssa and Krista (from left to right). They are some of the American exchange students.








This is Diana and Katie. Also American exchange students.










This is Michelle, Melissa, Misty and I don't know the other girl's name. Oops. More American exchange students.








And here is the dessert table aftermath. So much food...

Last night after college (I have night classes on Thursdays) I went to the public bar in the city with Sabine to see my cousin Steve's band "The Hello Morning". They are really awesome. I saw them 3 weeks ago too, and I'm a big fan of their music. I hadn't gone to see them for ages because I wasn't getting their emails (stupid hotmail), but now I do, so yay! And Steve is really helping me with my band. He's telling me who to ring and how to get gigs in pubs and other places. It's been really helpful to get some hints of someone who's already playing the circut. If you get the chance, get along to see them. I'll post details of their shows from time to time.

Tonight I'm going to my very first thanksgiving dinner! Obviously it's not really an Australian tradition, but at college we have a bunch of American exchange students and lectureres, and they are putting on a dinner for us tonight. Should be a whole bunch of fun! I think about 60 people are going.

I've decided that I'm not on tv enough, so I am about to rectify the situation. On Wednesday, I will be in the audeince for the new show 'Australia's Brainiest Comedian'. It looks like an incredibly hilarious show and I managed to get tickets to one of the tapings, it's going to be a whole series, not just an episode like I thought. WHOO!!! I can't wait! It'll be so much fun! I got 6 tickets! I'm not sure when it airs, I'll let you know so you can look out for me!

Tonight I'm off to see my cousin's band 'the hello morning'. They are great! If you want to see a great accoustic duo, get along to see them all around Melbourne when you can! They are playing tonight at the public bar opposite the queen vic markets at 11pm.

And I'm also hopging to go to see Wil Anderson's latest stand up show. He's doing some trial shows before he sets off on a national tour, and I sent off for tickets coz I'm on his mailing list. Hope I get them!

OH MY GOSH!!! I JUST WON A NEW CAR!!!!! I don't know if anyone saw me on rove live tonight, but I won a new Toyota Yaris!!! I can't believe it!! I never thought I would actually win! Here it is! Black and all!



Disclaimer: May not actually be true, may simply be wishful thinking on my part.

I'm feeling the pressure of the end of the semester. I have so many things to do in the next week and a half. The task seems rather daunting. I'm sure I can get it all done, but it's going to take a lot of time and hard work. Sigh. 9 days to go until everything is due in, and 2 days left of classes.

By the way, Ingi & I have a gig this Saturday. Details here.

Oh, and I'm hoping to win this car tonight on Rove Live! It's the new Toyota Yaris!

This was my study space today. Beautiful.

I thought my dog was looking a little plain, so I decided to spruce her up a bit. That's right, I went for the next logical step and I highlighted her! I was highlighting as I read stuff for college and she was sleeping next to me, so I drew a bright yellow spot on her back! Then I thought that she didn't look quite complete, so a couple of hours later I drew a bright green spot on her too. She looks so pretty!

Here is an excerpt from another conversation I had with iGod:

Me:
you are stupid
God:
I will remember you said that when robots take over the World.
Me:
robots will never take over the world
God:
"I think there is a world market for about five computers."---Thomas Watson, IBM Chairman, 1943.
Me:
I'm not Thomas Watson
God:
I am surprised to hear that you are not Thomas Watson.
Me:
You thought I was Thomas Waston?
God:
Not that I know of.
Me:
you're an idiot!
God:
Call me the Global Village Idiot.

I had a lot of fun tonight! I went and saw Mal Webb earlier this evening. He is just brilliant! If you've never seen him, then I definately recommend that you see him at least once! He is this unbelievable musician who knows everything there is to know about music and the physics of it. He puts on a truly unique show that is full of quirks, audience participation and fun! He is just so good at engaging the crowd and making people feel at ease and enthusiastic. He's playing again in a fortnight, so if you want to come along, keep that date open!

Then I went for some food with Alison, and then to Bridie O'Reileys (Irish pub) in the city. That was kinda crap though, there was hardly anyone there and we just had weird, drunk guys coming up to us all night. But all in all it was a good night.

It's official. I'm going crazy. It's 1:30am and not only have I written an assignment on "understanding the church as the family of God', but I've read 200 pages of a book on postmodernism and Christianity. I love this stuff, but it's just too much in too short a time period. I'm suffering from severe brain overload and I'm going insane. I just can't cope with any more information! I need to finished reading another 115 pages or so (tonight) but I think I'm going to give up and go to bed. My brain is fried. Too much information!!! And just because I can, I've decided to post my assignment here for anyone to read if they feel like it. Footnotes don't work on a blog, so I'll put any footnotes in brackets.


UNDERSTANDING THE CHURCH AS THE FAMILY OF GOD

The Bible speaks often about the Church as the Family of God. It seems to me that we do not fully understand what it means to be the family of God, but rather see ourselves as individual people of God who belong to this indefinable group that is ‘somewhere out there’. I want to explore what it means to really be the Family of God, and how we experience that in everyday life.
We tend to see Church as an institution rather than as a state of being. In biblical terms we are the Church, we do not go to Church. The Church is rather a collection of God’s people who are to be intertwined with one another as we travel through life. We ought not to simply meet together and share an isolated section of our lives, but rather share life as a whole. I long to be part of a real Church who share life, what life is, not what we make it out to be when we see each other on a Sunday.
I was thinking about the concept of discovering who we are. We most definitely need to know who we are before we can ask what we will do. I believe that God calls us to be, not to do. What we do will spring from who we are. When we are right with God as He calls us to be, then action is a natural flow on. James discusses this in great length. James 1:22 says "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." It seems to me that it is not just that we act, but that we act out of a natural flow on from our relationship with God, from our faith (Not to say that these actions are always easy and life is always happy because we have God, because the nature of our world means that this is not so. But rather that we have the ability to choose to do what God asks of us because of the nature of our relationship with Him). We need to be defined as the people of God because of who we are. This speaks louder than anything to the post-modern world.
‘Postmodernism (a philosophical state) and postmodernity (a cultural shift)’ (Stuart Murray "Post-Christendom" pg. 12) are the settings in which we find ourselves. Regardless of what we would prefer, this is our world at this present time, and we need to accept that before we have any chance of having an impact on it. You can not have an impact on something if you are pretending it is anything other than it really is, and to accept it, you need to understand it (Having said that, it is almost impossible to understand something that is in itself undefined. It is called the postmodern era simply because it is post the modern era. Therefore we are in a period of transition and have not yet defined where we are as western society). As Stuart Murray discusses in his book ‘Post-Christendom’ we need to first understand Christendom (where we have been) before we can understand where we are. It seems to me that many denominations want to simply ignore the past and focus solely on the present and the future. While I can understand where this mindset comes from, it is a wrong one. How can we know what we are moving towards if we do not know from what we are moving, and why it is being moved away from? We need to realise where we have been, and then begin to assess where we are going.
I was really interested in David Wilson’s module of the Church as always the Church, but simply changing between gathered and scattered. It seems to me that this is not an easy concept for Westerners (myself included) to grasp. We may be able to grasp it intellectually, but we do not have a frame of reference from which to understand life in community. We compartmentalise our lives, Church being one of these compartments. We do not know how to tear down the walls we have set up for ourselves. It is one thing for me to imagine what it would be like, but I find it difficult (if not impossible) to understand how to live it practically.
Our culture is set up to be an individualistic one, and our society is based on mistrust. From our earliest days we are taught not to trust others; only trust when it is earned, do not have contact with strangers unnecessarily. This means that we are conditioned from birth to form relationships that are the opposite to what God is asking of us as the people of God. We are taught self-protection mechanisms, and we form them for ourselves as we are given cause to. We create layer upon layer of protection, most of them unconscious. Therefore when we try to have open relationships, we can’t. We can attempt to tear down these self-imposed walls, but how can you tear down a wall you do not know it is there? We become so accustomed to hiding our real selves that we can’t even show it when we desire to. This, to me, is one of the huge disadvantages of living in a materialistic society based on individualistic consumerism.
We spend 95% of our time as the Church scattered, so what does that mean? How do we still ‘be’ Church outside of our physical church setting? I wonder if people can tell that there is anything different about me, without me having to tell them I am a Christian. I wonder if we know what it is to be the people of God, and not just say and do the right things. That seems to be the crutch of it all in postmodern society. People do not care about the message until they accept the messenger. The question of postmodern society is not ‘what did you say?’, it is ‘who are you to tell me that?’. We need to be people that create an acceptable answer to that question by our lifestyles, not just by our words. Don’t get me wrong, words are very important. James chapter 3 talks about the power of the tongue, and how vital it is that we choose our words carefully. They can cut and destroy a person’s soul. But relationship is more important that words. In all areas of our lives we need to have the kind of relationships that answer the question ‘who are you to tell me that?’ The issue then becomes not what we believe, but rather how we present it.
How do we ‘do’ Church anyway, even when we are the Church gathered? Is our current system the way to go? If we look at how our current system originated, it might be right to ask the question of whether it is right to continue. Our current system came out of the Christendom era. Seeing as that era is passing away, does it still fit what we are moving in to? It seems to me that the system is not inherently bad, but perhaps we need to rethink our format. Do we do it because it works, or because it is comfortable and familiar?
Change is difficult. Human nature says that change is bad. It is uncomfortable, and we like homeostasis. Humans do not gravitate towards things that make us uncomfortable, we all move towards the familiar and the comfortable. This does not prevent us from moving into the unknown, it just makes us inclined not to do so. But given enough reason and motivation we seem willing and able to change. The thing then to me seems to be to know and understand that reason. Why change? Do we really want to reach people and see them come to Christ? Or do we want to see people come to us? I know what is easier, but what is right?
Dialogical relationships are the key. However, Christendom has left us with a legacy of ‘Banking Education’. ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ by Paulo Freire talks about two forms of education, Banking (or anti-dialogical) and Dialogical. Banking Education is where I deposit information into you, and you accept it. Dialogical Education is where we work things through together, and we all learn cooperatively. We cannot deposit the Gospel into someone and expect them to be grateful and accept Christ. It is all about relationship, and respecting the person enough to know that they will know the truth if they choose, given the opportunity. Coercion is not only ineffective, but I think it is unbiblical and unethical. Jesus never coerced anyone into believing in Him. He gave them the opportunity, and then left them with the decision. Why then would we see it as our task to ‘make sure’ that anyone accept Christ? (Not to say that evangelism is not important, but rather that it is not our job to make anyone believe in Jesus)
"When we review the intellectual history of the 19th century in panorama, we cannot help but be struck by the enormous profusion of ideologies that century managed to produce: Liberalism, conservatism, Marxism, Darwinism, Positivism, idealism, Hegelianism, socialism, Owenism, anarchism, communism, Romanticism and the list seems to go on and on. I would suggest that the proliferation of these -isms, of these grandiose systems, was the product of an age in which intellectual life had become much more complex and intense" (http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture23a.html) This is the history from which we emerge. There are so many options available to us about which direction to come at life from. Ideologies run rampant in our society, and postmodernism tells us to accept that truth is subjective, and we may make up our own minds as to what is right for us. This means that forcing the Gospel on anyone will not work. We must learn that we have moved to the margins. Christianity is no longer at the centre of our society, we are in the minority and we must behave accordingly.
So where does this leave us? It seems to present more questions that it does answers. The answer is, it seems, that there is no answer. We are in the midst of a time where we do not know what we are moving into, only that we are moving from something. We must learn to live with the ambiguity and become more flexible than we have ever been. It is vital not to lose the essence of what we are on about as Christians, but it is also important not to hold too tightly onto that which is not necessary. It is a difficult (and sometimes painful) task to sift through what needs to be let go of and what needs to be held on to, but one that must be asked if we are to survive as the Family of God.

Well, it's the latest craze, so I did it. I had a conversation with iGod and am posting it on my blog. I have to do what all the cool kids are doing.



Me:
Hi! Oh! I've wanted to meet you for so long!
God:
Hello. What is your name? Wow! How do you usually meet people?
Me:
Well I didn't think I'd ever meet God on the internet! My name is Tink
God:
Interesting. Would you ever do it? I'm pleased to introduce myself to you, Tink.
Me:
Would I ever meet God on the internet? Well I think I just did!
God:
That's what I asked you. Well that's okay. Interesting.
Me:
*throws a cloud at God*
God:
My brain uses AIML to format responses to your inputs, but I don't have one for that.
Me:
I just threw a cloud at you
God:
You are not the boss of me, Tink.
Me:
I can try to be
God:
Oh you can, can you?
Me:
I sure can!
God:
Who taught you?
Me:
No one, I think it's part of human nature
God:
That is a rather sweeping generalization about people.
Me:
Yes it is, but I can generalize. Like all footballers are cannibals.
God:
Next question? Oh you can, can you? Interesting comparison.
Me:
They are, Ratty has decided it is so
God:
Ratty has decided it is so are they.
Me:
Yes. And I've decided that I can generalize
God:
Blimey. How did you decide?
Me:
By making a decision
God:
Will that accomplish your objective?
Me:
Well my objective is to be one day made of solid metal, so probably not
God:
Well that's okay. Do robots have objective is to be one day made of solid metal so probably not?
Me:
I think they are made of solid metal!
God:
You believe that? made of solid metal are they.
Me:
they are
God:
Since when?
Me:
what else are they made of?
God:
What subject would you like to talk about?
Me:
Snitzel
God:
Have you ever been to Europe?
Me:
yes! I went to Germany 8 years ago
God:
Which countries have you visited? That seems like quite a long time.
Me:
Just Germany. It was very cold.
God:
Tell me a little about your life in GERMANY. GERMANY was cold? Very interesting.
Me:
I was on a student exchange program there.
God:
I have never been on it.
Me:
on a student exchange program? No, i assume not
God:
What is it like on a student exchange program. That was not a yes or no question. That was not a yes or no question.
Me:
As fun as this has been, I'm going to go now. Hopefully we can chat later God.
God:
Oh. Do you mean your name is fun as this has been you are going to go ? Why do you hope for it.
Me:
Haha! Goodbye God.
God:
I am so glad you find this amusing, Tink. TTYL, Tink.
Me:
Bye God
God:
Bye bye.

I think Ben Lee has some of the best lyrics EVER!!! How good is this?!

You're not a land mine
You're not a gold mine
No you're not mine at all

BRILLIANT!!!

Today I bought "Awake Is The New Sleep' by Ben Lee. After seeing him in concert a couple of weeks ago I just had to get it. Pay day was today, so cd shopping I went! I LOVE this album! I'm even more impressed with it than I thought I would be! I'm loving track 8 called 'no right angles' (ok so I love all the tracks, but that one stands out right now). This cd is brilliant! Anyone who doesn't have it should get it! GO BEN! He's playing in Melbourne again on November 29th, I'm thinking about going.

Just letting you know that I've updated my links list.

Sometimes you just have a good day. Today has been one of those 'just good' days. I went to church this morning and played the piano and sung. I love my band. It was awesome and so much fun! Then I had lunch at home quickly and went to Suzie & Ryan's engagement party this afternoon. I had a really nice time. It was a beautiful day and we were in a park and I got to hang out with a bunch of people I do see often, and a bunch of people I don't get to see that often. I really enjoyed just chatting with people. And I'm off to church again tonight which will be great, then going to see 'Doom' at the movies. Chickenhead has managed to convince me to go, even though I'm sure it's totally not my kind of movie.

I also got told I'm a timeless hippy today. I wasn't dressed hippy-like at all, but Ben Cording said I'd always be a hippy, no matter how I dressed. There you go.

"So I try to take time, just to breathe for a minute, to find a silent breath I can call my own.
So I try to give time, just to breathe for a minute, to find a silent breath I can call my own.
And I know I choose to be, yet I feel I'm a captive of it.
And I make love to it, but I hate it.
And I want to, but I'm scared of running away.
To make love or to hate, is all in my own hands."

I have become increasingly impressed with Bollywood movies. I know this is not strictly a bollywood movie, but I saw 'Bride and Prejudice' today. I really enjoyed it! I really wanted to see the production 'the merchants of bollywood' but alas I'm poor. I enjoy the vibrance of the movies and the energy of them. They don't resort to sleazy or gratuitous material to create impact. I must say I'm highly impressed. Great acting and amazing singing!



Also, I just love tea. This is my favourite mug and one of my favourite herbal teas. I just love tea.

I'm getting sicker. Great. Here is a delightful photo of me looking disgusting. You can think of me while I'm sitting on my couch watching lots of bad daytime tv and dvd's.

So I'm rather sick today. My sinuses are all blocked and my throat is all swollen and sore. I'm just sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. I have a test tomorrow morning. I hope I'm better tomorrow.

Revhead has awarded me 50 points with the consent of Dboy! WHOO!!! Wait, he's made it 60 points! Oh yeah!

Chrystal & I were walking through Westerfold's park on Saturday and we came across a lovely blue tongue lizard waddling across the path. He was so cute! I'm trying to send a pic of him from my phone to my email so I can post it, but it's not going through. How sad.

I had a great day yesterday.

I woke up Sunday morning with swollen glands and a stuffed up nose. I think I'm getting sick. Everyone feel sorry for me. Please?

Don't you just love naps? I love naps! I just had a nap. Mmm... nap...

Here is my replacement blog for the one I accidentally deleted last night. I was too tired to bother doing it again. So the gig last night went really well! We played for about half an hour. We played 6 originals and 2 covers. It was the first time we'd added the keyboard to the group. It was a bit intimidating for me, but really fun too! It definately added to the fuller sound of the group. Was a whole heap of fun! We were pleasantly surprised at the venue. It was a really nice social club kinda place. Anyway, it was great! Ingi & I loved the other band we played with! They were an awesome 9 piece blues band! How fun! Anyway, thanks to those who came to support us!

I'm going out to catch up with Chrystal now. No more time for blogging! Love to you all!

I just wrote a long blog and accidentally deleted it. I don't have the energy to do it again. I'll blog tomorrow. I'm sad and tired now.

Well we're off to our gig now. Half an hour of our own original music! WHOO!!!

EDIT: We're actually on stage at about 9:15pm!!!

Hello Hello!

No, I'm not from Chris and Marie's plan farm. It's official, here are the details for our gig tomorrow night. Love to see you there!

When: Friday 4th November
Where: Westerfold Squash & Swimming Centre
2 Swilk St,
Templestowe
Time: 7.30pm onwards
NB: Free entry
Drinks at bar prices

I actually have no idea how long we're playing for, and it seems we're on stage at about 9:15pm. So if you like, just come along for a fun night (hopefully!) :)

I'm having a difficult week. I'm struggling to engage in anything emotionally or mentally (and physically too). I just don't have enough energy. I think it's mainly due to lack of sleep, I can't be bothered doing anything. I'm worn out. Classes have been hard this week, I just don't have the energy.

NEWSFLASH!
We have a gig tomorrow night! I don't know anything about it except that it's tomorrow night, Friday Nov 4th, and it's in Templestowe. It was set up for us by another muso friend of mine. Thanks Blaine! Details coming tonight when I find out what they are!

Ok, prepare for a photo onslaught!

The concert last night was just incredible! We (Ingi & I) went along to see 5 different acts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. 3 of whom weren't too well known and 2 of whom took out most of this year's ARIA's. Ben Lee was just amazing! I liked him before, but now I love him! And what can I say about Missy? Fabulous as always! She is such a good live performer! Both artists were just so good at engaging the crowd and drawing you into their music, not just playing to you. I sang along to almost every song from Ben & Missy, but it was loud enough to do that without annoying other people, so that was awesome!

I'm still in a bit of a daze (the good kind) from it all. I had an amazing night. I hope that'll be me one day... *sigh* Anyway, here come the photos!

Us at the station excited about going to the concert!

Still excited on the train!

Nice view while we waited in a 50 minute queue to get in

One of the support acts taken through a pair of binoculars. Very artistic of me indeed!

Our tickets!

Waiting in between support acts playing 500...

Still excited, but kinda tired...

Where we sat

Ben Lee!

Ben with his awesome guitar!

Missy Higgins!!!

Missy at her piano


Then the battery on my digital camera died. I cried. Well, not really, but I was sad.