Yadda Yadda Yadda

I just realised I haven't posted wedding photos yet! Aaron (aka Soldier) & Jen tied the knot on Feb 10th. It was such a great day! We all had stacks of fun and it was great to celebrate their new life together. I was honoured to be a part of it, I sang & played the piano during the ceremony. This is a shot during the ceremony.


Signing the register. Aren't they a good looking bunch? Jen wore a green dress which was stunning and the boys got top hats! How fun! The groomsmen are Glenn & Ben (Left to Right), and the bridesmaids are Emily & Anne (Left to Right). Everyone just looked so pretty!



This is Anna & I as the reception was starting. You can see the photos get sillier as the night goes on...




This is the amazing cake that Ben made. What a clever boy he is. And he sacrificed an awful lot of sleep to make it. Yay for Ben!













Simone & I














The happy couple cutting the happy cake.










Matt (aka KK) & I looking incredibly attractive. Control yourself people. You know you want us!











Revvy & I. The beard has been significantly chopped since then. Revvy is now no longer a terror suspect.









This is Jo & Brent (aka Wire). Aren't they a good looking couple? Everyone sigh. Awwww!








Cazz & I.









Neale & Jess, yet another good looking couple!








Sam & Mike (from left to right). Not a couple, but still good looking!










First dance as husband & wife. Awwww!















The lovely Cazz just after she caught the bouquet. Yes, for once, I did NOT catch the bouquet!














Brent & I with Mike popping his head up in the background, he did that in quite a few photos!











Brent, Jo & I with Mike, once again, in the background!










Chrystal (aka Mrs Dboy) & I.









Once again (as per other wedding photos) Ben has decided to try to eat people, specifically me. Something different for him...









Glenn & I. Doesn't he scrub up nicely!









The groom & I. Yay for Aaron!








Anna & Rob. Awwww! It was their 1 year wedding anniversary the next day. Which was a month and a half ago now. I am so slack.... Sorry!










Brent, Mike & I (from left to right)







Hugh, Amy & I with lollypops. How fun! They were on every table. The lollypops that is, not Hugh & Amy. Another good looking couple! Hugh & Amy, not the lollypops.








Isn't Emily pretty? She was one of Jen's bridesmaids.








Lots of people in this one. From left to right we have Danny, Kate, Jo, Cazz & I.






Anna, Rob & I looking gorgeous. And oh so normal.










Like I said, Ben likes to eat people, and I think Rob just wanted to be in the photo. And there is someone's head sticking up at the back. Not Mike this time, but Anna.











From left to right, Chrystal, Carolyn & I.













Simone with someone's top hat, probably Ben's, and a glass of champagne, that I don't think was hers either. THEIF!











Paul (aka Billy) and Andrew having lots of fun. I have so many photos of those two. What posers!






Group shot! From left to right we have Andrew, Debbie, Rachael & I. And we have Paul popping his head up in the front. Fun times! Man do I look creepy in that photo!! What's up with my freaky eyes?!






Tim, Rob & I in a very serious shot.









And last, but not least, this is Kate & I. I think she stole Ben's hat too. That hat certainly did the rounds that night!






So as you can see we certainly had an amazing time. It was a wonderful day and I'm really happy for Aaron & Jen. They are really happy together and I know they will have a great life as husband and wife. Congrats guys. Love you heaps!

I just drove a friend back to Sunbury (for those Melbournites) where he is staying. He's from Sydney. I got sooooo unbelievably lost! I'm a moron. It's official. It took us almost 2 hours to get there, and took me 45 minutes to get home. I suck at reading maps. Now I'm tired and have uni @ 9am. Damn.

More exciting news! Thanks again to everyone who has been voting for me in Triple J's unearthed comp! This week my ratings went up again and I now hold places 81 & 91 overall!!! That's unbelievable! I am so excited!!!! I also hold places 6 & 7 for my genre (electronic). Thank you so much to everyone who has voted for me! You may be confused as to why I only have 2 songs in the charts this week coz I had 3 last week, well I took 1 of my songs down to upload a different one, and that hasn't been approved yet. I'll let you know when it is. Keep passing the word around! Love,

Meags

This is an article written by the new national director of FORGE, Andrew Hamilton. I thought it was really interesting. I'd be interested in getting your thoughts.




ARE WE THERE YET?


A few Forge intensives ago I listened to Mark Sayers provide an excellent overview of how the 'emerging church' has emerged so far... Its been an interesting journey with some signficant shifts in thinking having happened very rapidly already.

Here's my plagiarised, summarised and modified adaption of Mark's presentation.

Stage 1 - What Shall We Sing? - As trivial as it may seem now, I have a sense that the whole hymns / choruses, 'worship wars' saga was actually the start of something. It was a recognition that there just may be a different way to do things. It wasn't necessarily missional in its philosophy - rather it was often just Christians who were sick of singing the same songs over and over - who decided to sing different songs over and over…

But ouch - the pain of such a vicious debate over what we now see as such simple things! At least it began the process of thought. Can we do things even a little differently? Is there a 'right' way?... Or could there be other ways?...

Stage 2 - Everybody Gets a Drum Kit - Otherwise known as 'contemporary worship'. Some churches bit the bullet, took the hit and went and bought a drum kit, a keyboard and a decent sound system.

We began to sing songs that sounded a bit more like what you would hear on the radio, even if the musicians were average and the singers below par. We had drama as part of the service, practical sermons with 'fill in the blank' handouts and music practices took on a whole new look - because 'excellence' was the goal.

Some variety came into the worship service - but funnily enough it soon developed into a different but fairly predictable routine - 4 fast songs, (which we called praise) 4 slow (which we called worship) the usual offering and annoucments followed by the sermon.

There was no fundamental change in the DNA of the beast, and sadly for many modern churches this has been the end of the road.

Stage 3 - Gen X Worship - As above but with dim lights and candles.

I don't think I'm overstating it? Perhaps the only other real change was funkier and/or louder music, but in a more ambient environment. There was at least talk of the fact that an emerging generation were seeking some different things. We read books like "Inside the Mind of a New Generation" and realised that community was a priority, process was more important than product and so on... you know the drill.

It actually felt like we were on the cutting edge - but my guess is that it was only edgy for the church - not for those in our local communities who didn't know Jesus. They remained relatively underwhelmed with our great leaps forward.

Stage 4 - Hmmmm Crunchy! - The alt worship crowd recognised that we do not all learn, worship and experience God in the same ways.

They reminded us that there were five senses and it was ok to smell, touch, taste things in church. They looked way back and recovered some valuable ancient practices. As a result some very creative expressions of worship emerged. But my experience was that it was mostly about creating a better more engaging experience for the already Christian and often it was a highly labour intensive process with huge amounts of effort going into the co-ordination of each 'worship event'..

Something was mutating but by and large it was the same animal.

-

Perhaps the most signifcant commonality to all of the stages mentioned above is that they primarily use an attractional or 'come to us' approach. Mission occurs as more people join the gathering and the more attractive the gathering the more likely people will come.

There has been some 'success' in each of these stages, but I have a sense that they are each fundamentally flawed in that they seem to suggest that if we get the worship gathering happening right then the people will come.

It suggests that missiology follows ecclesiology. The fifth stage takes a radically different approach.

-

Stage 5 - Incarnational Faith Communities - Also known as the Emerging Missional Church. I sense this is where many of us are at today. The key difference between this arrangement and its predecessors is that IFCs seek to understand the culture first, then do mission and from there create worshiping communities. It is a go to them approach rather than a come to us - a fundamental reconfiguration of the DNA.

It recognises that getting the meeting right is not the answer to the missional woes of the church, but that what we need to do is incarnate the gospel in our communities and then grow churches - in whatever form they may take - from there. Having been part of all of the above - and at each stage feeling like I had 'arrived' or 'found the secret' I think I am now savvy enough to know that we are not there yet. As much as I resonate strongly with the IFC conceptualisation of the church I'd like to see where we are in 10 years time…

Are we there yet?...

I went to a public lecture this evening in the city on non-violence activism. It was really interesting. It was run by an organisation called Pace Bene. Very thought provoking stuff. The speakers were John Dear & Tim Costello. I'll talk more about it later. I'm tired now.

Exciting news! Thanks to everyone who voted for me! In my first week I've taken out places 14, 15 & 16 on the electronic charts in Triple J's unearthed comp! And places 185, 187 & 188 all up! Whoo!!! I have no idea how many songs are up there, but I do know that there are thousands of bands overall. Thank you so much to everyone who has voted for me! Keep passing the word around!

Hey. I need some help. As I've said, I've entered myself in Triple J's unearthed comp



I am trying to decide which tracks would be best up there, so I'd love it if you could go to my myspace and let me know out of those 4, which 3 are the best ones. Thanks!

I got a hair cut yesterday. I bet nobody notices. No one ever notices when I get my hair cut.

I'm hitting the big 25 today. Happy Birthday to me!

It's time for a Triple J unearthed updated! I've got new versions of tracks up now and I need all the help I can get, so please rate my tunes! Thanks! And do lots of shameless promotion on my behalf!!!

We had so much fun last night! My family & I headed off to the ABC studios and were in the studio audience for 'Spicks & Specks'. They filmed 2 shows last night and one of them was the Mother's Day special. It was such a fun night. So much laughing! We had such a great time. Afterwards we got to meet Adam, Alan & Myf. They were so nice! They signed stuff for us and I got photos. Here they come!


This is Adam, Alan & me from left to right. They were very cool guys.











And here is Myf & I. She's so short! And she's a crazy woman. She shoots S&S twice a week late at night, then does Breakfast Radio! Crazy!!! I'm impressed.









This is a set shot from where I was sitting. Sweet right?


It was such a fun night, everyone was so nice and in such a good mood. Can't wait to go again in April! The tickets are free if you check out the website and call the number. It's so worth it!

Tonight my family & I are going to be in the studio audience for 'Spicks & Specks'. It's one of our favourite shows! We usually watch it together. For those of you who don't know, check it out here. It's a musical game show with famous musos and comedians. It's so funny! I'm really looking forward to it! They are taping 2 shows. Should be a great night!

What's the funniest quote you've ever heard? Let's get some laughter happening around here!

“I can't swim. I can't drive, either. I was going to learn to drive but then I thought, well, what if I crash into a lake?”

“I don't do drugs. If I want a rush I just stand up when I'm not expecting it.”

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.”

I started uni again for the year today. Apart from the intensive I did a couple of weeks ago. That was awesome! It was a subject called 'urban sociology'. Great stuff!

I'm doing some hard core intensive counselling subjects this year. At least that's what everyone who's done it says. You basically practice on eachother in tute groups, so you 'unearth' your stuff, and talk about it with each other. Full on! Hopefully it'll be good. It sounds like it'll be really beneficial for personal growth as well as developing counselling skills. It sounds crazy and requires some serious vulnerability, which I'm not big on for those that know me. Today was a long and hot day, but I'm looking forward to my uni stuff this year.

What did you guys do today?

It's participation time! What tv shows do you want to see crossover? I would love to see Chloe & Morris from '24' move onto Wisteria Lane in 'Desperate Housewives'! Hilarious!

I saw this movie yesterday. Well, I guess it's not really a movie, more a doco. It was very eye opening. I knew a bit of what was spoken about, but now I feel much more informed. Part of me wishes Gore had got the presidency over Bush, but who knows right? Anyway, you can't see a film like that and not have to do something about it. I'm really glad it's being shown in schools in American. I wish they'd show it in schools here. The next generation are the ones who are going to be taking over industry. They are the ones who will end up with the responsibility for the planet. It is our job to inform them so that they are aware of the need to care for it. I think our task is to remove the excuse of ignorance and inform people so that they are drive to action. Because this is something that affects us all, not just some of us.

I think "An Inconvenient Truth" is a great film, very inspiring. I want everyone to see it. I want our societies to be driven by morals & elthics, not the dollar. I want our world to function in a way that is sustainable, that cares, not expolits. This is a principle that I want to see transfered to humanity, not just the environment, but we won't have much of a world to care for each other in if we don't look after it.

If Al Gore came here to do his presentation I'd love to go.

It annoys me that the 2 countries who signed the Kyoto Protocol and haven't met the standards are the US & Australia. Why aren't we doing more about something so important. I get that Australia's carbon emissions are fairly small given our small population, however, per capita we are terrible!

I know I want to do something about this, and I hope everyone does. Let's not buy into 'easy', let's do what's right.

How does anybody fill their day? I think the truth is you fill your day, most of the time, by being in the washing machine of your own mind, thinking: What's this? When does it stop? Am I enjoying it? I don't know. Oh, it's time to go to sleep. I can't, I'm worried. And then you wake up and smear jam on your family's face and your own.

- Dylan Moran

I had to get up at 5am this morning to start work @ 6am. That should be illegal in my opinion. It's just after 6am now and my brain is not functioning at all. What baffles me is those people who get up at this time voluntarily. Why are there so many people in the gym?!! Crazies!!!

Wedding photos coming soon!

Ok, so no real fame. But over the last week or so I've been on the Hamish & Andy show twice and I was on jjj's super request yesterday. Yay!



Aaron & Jen get married tomorrow! Yes, another wedding. How exciting!



It's Alison's birthday party tonight. Happy late birthday to Alison for Wednesday! Yay for parties!

Check out the podcasts or the actual show of John Safran & Father Bob McGuire. It's a facinating show that openly discusses religion in all it's forms. It can get very heated and controversial. It's well worth a listen. Facinating stuff from all walks of life. From ultra liberal to ultra conservative and everything in between. Moral issues, religious facisism, social issues and all sorts of things that are hard to categorise. You can get it off itunes for free in the triple j podcast section. It's on Sunday nights in Australia from 9pm - 11pm. Have a listen if you can!

Oh, and I wrote yet another electronica song. It's on my myspace.

I've decided to try out some new stuff, so I've just written my first electronica/chillout song. Hope you like it! It's called 'I wait in the dark'.

Check it out here.

If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.

Is it just me or is Roger Federer an unstopable, lovable, tennis god?







Check out this site:
Date To Save
It's GOT to be a joke! What the?!! Have a look around the site. Hilarious!

Still house sitting. Will be away til late Wed night. Although I do seem to be getting net access most days anyway, so yay!

Had a busy weekend. Annual church conference/planning weekend was this weekend. Went well, got this sorted for this year. Mostly anyway. Went and saw some free funk/soul music in the fitzroy gardens last night. Fantastic! Gotta love "relax with max"! Spent most of this arvo making jewelry. Sorted out my band for church this year, which I'm heaps excited about! All is all, a rather productive weekend.

Had to work on Australia Day. How very unaustralian of me... But did listen to the first 22 and the last 30 of the JJJ hottest 100 countdown. The best countdown I've heard yet!

Finally I got around to sorting through and resizing all the photos for my blog! Sorry it took so long! The wedding was on Dec 29 and it was so lovely! One of the best weddings I've ever been to, and as we remember I've been to many weddings! I'm going to another one on Feb 10 and that will make 8 in the last 12 month period. Nutso! Let's get onto the photos! I'll try to put them roughly in cronological order.


This is Kelly's mum Chris & I just before the ceremony. I think this is one of the best photos of me ever! I'm so impressed!






This is Emma, Anesti & I just hanging out.










Grant & I while he was still legally a single man!










Kathryn & I looking hot. Oh yeah...











Lisa & Adrian. Aren't they such an adorable couple! Awwww!















Kelly walking up the isle with her dad. Isn't that a lovely photo?










What a good looking bunch of people!













Staring lovingly into each other's eyes. Awwww! Get out your tissues. I cried a few times that day!












Alison & I, slightly blurred.












The wedding party! I snuck up while they were getting their official photos done and took a few myself. Aren't they lovely?







Once again looking great and oh so happy!









Fun photo!













Anna & I













The boys having a bit of fun!













Silly photo!













This is their "I'm sick of having photos taken" look. Very attractive indeed!







Their very first dance as husband and wife. Awww!!! They learnt a proper dance and everything. I was very imrpessed. It was beautiful!






From left to right: Alison, Lisa, Kathryn & the bride Kelly.







Grant, Anna & I











Lisa & Grant
















Rob & I. I have no idea. From now on, you can tell it's getting on in the night...









Rob & Lisa in their oh so hot poses!













A group at the end of the night. Can you tell?









Dale & I in one of our traditional poses.







And that's all I've got to show you for now. I'm going to be house sitting for the next week, and there is no internet there, so I won't be around much. I'm going to have severe withdrawals me thinks.... Love to you all!

I saw this movie last night with some friends. Talk about intense! I wasn't aware of the huge issue surrounding conflict-diamonds. It was very eye opening. "Blood Diamond" is very educational and moving ala "Hotel Rwanda". I definitely suggest that people see this film. It really shows what life is actually like in parts of Africa. But it's not a film for the weak! It amazing how we don't hear about this kind of thing on the news, we become so complacent about how so many people live day to day. Makes you question Australia's refugee policies. How can people treat each other in such a way? The lead character from Sierra Leone (played by Djimon Hounsou) says something like "I can understand how people can come in and treat us the way they do, but what I can't understand is how we can do it to each other". It really is unbelievable what people are capable of doing to each other. I hate to think what I would be capable of in such a situation. Powerful film.


This is a refugee camp in Guinea. The conditions these refugees live in is incredible.



I really hope people pay attention to the message of this movie, and not just think it's interesting or a good film. Why do we live in such ignorance? Why do some things get reported and others not? Do we not care about of fellow humans in Africa?

Got some new photos!

Photos of Kelly & Grant's wedding coming soon!

I've updated my MySpace too, so check that out! There are new songs up there and I revamped the whole page. New photos and new songs! Yay!

Had a fantastic time in Tassie over the weekend. I was only there for 3 days, but that was enough. I love my friends down there, but there is nothing to do and after catching up with everyone, I tend to get bored. I had a lovely time with my friends and the wedding was just fantastic! Penny & Andy looked so happy and so gorgeous. It was great! I stayed in a crazy boys' house. 4 single boys in a house is an interesting (but awesome) place to stay. It was great seeing the guys again. I forgot to take my camera can you believe, so I only have dodgy photos from my phone!


This is the happy couple!












This is Ezra & I. Ezra is Amy & Troy's kid. He is just over 4 months now! He was only 1 month last time I saw him. He's so big and so cute!

I have so much to post about! The Carols, Christmas, Kelly & Grant's wedding, New Years, lots of other things, but I can't be bothered right now.

Tonight I went to the St Kilda Markets, so awesome. Spent most of my money on beads. Then headed off to see 'Zoophyte'. I just love them! Check out their music on myspace. The only issue with tonight's gig was Andy's new girfriend, who just happens to be MEGAN GALE!!! Now that's nice for them, but the thing is that of all people at the venue she decided to stand next to me. Which means I had to dance next to Megan Gale for half the night!!! That's enough to make any girl feel unattractive and bad about herself! But for the other half of the night I got to dance next to Josh Lawson, so that more than made up for it. I spoke to him after the gig and he is so very lovely! We had a nice chat and he was a really genuine guy. I was very impressed.

I'm flying out to Tassie on Friday arvo for the weekend. Yes, another pair is getting married. Penny & Andy get married on Saturday. Awwww!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful new years, and that this year is full of great stuff!