For You To Consider

Mike has put up a post with his thoughts about the new (Red)emption program where you buy certain products and they give a portion of the purchase to aid programs.

from his post:

I’ve come to the conclusion that I love this program. And I hate it. Let me try to explain why.

The love part is easy. I love it because it will provide funds for saving lives. What’s not to love about that?

Here’s the part with which I’m having trouble. I hate it because it’s a sad commentary, a mirror if you will, reflecting the reality of our culture back to us. The currency of the Kingdom is love. The currency of this material, self-centered culture is “stuff.” Bono is brilliant as he has realized this, and knows we will not give out of love. HIV/AIDS is killing people in numbers too horrible to give voice to. And while this troubles us, it apparently doesn’t trouble us enough to give out of love. The brilliance of Product (Red) is that it will get the money out of us anyway. No love? Fine, then we’ll appeal to your need for the other currency, for stuff. Want a new Gap shirt, and a trendy one at that? Great. Here you go, and by the way, a couple of bucks will go to life-saving drugs.

And the challenge:

I don’t have a clue what the profit margins are like on the iPod, but $10 doesn’t strike me as a lot of money. Let’s be realistic. It’s not. Here’s the choice: You can lay out $200, get a new iPod, and contribute $10 to a good cause. Or, you can just contribute the $10. We believe we can get 1000 people to donate $10 each. We’d like $10 from everyone in the developed world, but we’ll settle for you, and everyone you know. And when we’re done, we’ll pass the money–all of it–along to the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Think about it.

BoyTown

Went and saw an Aussie film last weekend called BoyTown. Here is the synopsis from the website:

The greatest boyband of the eighties leave their humdrum lives for one last crack at the big time. They return to the stage with slightly older fans and slightly larger pants to complete some unfinished business. These days they spend less time singing about tears, eternity, angels and their ‘baby’ and more time singing about divorce, shopping and picking up the kids from school.

As their triumphant tour draws to a conclusion all the personal issues that have been safely buried away for twenty years come bubbling to the surface with explosive consequences. Suddenly the band has to deal with: allegations of infidelity; paternity tests; a miming fiasco; a band member ‘outing’ himself live on stage; an awards night disaster; solo albums; a mysterious disappearance and a plane journey that will cement the BoyTown legend forever.

Sadly those of you in North America will probably never get to see this, but I really enjoyed it. The songs are just ridiculous which is what appealed to me. You can listen to the soundtrack on their website or by clicking here.

The classics include songs like:
Tough Titties
Picking the Kids Up From School
Layby Love (Do we have layby at home? You go in and put money down on whatever item you want and when you pay it off you take it home with you.)
Pussywhipped
Love Handles
Parent Teacher Night
Dishpan Hands
Cellulite Lady
Special Time (Of The Month)
Stay At Home Dad

Kirk would’ve really enjoyed this flick. They sing almost all the songs during the movie and their “old school” stuff is so New Kids On The Block. Classic.

My Favorite Picture So Far

This was taken through the glass at the Sydney Aquarium (on a visit when Kirk was here). The squid followed my lense up and down and just hovered there at eye level for me to snap a few shots. I love how this one turned out. Their eyes are so freakin huge!

Barista

This pic was a while ago. Back when I had facial hair. This was also before Scottie Callaghan, the World Latte Art Champion showed me a few tips on my milk steaming. I am now having to readjust my technique and it is almost like starting over. But the coffee is better because of it. I took some pics of the cafe I volunteer at with my phone. I’ll post em once I get them uploaded.

Student Loan

I know I mentioned this before… so my apologises. But the means didn’t materialize due to unforseen… means stealing?… means prioritizing?… er… something came up and I couldn’t send the money home… until last week!

Jo and I celebrated with some friends (who oddly enough were having a anti-Hooters dinner) and spilt a chicken and rib combo at the Outback Steakhouse (which is not nearly as good as the ones back in Canada… in my humble yet informed opinion!)

So, government of Canada, you will not be suckling at the teat of Mr. Lapointe’s interest payments any longer. No you shall make way for Mastercard! That’s right. Now one can have a rest. Teat that is. I only have 2. Unlike pigs. Who have like, 20.

Leaves

Why I Call This End Of The Internet, “Bitey!”

This dude sent this video and his (reportedly 11 page) CV when he applied for a job. Now he has his own Wikipedia Entry. You can read more about it here, here, and ummm, here.

I have read rumours that this guy may take over from this poor kid.

The Irresistible Revolution

Along with Jamie I have been reading The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. You can find more about him and his community called the Simple Way, here.

I found the book along with a few others on my “to-read” list at my father-in-law’s (we helped moved his library into his office and helped ourselves to some stuff and it has fit right in with where my mind is at these days. Missional living. Letting go. Responsible living and consuming. Another jolt to my theology and praxis… to add to the pile! Have a read.

Why Are We Here?

I can’t seem to post to my blog via my ftp server. So I guess I will have to post here for now. We’ll see how it goes. I am not sure what happened, it just stopped working properly the other day and I haven’t been able to post anything new since the 14th of October. So here we are!

Canned Heat

That is the environment know as our bedroom. On week days I beat yellow face to the horizon. Weekends however, yellow face jolts me out of bed with a 2 pronged attack. First it slips through the blinds and runs straight across my eyes. This is countered by me slipping down in the bed to avoid the searing heat and light. It is the follow up that getshttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif me up and out. The systematic heating of our room to roasting temperature. So the first light hits at 630am… then the heat gets me out of bed at 7-730am depending on my stubborness levels. The fan on me on high is turned into a hair dryer at this point rendering it useless.

Whinge over.

Not too much exciting going on since Mr. Excitement went home.

We have put in applications for 2 different houses. The last one was this morning. Our favorite yet. Minutes walk to the train. Cul-de-sac. Good sized rooms. But we play the waiting game for now. It’s kinda like the lottery. The owner picks who he wants to rent it to. I have had a good feeling about this place since Jo found it. Should know in the next day or two. This will be the house we are sharing with another couple. Will post some pictures if and when it all goes down.

Looking forward to it!