mountain masala

who'll be the next warney?

who's likely to replace warney as australia'a premium leg spinner next summer...

according to darren lehmann, it could be cullen bailey..

http://ninemsn.sportal.com.au/default.aspx?s=cricketdisplay&id=92646

cullen is son of craig and kay bailey and a person in his own right!

Cullen is also a journalism student as is currently blogging about his summer sporting camp thing at tallebudgera

http://cricket.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=37068&pageid=285

go cullen!

(so good to see craig known as "cullen's dad"!)

tributes to two unique bands

inspired by dave stewart's "Platinum Weird" spoof, I'm going to start tributes here to two real bands that i've actually played in, and sometimes managed (if you could call it that...) - the Bruce Mullan All Stars and the Dead Set Chick Magnets. I was not the lead anything in either of them.

We'll tell it all - the gigs, the set lists, the after parties, the photos, the mp3s, the reviews, the fashion statements, the groupies (ok, not the groupies... that's a very short list, and we were all married to them... one at a time...)

go on then, send in your favourite memories and I'll starting doctoring the photos.

(hurry before i start regretting this. it was all brought on by the "five things you didnt know about me"... challenge)

i can see clearly now

i can see clearly now, I have new specs
i can see all obstacles in my... ouch!

wow. i didnt realise how overdue i was for new glasses (and a fashion makeover...)

an eventful couple of weeks

on a less personal note...

the kids have started holidays
we survived the Year 11 school play and the twins were great
they both received academic awards at school and grace was dux of their year. we're a bit proud. ellen reckons she must have come second and plans to beat her next year... who knows?
i have a 'reading week' at home (aka - finishing off loose ends) and then 3 weeks holiday. i need it so much...
the twins head off to ncyc on new years eve on a bus trip from shepparton across the nullabour and back - hope its a wonderful adventure for them
yvonne has been bringing home edible christmas pressies from the kids at the child care centre as usual!
i made a bloody good paella last night - some dirt cheap seafood around at the mo'. today i made bread with sundried tomatoes, black olives, basil and parmesan in it, so we'll toast it with stuff on top for tea. yum.
listening to the latest Lips album "At War with the Mystics" ($8 at JB) insane and good as always. and a double DVD of van the man live in 1974 and 1980
have brought home a bunch of books from the college library for summer reading - ones i've ordered in during the year
- the gospel in cyberspace
- media making
- postmodern media culture
- world according to gen y (yes, finally)
- culture & everyday life
- theology & popular culture
- theological imagination
- who's afraid of postmodernism?

and a few others.... ok, i may not get through them all but...!

five things you probably don't know about me

i've been tagged by cheryl to tell you five things you probably don't know about me..... (frankly, i thought her list could have been more self-disclosing...)

so here goes.....

1. I spent about six years in the brisbane youth theatre as a very ordinary actor. I got to play a pixie, the Loch Ness monster, a page boy, a dying soldier, and "the Beast" in "Beauty and the Beast"... that last one has a story attached but I'll save it for now... i've since decided that i'm better writing a script or trying to be a director (yes, it's all about the power....)

2. I spent seven years in the scouts' gang show, and annual review of songs and skits. for two years of that I was actually in the dance team, trying to prove in public that while my feet can move quite well, the rest of me tends not to follow suit... i also got to be a leprechaun, an american indian, a lumberjack, an angel, a scotsman (mmm... it all sounds rather monty python, doesnt it?)

3. not surprisingly then, I had 10 years in the scouting movement, as a cub, scout and venturer. i was responsible for getting numerous people lost in the bush, rendering large quantities of camp food inedible, and almost starting a couple of bushfires. but i did get a queen's scout award too, so there! (i also got a thing called the bushman's thong, but I'd rather not go into the details here...)

4. i went caving once at wee jasper near canberra. it was a freaky experience and i've decided since that i definitely have mild claustrohpobia. i get a bit freaked out by confined spaces. on the other hand, i love big caverns with stalactites etc. mmm... what does that say about me and the church...?

5. one of my childhood hobbies was photography. my brother and I would but black plastic and blankets over the bathroom window and doors, rinse photos in the kitchen sink and dry them on the dining room table. our parents were very tolerant (my brother was an art student, so they had to be!). a couple of years ago i almost started up with it again, as there's something very satisfying about actually developing the film and photos yourself. i still have all of the gear out in the shed. there's something about the smell of developer and fixer chemicals that stays with you... i'm still hanging out for a decent digital camera though!

there will that do? at least it wasnt 'five most embarassing moments'.....

i'm now going to tag duncan, darren, andrew, jools, and rob.

Mustard Seeds

Anne Scull from Gippsland has a blog called Mustard Seeds where she describes in great detail what she does in worship each Sunday. It's lectionary-based and brimming wqith contemporary media and creative ideas. Anne is a friend and former work colleague. Go Anne!

crabby not creamy

such a lame title for a post. tonight I'm makling a variation on my prawn fettucine in creamy basil rose sauce (recipe here). I bought a couple of small blue swimmer crabs on sale yesterday, and some prawns (frozen, cooked, imported, so they'll taste like cornflour..._). I'd love to see people extract crab meat to learn how to do it well.

what the heck. I thought I'd just add crab to the previous recipe.... but the cream in the fridge is off and the prawns are already cooked! so, I've shelled the prawns, and fried up the heads in some light olive oil for flavour. then sauted chopped spring onions in the oil. the rest of it is pretty much as per the previous recipe, except that I also left out the mushrooms.

ok, then, it's not making much sense any more!

Heat 1 cup rose wine with 2 tablespoons of green peppercorns until the wine is half evaporated.

Extract the meat from 2 crabs. Shell 1/2 kilo prawns. Keep the prawn heads and fry for a few minutes in some light olive oil. Add more olive oil until you've got about 1/2 cup and cook on medium-low heat for another 5 minutes. Strain the oil.

Gently saute a few chopped spring onions in the prawn oil. Add 3-4 chopped roma tomatoes, a handful of chopped basil leaves and stir for a couple of minutes, then add the rose (you can strain it if you like - I didn't.

Add the seafood - in my case prawns and crab, and stir until cooked. (I tried adding vino cotto but it made it a bit bitter tasting). Add black pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Serve with fettucine and parmesan cheese. Excellent!

i've just had a weekend in canberra working on a UCA training kit to help churches think about how they help people come to faith and grow in faith. it's part of the "becoming disciples" project. john emmett has written a training guide which I'll be editing while I work on an accompanying DVD. I was at Kippax UC, where john works with gordon ramsay, interviewing young people and adults who've have been through baptism, confirmation or reaffirmation of baptism, along with their mentors. it was really inspiring to hear people's stories, even as they struggled to explain some of it.

i always love visiting kippax, as it is such a mix of creativity and community - both clear intentions and intentional openness. a congregation of about 300 members with about 1700 people in the building each week... 11 playgroups including one for Muslim women. a whole range of educational and community services, with significant funding coming from beyond the congregation.

yesterday was the start of advent. they're focusing on "Revolution" and used Tracy Chapman's "Talking about a revolution", the Beatles, and U2 ("I Still Haven't Found"). Their theme was about the taste of revolution (tastes like fresh fruit) , so in the middle service (early one = contemplative, middle = multi-sensory, later = multimedia), they had loads of fresh fruit and made fresh fruit juice. all great stuff.

one of the other excellent things about kippax is that the foyer is a cafe with tables and chairs and people can spend the whole morning out there if they wish. each week they put splace mats and other cards on the tables to give people things to think and talk about if they wish. people can come into the building and spend time there, whether or not they feel comfortable coming into worship.

advent calendars

in the past, we all made advent calendars together and each of the girls had one with pictures in it chosen by the rest of us. that tradition dwindled as they've gotten older, so here are some online alternatives...

eden's online advent calendar

"The Nativity" movie advent calendar - more "christian" movie propaganda here

an 'alternative' advent calendar by Anne Goodrich here

leslie harpold's 2006 calendar here and archived ones here - not quite sure what this is all about but an interesting website!

a daily text from Saint Margaret Mary Catholic Parish, Naperville, Illinois here

Jt Agapanthus and the Black Cat Blues - a daily picture animation story here and previous ones here

An online calendar featuring art from the Washington National Cathedral (Episcopalian) here. excellent.

and how is this for christmas music?

Banjo Bunny Calendar here- how tragic is this?

and this one leaves me a bit speechless...

here's another at BeliefNet. I feel a bit worn out just taking it all in..... glad Christmas takes us back to the heart of God's intentions for creation...... (and that I can then purchase the soundtrack!)

I have to say that my searching left me feeling ill. how can Christians make the coming of Jesus sooooo tacky?????