... blue

i never said
don't
and i
never said
please

... t-minus 24 sleeps...

i've had a request for travelling details. i'm making two trips in the near future.

trip number 1: melbourne.

whoop-di-doo, i hear some people breathe, but it's this weekend, and i'm flying down - first time i've been in a plane since i went to china (and for those who don't know that was a good 12.5 years ago)... it's a bit of a dry run to make sure i don't freak out in the enclosed space. i know i probably won't, but it's also a nice excuse to visit a city i really enjoy being in. i can also catch up with a few friends down there, barb, sally and sue-ellen.

trip number 2: new york state.

i leave on november 12 and arrive back home on november 25. i'm flying to new york city, staying overnight (since i arrive 9:30pm local time) then catch the bus to ithaca, where i'm going to be staying with julie for a week, then i believe we're both coming back to new york city where we'll be another two nights looking around the place, then i'm back home. bit of a whistle-stop visit, but there you go.

i haven't been on holidays overseas for ages, and it's kind of exciting now to actually be going again. i always had an excuse - my sister's been living overseas for ages, but i hate enough that we have trouble getting along while she's here in australia, i couldn't bear having fights with her while i was overseas. julie was gracious enough to say that i could stay with her, and i'm taking her up on that. it'll also be nice to see someone i only get to talk to in the morning when i'm journalling over my coffee... not that i get much of a reply that way, but i do hear stuff after a while! :)

i'm looking forward to getting away from my life here in australia for a little while, hopefully making a good start on some writing ideas i have, and thinking through stuff that's on my heart to think about. God's been doing so much in my life, in my thoughts and my heart, it'll be nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and just ... be.

and i'll be seeing my best friend, which is always nice.

... gordon greenwood... i mean, graham goldsworthy...

i've been having a terrible time lately telling people that i'm reading gospel and kingdom by graham goldsworthy. every time i try to say graham goldsworthy, i go to say gordon greenwood. "who is gordon greenwood?" i hear you ask... well, he wrote a book called the modern world, which we used as a textbook in 2- and 3-unit modern history when i did the hsc in '92.

anyway, a bit i read in g&k today gave me pause, and i thought i'd blog it. i journalled it too, but my reader won't get to see it for a while, since it's in the interim journal!

...[w]hen we allow the whole Bible - Old and New Testaments - to speak to us, we find that those subjective aspects of the Christian life which are undoubtedly important - the new life, faith and sanctification - are the fruits of the gospel... [it] is rooted and grounded in the history of redemption. It is the good news about Jesus, before it can become good news for sinful men and women...

[ just before the end of chapter 1 ]

i don't know if i've ever really considered my faith or new birth as fruits of the gospel - gifts from God certainly, but not as flowers on the orchid of the gospel! the importance of the gospel is then... proportionately (?) so much greater for looking at it like that!

also exciting but not quite so much is reading it explicitly said that the gospel is about Jesus before it is for people, sinful people (to use a tautology). to see it written down explicitly in black and white... exciting.

... travelling

after many years of poking and prodding by my family, i am travelling again. twelve years ago i went overseas for a couple of weeks, and now, in november, i'm going to be travelling again. i buy my ticket this week, and i'm actualy starting to get excited.

t-minus 32 sleeps and counting?

... oi, oi, oi...

well, i finished seven ancient wonders yesterday morning, not early after midnight, but early after breakfast. it was a great read...

... but it's the first matthew reilly book i've read that hasn't blown me away.

i can't believe i'm saying that, but that's how i feel. even hell island was impacting. that was like an awesome ten-minute preview to a movie, or one of those awesome advertisements that's almost better than the movie you're going to see at the cinema. (the advertising campaign "revolution" for the sega saturn game console was like that... shame the console never really took off - it was a brilliant advert... )

it was fast, but not that fast. it was exciting, but not as exciting as temple, say. i think... i think it would've been a better follow-up book.

maybe if i'd read a novella or something about jack west, jr, beforehand? about what happened at basra? it all just seemed a little bit... contrived?

i wish i wasn't saying this, but it's the first matthew reilly novel i've kind of felt a bit... unsurprised at.

it's good. don't get me wrong. it's good.

i'm just not sure it's as good as his other work. it's the latest, but i'm not sure it's the greatest.

sorry, matthew. please believe me when i say, i'm a fan of your work until the day i die.

... reilly! reilly! reilly!

JUST bought matthew reilly's new book, seven ancient wonders.

at k-mart.

for $26.95.

in hardback.

(until i actually read it, i don't think there's much else to say. why are you stil here? go buy the book!!!)

... temple

temple is the second of matthew reilly's books that i ever read, ice station being the first and contest being the third. anyone who knows me and who's heard me talk about his books knows i get very evangelistic about them. (not infrequently do i wish i could bring myself to be so engaged about the Bible!)

i finished reading it again this morning, on the way to work. it would make an excellent film (of course, all of his books would - be looking out for news about the production of hover car racer, once hollywood gets its butt in gear...)

i was thinking who i would cast the film with. frank nash would easily be played by brian cox (slight typecasting, but i don't think he'd mind). the other cast would be a bit harder, but i was thinking william race could be played by edward norton... similarly to the character in primal fear, but instead of swinging wildly between the two, norton would show a gradual strengthening in the face of opposition as race discovers just how heroic he could be. brendan fraser would be too nice, i think, although i still haven't seen the quiet american yet.

and for ice station readers, how about rob morrow from numb3rs and northern exposure to play shane schofield?

... rhyme

This is the house that John built.

This is the rum that lay in house that John built.

These are the rats that drank the rum that lay in house that John built.

This is the cat that hid from the rats that drank the rum that lay in house that John built.

This is the dog that shamed the cat that hid from the rats that drank the rum that lay in house that John built.

These are the pigs that followed the dog that shamed the cat that hid from the rats that drank the rum that lay in house that John built.

These are the sheep ruled by the pigs that followed the dog that shamed the cat that hid from the rats that drank the rum that lay in house that John built.

This is the game played by the sheep ruled by the pigs that followed the dog that shamed the cat that hid from the rats that drank the rum that lay in house that John built.

These are the snakes that win the game played by the sheep ruled by the pigs that followed the dog that shamed the cat that hid from the rats that drank the rum that lay in house that John built.

This is the weasel that charmed the snakes that win the game played by the sheep ruled by the pigs that followed the dog that shamed the cat that hid from the rats that drank the rum that lay in house that John built.