Thursday, November 25, 2004


You fire with the position and constraints of Oswald and see just how difficult it was Posted by Hello

Outcry has of course followed the release of the game Posted by Hello

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

JFK Reloaded

Mmmm, not sure about this one..... interesting exercise, but maybe for a private research project!!

Assassination game worries police11/22/2004 2:47 PM
By: Jaime Fettrow, News 14 Carolina and The Associated Press
WATCH THE VIDEO
JFK Game
A British company said Sunday it was releasing a video game recreating the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy. CHARLOTTE, N.C. --
The release of a video game that recreates the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy has caught the attention of local authorities who say such things desensitize people to violence.
Glasgow-based firm Traffic said "JFK Reloaded" was an educational "docu-game" that would help disprove conspiracy theories about Kennedy's death.
The game was released Monday on the 41st anniversary of the shooting in Dallas. It challenges players to recreate the three shots fired at the president's car by assassin Lee Harvey Oswald from the Texas School Book Depository.
The most accurate player wins a $100,000 prize.

"JFK Reloaded" recreates the three shots fired at President Kennedy's car by assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
Traffic's managing director, Kirk Ewing, said the game -- available as an Internet download for $9.99 -- would "stimulate a younger generation of players to take an interest in this fascinating episode of American history."
"We've created the game with the belief that Oswald was the only person that fired the shots on that day, although this recreation proves how immensely difficult his task was," Ewing said.
But Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say they are concerned that "JFK Reloaded" and other violent video games promote crime.
"It's the fact that there's such a lack of value put on human life," said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department spokesman Keith Bridges. "You look at some of the homicides that take place, the events this weekend, and you see there's just no value put on human life and obviously that's a concern."

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said such violence games desensitize people to the value of a human life.
Bridges said in real life, there is no winner when it comes to guns.
"If they see someone get shot in the movie, that person gets back up," he said. "(But) it's not real. When the event happens in real life, they don't get back up and a life is lost. And if the person is caught, there are two lives, two tragedies."
Not surprisingly, the Kennedy family is unhappy with the game. A spokesman for the president's brother, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., called the game "despicable."
Sen. Kennedy's spokesman, David Smith, would not comment on whether the family was taking any action to stop the game's release.
"It's despicable. There's really no further comment," Smith said, adding that the Washington office started getting calls about the game Friday.
Web Journalist: Megan Butler

Sunday, November 21, 2004

The Polar Express

Amazing CGI and a fun story to see with groups... even though I personally prefer to embrace Aussie Christmas conditions of 34 degrees, backyard cricket, bbqs and melting chocolates!!

www.ploarexpressmovie.warnerbros.com
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/polar_express/


Brilliant work!! Posted by Hello

Small electrodes map the facial expressions needed Posted by Hello

Rail Guard Posted by Hello

"One Of Us" Joan Osborne

It's been just long enough that this song from the album "Relish" could be useful!!
It generated huge response on Aussie talkback radio where people rang in and poured out their stories of pain, struggle and loss... asking... where is God in all this?

A great Advent Question...

"One of Us" Joan Osborne

“ONE OF US” JOAN OSBORNE
If God had a name what would it be?
And would you call it to his face?
If you were faced with him
In all his glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?
And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

If God had a face what would it look like?
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
in things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints
and all the prophets

(*)
Trying to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody calling on the phone
'cept for the Pope maybe in Rome

(*)
Just trying to make his way home
Like a holy rolling stone
Back up to heaven all alone
Just trying to make his way home
Nobody calling on the phone


What's one question you'd ask God if you had the chance?
What is your picture or image of Jesus?
What does 'God One of Us' really mean to you?

Advent Christmas Upsidedown continued...

Great Leunig in today's Sydney Herald.... you'd need to ask Michael's permission to use it of course!!


Another poignant and timely Leunig Posted by Hello

Saturday, November 20, 2004

U2 First of a few Posts No Doubt

From smh.com.au

A quarter of a century into their career, most rock bands are content to wheel out a greatest hits album every now and then. Not Ireland's U2, who, according to their manager, are still getting better.
"The album we are releasing [this weekend] is their best work," Paul McGuinness told AFP from the band's global headquarters next to the River Liffey in their home city of Dublin.
After ten studio albums, U2 are a strong contender for the title of the world's favourite band, shifting millions of records around the globe and selling out concerts wherever they head.
Coupled with this, singer Bono - born Paul Hewson - has carved out a parallel career as one of the best-known activists for helping the developing world through debt relief.
Regularly hobnobbing with presidents and prime ministers, the globe-trotting rock star won a standing ovation in September at the annual conference of Britain's ruling Labour Party with a rousing speech about Africa.
Things were not always this way, said McGuinness, who has looked after Bono, guitarist The Edge (once known as Dave Evans) bass player Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen since two years before their debut album was released in 1980.

"They started out very hesitantly, tentatively," he said.
"I started managing them in 1978, they were not very good then, but they were convinced they were going to be a great band.
"The spirit of the band was greater than its expertise, they formed the band first and learnt to play instruments later," McGuinness said.
The new album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, has been eagerly awaited - so much so that a rough cut was stolen in the south of France in July.
"U2 have always tried to make of the last album their best record," said Niall Stokes, editor of Hotpress magazine, Ireland's leading music publication, which has long championed the band.
"They have a collective commitment to do great work which distinguishes them from a lot of rock 'n' roll bands who have been around for a long time, and who are happy to take their foot off the gas and rehearse what they have done in the past, their creative ambition diminished over the years," he said.
McGuinness is keen to measure his charges against the standards of the rock and roll greats.
"If you compare them to the Rolling Stones, they have been making records for 40 years, U2 for 25 years," he said.
"A typical (new) Rolling Stones album nowadays sells about two million, the last U2 album sold 13 million.
"If you go to a Rolling Stones concert they will play a lot of their old songs and may (play) one or two from the new album. If you go to a U2 show you will hear all of the last album and some of the older material as well. But that's what keeps them fresh, an ambition to be better."

U2's band members all turned 40 several years back, but they have somehow managed to keep their guitar-led music relevant to music-buyers of all ages, irrespective of the fashions of the time.
"For a band of their vintage to still be able to realign and reinvent themselves every couple of years is incredible," said Stuart Bailey, a BBC radio DJ and a writer for Britain's New Musical Express.
"There's no competition. Plus, Bono has a humanitarian side, and it gives him a validity for being famous," he said.
In the generally fickle world of popular music, Bono's commitment to political causes makes him an easy target for mockery as well as charges that he is pompous and self-important.
But for McGuinness, it is as much a part of the singer's life as the music.
"For Bono, his political work is the result of his deep convictions and it has become his second job," he said.
"He talks about U2 as his day job, but he spends half his time on his organisation, DATA, which stands for Debt Aids Trade Africa. He lobbies governments all over the world on the question of the responsibility of the rich world to assist the poor world."
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, released through Universal Music, will be in stores on Sunday.

Leunig Animated

Three or four of the one minute animations on this DVD have a Christmas theme plus sundry other ones on life themes in general... my favourites include: 'Get A Life' and 'Jumper Leads'
Christmas looks at: slim line santa, three wise men and choosing the right tree etc...
The DVD is available through most outlets including ABC Shops.

Friday, November 19, 2004


From the CD "All That You Can't Leave Behind" Posted by Hello

"Peace On Earth" U2

Anger and frustration inspired by happenings llike the Omagh bombing help U2 remind us that all is not good at Christmas time and "Jesus can you spare the time, throw a drowning man a line, Peace on Earth"? is a valid question and one that many people are asking...

The song lends itself to images or lyrics projected as backing

Heaven on Earth
We need it now
I'm sick of all of thisHanging around
Sick of sorrow
Sick of pain
Sick of hearing again and again
That there's gonna bePeace on Earth
Where I grew up
There weren't many trees
Where there was we'd tear them down
And use them on our enemies
They say that what you mock
Will surely overtake you
And you become a monster
So the monster will not break you
And it's already gone too far
Who said that if you go in hard
You won't get hurtJesus could you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
Tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth
No whos or whys
No-one cries like a mother cries
For peace on Earth
She never got to say goodbye
To see the color in his eyes
Now he's in the dirt
That's peace on Earth
They're reading names out over the radio
All the folks the rest of us won't get to know
Sean and Julia, Gareth, Anne and Breda
Their lives are bigger, than any big idea
Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
To tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth
Jesus this song you wrote
The words are sticking in my throat
Peace on Earth
Hear it every Christmas time
But hope and history won't rhyme
So what's it worth?
This peace on Earth
Peace on Earth
Peace on Earth
Peace on Earth

copyright U2

There was even a competition for the cover art Posted by Hello

702 ABC Radio Sydney Stars Christmas Carol CD

First released in 2003 the competition has just closed for listener entries onto the 2004 CD... Highlights from 2003 include: Wiley Park Publc School "Silent Night" and Three Blind Whites "Mary's Boy Child".

As someone who would prefer to listen to others when invited into community singing.... these versions aren't bad left field renditions, which if learnt locally could breathe life into some very old if traditional songs

"Christmas Must Be Tonight" Paul Kelly

This cover of 'The Band' version is typical Paul [Australian Pub Folk Rock] Kelly and just evokes a familiar feel for the story in this context i.e. southern hemisphere, 35 degrees etc

Christmas Must Be Tonight
Come down to the manger, see the little stranger
Wrapped in swaddling clothes, the prince of peace
Wheels start turning, torches start burning
And the old wise men journey from the East
How a little baby boy bring the people so much joy
Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
This must be Christmas, must be tonight
A shepherd on a hillside, while over my flock I bide
Oh a cold winter night a band of angels sing
In a dream I heard a voice saying ";fear not, come rejoice
It's the end of the beginning, praise the new born king";
How a little baby boy bring the people so much joy
Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
This must be Christmas, must be tonight
I saw it with my own eyes, written up in the skies
But why a simple herdsmen such as I
And then it came to pass, he was born at last
Right below the star that shines on high
How a little baby boy bring the people so much joyS
on of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
This must be Christmas, must be tonight

This is a B track on Paul Kelly's single from 2003 "Won't You Come Around"

Using a bit of humour to encourage people to take another look at a supposedly familiar story Posted by Hello

Worship Unplugged # 28 ADVENT

Over the next week I'll add some ideas that might be useful during this lead up to Christmas...
The full resource paper I've put together will soon be available on the Uniting Church Board of Education Resources website.... but for now, bits n pieces!!

The Fourth Wiseman
You would of course need Gary Larson's permission to use one of his cartoons on a colour overhead transparency or in a powerpoint slide as a pre worship focal point...

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

"How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" U2

Available from HMV Pitt St Midnight Saturday!!

Will Bono's line make it onto the record? Posted by Hello

Live Aid It Ain't

As per the Daily Telegraph and Its sources!!

Band Aid on rocky ground
By MATTHEW BAYLEY and CLEMMIE MOODIE
November 16, 2004
IT was meant to be a re-creation of one of pop's finest moments, where the cream of the British music scene came together in the name of charity.Instead it turned into a ego-fuelled squabble between one of rock's elder statesmen and a flashy young pretender.
The 20th anniversary of Band Aid was hit by an alleged row involving U2's lead singer Bono and Justin Hawkins of The Darkness over the new recording of Do They Know It's Christmas?
Hawkins had been given the task of singing one of the most famous lines "well tonight thank God it's them instead of you" originally sung by Bono, who did not attend the weekend recording.
Insiders said Hawkins did so with aplomb, leaving Bono's contribution to the project, which he had recorded in Ireland, apparently in doubt.
On Sunday an angry Bono was said to be on his way to the UK to re-record the line, after his management insisted his version had to be included, even if it was only the performance from 1984.
"Bono's people say he definitely has to do that line," one insider said.
"Justin's version was brilliant, but they are adamant."
Hawkins said last night: "I did it and I did it better than him. So his management kicked up a stink. It obviously means a lot to him. It's a valuable line for him, he needs it, so I think he's going to fly back and try again to beat me.
"If not, they're going to use the original one he did when he was my age."
It is not the only controversy prompted by the new recording.
Sir Paul McCartney, who plays bass guitar on the song, was banned from singing because he was too old, and artist Damien Hirst's CD cover had to be scrapped because it was deemed to be too disturbing.
On Sunday, only Band Aid founders Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure were present from the 1984 line-up as a new generation of pop stars recorded the
song at Sir George Martin's studio in Hampstead, North London.
Among them were Will Young, Jamelia, Ms Dynamite, Rachel Stevens, Natasha Bedingfield, the Sugababes, Busted, Katie Melua, Damon Albarn, Lemar, Coldplay's Chris Martin and Travis singer Fran Healy. Robbie Williams and Did had already recorded their lyrics.
Sir Bob is said to have reduced many of them to tears by showing them a video of the Ethiopian famine 20 years ago.
Band Aid 20, which will raise money for famine relief in the Darfur region of Sudan, will be released on November 29 and is expected to be the No. 1 Christmas single.
The original song, which featured stars including George Michael and Duran Duran, raised $19.3 million.
Some of the stars on the new version were not even born when the original was made. Soul singer Joss Stone, 17, admitted she had never heard of Geldof, who she called Bob Gandalf.

It'll still make Number One in the UK!!

Back After Some Work

Sorry Folks,
I've been busy with a 'Context and Mission' Workshop in Taree and then preparation and running of our NSW/ACT UCA Youth Workers Conference in Wollongong!!

Monday, November 01, 2004


Interested in seeing what he comes up with! Posted by Hello

Beds are Burning: MIDNIGHT OIL - THE JOURNEY

According to the blurb on the Penguin Books site:
Since its genesis in 1976, Midnight Oil - fronted by the charismatic and passionate Peter Garrett until his departure from the band in late 2002 - has at various times been synonymous with beer-barn angst, green political activism, indigenous advocacy and musical nonconformism. At the same time this hugely popular band has been a mainstay of commercial radio and an icon of contemporary Australia culture.
Despite the band's high profile, its members are notoriously private people who have never before revealed details of the inner workings of Midnight Oil. In Beds Are Burning, Mark Dodshon tells the full and frank story of the remarkable career of the band and its members - Peter Garrett, Jim Moginie, Martin Rotsey, Bones Hillman, Rob Hirst and manager/'sixth member' Gary Morris. Far more than a 'rockography', Beds Are Burning is a book about music, sensitivity, culture, relationships - and, above all, integrity and passion.

Mark Dodshon befriended Peter Garrett whilst at ANU and has travelled a journey alongside the story of this book [including campaign management for Pete during the Nuclear Disarmament Party... when Garrett was cruelly denied a spot in the senate by a Labor-Libs cross preference deal] and even with this long association not all the Oils were happy to go along with this project. Martin Rotsey reportedly refused to speak... However, anyone interested in the journey of this fiercely independent group... from the music industry and from each other, or wondering how Garrett ended up the Federal member for Kingsford Smith, it would be an interesting read.
Out November 1 in a bookstore near you [yet again I recieve no royalty for this free plug!]

After the very sad last Chapter of Rob Hirst's 'Willie's Bar and Grill' I'm interested in future stories about this band and they're amazing story... and still harbour hopes that their last gig is not Twin Towns Leagues Club November 2002... good try Homebake... next up Big Day Out or more likely Splendour in the Grass at Byron!! There's always the Hall of Fame at the ARIA's!!