NCYC09 CONVERGE Bible Study ONE

Bible Study # 01 INVERTED [Curator: Bradon] Up to four screens and projectors Three TVs in a pile Stations spread around the edges and spaces of the auditorium Staging, a pretend brick wall partition, two lounges and music set up on stage 1. As people arrived Sam and Katie were outside 'reverse busking' where you were welcome to take some lollies from the guitar case as you listened. Inside the big screen/s had a looped video of an inverted animated roller coaster. There are heaps of these clips on youtube 2. Welcome and Team Introductions, explaining the space and setting the scene were led by Bradon and cast as everyone being 'misled' by the 'Rob Hanks and Team' tag as I wouldn't be 'speaking' today. 3. We were all introduced by answering Bradon's 'icebreaker questions' 4. "Waiting for the World to Change" originally John Mayer Sam/Katie 5. "Name" NOOMA DVD Rob Bell [The one with all the t-shirts] As a beginning to people thinking about identity, choices and possibilities 6. BIBLE READING Mark 1: 14-20 and Mark 2: 13-17 about 'Jesus calling the fishermen' where they left their nets immediately and followed...broken up and parts printed on paper plates, frisbee into audience and punters read aloud the bit they caught, in order!! 7. Bradon spoke about the reading, theme, today... People were challenged that the message was 'follow me' away from empire/consumerism and questionable values and into the upsidedown adventure with Jesus... a choice! 8. It included a clip from "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" which not only reflects JK Rowlings understanding of all that HP is about but also reminded us we have the choice.... "It's not our abilities that make us what we are, it's the choices we make..." I have the clip isolated but the audio has been corrupted... I'll see what I can do? 9. It also included the significant scene at the end of the film "Coach Carter" where the young player thanks the coach for 'saving his life' and answers the question he was asked when they first met... "what's your deepest fear?" where he quotes the teacher/writer often confused for Nelson Mandela's Presidency Speech... "our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure..." and is about not 'playing small' so as to blend in or not offend... 10. "Meant to Live" Sam/Katie 'Switchfoot' 11. Interactive Stations to EXPLORE: a. Rubbish bin into which you could place 'the cr#p you came in with' b. Wooden Cross with carving tools, into which you could 'make your mark' c. Mending netting and reflecting on what you're being asked to 'put down' to follow d. Besser bricks, feathers, 'post-it' paper asking what foundations your building on, what's pretty? Stick responses in the wall e. Tell-a-vision video booth, saying your name and something about yourself f.The TVs and DVD players didn't work out BUT it was to be Jesus images and movies asking your image/impressions g. Prayers for the world, on brown paper [to be used later in Google Earth prayer] h. [3] Discussion/Reflection calico cloths and illustrations/words on the floor around which people could gather to reflect or chat: Unpacking Getting to levels of meaning Overall reflections i. Digital Graffiti I will get the details of the programs but Tristan's 'brain child' was the computer program where with the aid of a data projector and red laser pointer you were able to freeze and hold graffiti on the projection... stunning! It worked beautifully in practice BUT part way into our time the camera on the tripod, took a dive and hit the floor... tech difficulties indeed... word is it's working now though!! j. Sam/Katie continued busking on one of the couches we'd requested for our space 11. "Oh the Places You'll Go" was read to the regathered group while Rah painted a black illustration of the story on a white board 12. The final challenge was for people to write/reflect on their deepest fear in the context of today's input and their NCYC experience thus far!!

NCYC09 CONVERGE Bible Study INDEPTH

Following a few highlights I now have the info to post a little more detail of our 'experiental' Bible Study in Melbourne at our biennial youth event known as NCYC09 Converge!! It's for 16-30s with plenty of adult leaders and volunteers.
There were [3] levels in SURFING, snorkelling, scuba diving and three options from each level so we were always going to have between 150-200 punters from the younger or exploratory end of the spectrum and hopefully appreciative of the many mediums on offer and the attention to their context/s and culture/s.
I had pitched this idea to the NCYC Team and was very glad to be able to assemble a Team of young adults with the talent, insight and enthusiasm to carry this off.

The Team were:
Rah Bryan who is creative and kept us grounded
Tristan Davison with tech savvy and left field 'or we could... ' suggestions
Wes Champion and mob, with puppetry and robotics
Lenny Ohye embracing drama and logistics
Gregor Newton with early ideas, drama and doing all that was asked
Bradon French resident theologian, evangelist and puppetry
Sam Evans and Katie Evans providing brilliant live music
Angus Davison who made it all actually work flawlessly

After a few false starts, we did manage to get some planning time together and worked through a long list of brainstormed 'dreams' to match the themes, discipleship and eventually what we actually wanted participants to see, hear and experience of Jesus call for us 'to follow'!!

The NCYC09 day themes grew out of the CONVERGE motif of the great variety of people COMING TOGETHER!!

CONVERGE arriving and joining
MERGE shared experience and beginning to 'hear'
URGE the 'call' to get involved, to follow and to be who we could be
SUBMERGE a day of community action for justice, life and faith across Melbourne
EMERGE unpacking experiences and bringing life, action and faith together anew
VERGE AND DIVERGE standing at the edge, being empowered, being 'sent' and leaving

Our three DAY Themes were:
[MERGE] INVERTED or UPSIDE DOWN
[URGE] UGLY
[VERGE] BEAUTIFUL/NAKED
Our injoke was that despite printed material, at one point I was convinced there were four sessions, so our last two were collapsed together.

The Bible Study central thread was Mark's gospel and in particular a political reading of Mark [not out of step with the work of Ched Myers or others from the so-called 'radical discipleship' movement.
The sessions took place in the MLC School JT Auditorium [which was not ideal but offered some brilliant tech possibilities in return for not being a large rectangular room with a flat floor]. It worked but would have been better if we'd seen it and the courtyard outside a little sooner... The BS and Venues support teams did a great job of working with us/putting up with us so it could happen well.
They were especially gracious and fast acting when we discovered on day three that we had just tipped over an entire 5 litres of water based paint onto the storeroom carpet!! This was directly related to our less than ideal pack up on day two with a band hard on our heels in the program...

Following posts will detail:
THEME
BIBLE
RUN SHEET
INTERACTIVE STATIONS
DRAMA
MEDIA
SPOKEN and AUDIO_VISUAL INPUT for each day

All this will be collated more fully and produced as a resource after the Team party late February as it would be ideally suited to a weekend or three session Camp along similar lines.

'Australian of the Year' Mick Dodson

Courtesy of Wikipedia

"Professor Michael James "Mick" Dodson, AM (born 10 April 1950, in Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia) is an Indigenous Australian leader, a member of the Yawuru peoples in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia. His brother is Patrick Dodson, also a noted Aboriginal leader.

Following his parents death he boarded at Monivae College, Hamilton, Victoria. He graduated in law from Monash University in 1978.

He has been a prominent advocate of land rights and other issues affecting indigenous peoples in Australia and globally and has extensive involvement in United Nations indigenous peoples forums."

Read more here

Mention almost any major TV or news piece about Land Rights, the 'Intervention', our bicentennial etc and Mick features being asked for a view. Often a lone voice, with a unique perspective on issues he is often best able to encapsulate and represent the diversity of views amongst aboriginal people. Most issues of self determination, land rights, independence and the future are complex and Mick Dodson is one who can be relied upon to 'give it to you straight.'

A desreving and inspired choice for 'Aussie of the Year' lets hope his term can represent real and significant improvement for indigenous aussies everywhere!!

"The Rising" Bruce Springsteen

From this last weeks Inauguration Concert called "We Are One" you could do worse than use this Springsteen song as a 'Call' or for 'Reflection.' It's the title track of the album he wrote following the events of 9/11 and some time spent hearing the stories of survivors and family members of the New York Fire Department [FDNY]. That album includes the similar stirring and vivid 'Into the Fire.'
He seemed to very much be singing about a lifting of a heavy weight, the hope for change in difficult times that the 44th President represents... a soundtrack for future HOPE!

"The Rising"
Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li
Spirits above and behind me
Faces gone, black eyes burnin' bright
May their precious blood forever bind me
Lord as I stand before your fiery light
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li
I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There's holy pictures of our children
Dancin' in a sky filled with light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line
Sky of blackness and sorrow (a dream of life)
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
Sky of glory and sadness (a dream of life)
Sky of mercy, sky of fear (a dream of life)
Sky of memory and shadow (a dream of life)
Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life (a dream of life)
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

Inauguration Benediction

I suppose if I were doing something in worship this Sunday I could do worse than craft a version of Rev Lowery's Benediction into a suitable piece for the Australian context [especially with Australia Day on Monday!!
Remarkable to hear the spirit, wisdom and deep faith of someone there when Dr King and others were drawn into the civil rights movement by the actions of Rosa Parks. It mostly left me reminded that for all the cr#p in the church there is still an everlasting God who inspires, connects and loves and who drives a deep sense of connectedness and purpose in the minds and hearts of those who choose to try to follow!! A remarkable moment in a remarkable day!!

AND THE TRANSCRIPT:

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far along the way, thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee. Shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand — true to thee, O God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we’ve shared this day. We pray now, O Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant, Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration. He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national and, indeed, the global fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hand, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations. Our faith does not shrink, though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

For we know that, Lord, you’re able and you’re willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor or the least of these and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that, yes, we can work together to achieve a more perfect union. And while we have sown the seeds of greed — the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

And as we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.

Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little, angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together, children, pledging that we won’t get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone, with your hands of power and your heart of love.

Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around — (laughter) — when yellow will be mellow — (laughter) — when the red man can get ahead, man — (laughter) — and when white will embrace what is right.

Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: Say amen –

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: — and amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen! (Cheers, applause.)

Heath Ledger nominated for an Oscar

None of us really "knows" a celebrity, public figure, actor or musician unless we've met and spent time and gotten to ask a few questions and spent fun time with someone...
But this interview says so much about the media hype, impressions, death and life of WA's Heath Ledger who died 12 months ago and has just been nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor at this year's Academy Awards!! This is of course for his role as 'The Joker' in 'The Dark Knight'
Heath's family have been at pains to counter the stories about the mental and emotional effect of this work on Heath Ledger by emphasising this quote that he'd had 'the most fun' playing the Joker.
What you'll also notice in this interview I would interpret as a shy young man who loves to act but hates to talk about it, himself and anything other than getting on with the job. A person who left Sydney's northern beaches to live in Brooklyn and then Manhattan to escape the invasive media.
There's no doubt Heath Ledger took drugs, enjoyed the escape of WA, family and the growing significance of the life of his daughter Matilda...
His accidental death [which his insurance company refuses to pay out] was a tragedy and it'll be a huge shock if he is not recognised in February with one of those amazing little statuettes!! Who really cares, well as a movie freak I love what they represent [as rigged as the voting may be] and enjoy seeing actors be themselves at awards shows vs the confidence and clarity of the characters they portray.
Likewise across the world young people lose their lives each day to road accidents, drownings, drugs, illness and most culpably lack of food and clean water. It's a crazy world where people will visit a Manhattan apartment block this week to place flowers on a sidewalk with candles, photos and posters of a movie star and yet every three seconds a child somewhere in the world dies from preventable causes.
The loss of Heath Ledger is no less tragic, it's just a reminder of the false nature of a world of celebrity.

Newcastle's "Lovett Gallery"

A hidden gem above Newcastle's Regional Library is the Lovett Gallery which hosts a few standout and a few local exhibitions each year which consistently outdraw the actually regional gallery [almost next door]!!

Two upcoming examples include:

REBUILDING AFGHANISTAN is a photographic display sourced from government, defence and aid agency sources. The pictures show the 'ray of light or hope' represented by Australian and Canadian joint efforts in the rebuilding and include: soldiers socialising; children at school; and community members and politicians meeting.
The show runs until early March before heading to Perth!!

NIKON WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPH AWARDS
This exhibition opens March 13

Monday-Wednesday: 9.30am-8.00pm
Thursday & Friday: 9.30am-5.00pm
Saturday: 9.30am-2.00pm

Gen 'Y' and Tennis

An interesting annual conversation happened on local radio this morning as Australia has no male tennis player in the Top 100 as at this week while the Aussie Open Tennis plays out in Melbourne. Next will come doubts about it's status as the 'Grand Slam of the Asia/Pacific' with credible competition from Brisbane and Sydney, or more likely Beijing or Dubai.
There have been announcements about a clay court in Spain taking visiting Aussie junior squads, the AIS, Eurpoeans resettling here with family and some future champs have been given media exposure.
But the much more interesting underlying conversation has been around whether it's simply a case of the rest of the world catching up with us, the motive of a better life inspiring Eurpoean and soviet youth OR is it the soft, spoiled and consumer focused gen Y anglos who lack the desperation and commitment to 'do what's required' to rise to the top of the pile?
The same discussions go on in other sports. This one included stories of the old fashioned coaches conducting sessions and sending kids out to collect all the balls [the time honoured slog work of being part of a tennis lesson] only to be told by their young charges that they were happy to pick up the ones they'd hit, but not the ones 'you' or others had hit...
Do Gen Y members of a post boomer generation have it too easy with all the mod cons, a lack of desperation and a lack of appreciation for hard work....?
It reminds me that my two commitments to do some work for the Assembly Next Gen's project didn't really pan out this year... at Winter Camp we were overrun just getting Camp happening and at Synod we didn't get enough younger people to attend the session for it to be widely representative!!
I am still keen to: write up some observations from my NCYC Bible Study experience and to do some video-ing and a dialogue with gen Y's at coming events in 2009.
In the meantime lets hope some young aussie tennis talent don't mind sharing didgy hotel rooms, trooping arounf European clay trauining venues and having to actually pick up a few tennis balls on their way to the worlds Top Ten!!

Pride [In the Name of Love]

President Obama

For some crazy reason [despite setting the vcr to record some hours of cnn coverage] I decided to respond to my speculative 3.25am alarm and got up to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama.
The same 'empire' that so dominates the world of business, politics, military action and culture also reflects the reality of it's huge 'footprint' and celebrates the election of an impressive and hopeful figure who is also an African American. Obama and those he invited to participate, made some amazing links with US and world history.
Empty rhetoric? Inflated sense of self importance? Wallpapering over a world of pain and injustice? Well, time as ever will tell!
As I listened to Obama and to Rev Lowery in the Benediction I had a mix of memories of David Letterman's 'Great Moments in American Presidential History' highlighting the bumbling stupidity of George W and a poignant sense of the connections with the civil rights movement, the struggle of African Americans for justice and equality and the significance of a moment in time when the US stands able to change, to be different and to strike a chord for the future.
At the same time the values of God [who loomed large in the phsyche, words and philosophy of the ceremony] as I perceive them, are independent of the system represented in Washington today. God's call to all people is to embody the kinds of values that were alluded to and listed today. There were some impressive and inspiring words spoken!
As ever, the true test of those will be in the choices, the living out and the reality of there delivery. In other words are they any chance of living up to the rhetoric?
God calls us to the very values espoused but that call is less tied to the identity or story of any given nation and more fundamental to who we are and how we will be. We heard the best of what's possible with an appropriate note of what's been lost in America's mistakes and what's been exposed in the financial disasters unfolding around us at this time.

"and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a nearby restaurant, can stand here and take this oath of Office..."

The connections with Lincoln, the naming of various faiths, the invitation to the Tuskedee [?] Airmen [the African American airmen group described as an experiment, in seeing whether they had the bravery, determination and skill to participate as soldiers] and the artists and contributors chosen all gave the ceremony an air of possibility. Geez it looked cold though at sub zero. How poignant that Dick Cheney strained his back shifting boxes and ended up participating in a wheelchair and the Chief Justice stuffed up the Oath so Obama had to verbally stumble.

Anyhow, I suppose we can go back to sleep, back to not knowing what the US is doing and has done in Central America, we can watch the movies, see the President on the news, hear the justifications for not lowering greenhouse or raising the aid budget and head to the Westfield to ease our pain and salve our consumerist needs with a new hat, donut or DVD!!

So why did I get up? Why do I feel despite all my usual 'love/hate' feelings about the US that this will rank up there with staying up to see Mandela freed? Who gives a cr#p? Well I do, with equal measure of scepticism, uncomfortableness and yet hope that what I've watched live via amazing satellite might actually make the world a genuinely better place and definitely asks me what I am willing and able to do about the things that are wrong!
It certainly reminded me of how I felt and what I hoped, listening to/watching the opening of Federal Parliament with the new Aussie Rudd labour Government, delivering an apology to our country's indigenous people so movingly and appropriately not so long ago!!

Will they [in the words of the movie 'Springtime'] "pick [themselves] up, dust [themselves] off, and get to work..."

Climate change
World politics
Government
Interfaith struggles
War/Conflict
Finance
Human rights

Row M Seat 30 "Seven Pounds" starring Will Smith

'Ben Thomas' [Will Smith] has a secret where even the previews talk about how he took only seven seconds to ruin his life. We pick up the unfolding story in this film where it seems Ben has chosen a range of people to help out in life, seemingly out of his capapcity as an IRS [Tax Ofice] Case Worker.
This moving film comes from the 'Pursuit of Happyness' team and has a similar grain and feel whilst Will Smith works hard to create the depth and complexity of his character who is surprised by the girl he meets who is in need of a heart transplant.
As the truth about Ben and the reasons for and nature of his helping become clear, this turns into a very moving and thoughtful story of one persons attempts to make a real difference in the lives of others.

Will Smith quote:
"Usually with the films that I make there are ideas that I connect to, but lately I've been dealing with the bittersweet in life because it feels more natural. You don't ever get it really the way you want in life. That really fascinates me. As an actor, there are certain parts of a character that you create, and you train yourself to have those reactions and then it becomes hard to stop them when the role is over. You have to retrain yourself. My character in this film is like hot grits. You know you can't shake them off and when you do, it hurts."

Rotten Tomatoes movie review website was like many others not exactly raving about the film.

SPOILER ALERT
While I found the story had weaknesses and some aspects were simply implausible, it is a 'fable' in the truest sense and offers reflections on:
life
mistakes
that things don't always go well

There are challenges awaiting many thoughtful viewers and the films climax is sudden and definitive!!

U2 News

As ever the publicity and media hype surrounding U2 goes into overdrive in the lead up to every new album! As blogged before, there are stolen lyrics, stunts, rumours etc and this time is no different!!

No, there are no tix yet for a summer UK Tour
Yes, the new single will debut on Dublin radio Jan 19th
Yes, U2 will play alongside others at the 'We Are One' celebration at the lincoln Memorial in Washington as an Obama Inauguration Celebration that's open to the public.
No, they will not redefine rock n roll with the new release

AND maybe the above has something to do with the new album cover by Hiroshi Sugimoto?

Holiday Blogging

Just letting my three or four devoted readers out there know that for the next 3-4 weeks I'll only be blogging for fun and not out of duty... so resource ideas, inspired stuff, NCYC write ups etc will have to wait... sports, movies, news and observations may appear but only if I'm surfing for FUN!!

Catch you in a few weeks... I have also decided that I will then be launching a lectionary based worship resource blog as a seperate and collaborative project with links and reference to several existing blogs that this will hopefully complement... just one of many different focal points in 2009!! Stay tuned for more...

Festival of Sydney "Play Me, I'm Yours" Pianos

As an art installation Luke Jerram has placed 30 pianos outdoors across Sydney with the aim of 'creating community' as budding pianists 'have a go' and gather those around them with a tune!!
The artist tells the story of waking at 2am the other night and worrying the Hyde Park Piano hadn't been properly covered with the light showers forecast. He arrived to discover a 'rough sleeper' playing a few tunes but from half under said cover so both were out of the rain... surreal!
The Festival of Sydney never disappoints for quality free street drama, performance, theatre and engagement! WE dip our toes in next Monday with the annual trip to the Openair Cinema on the harbour at Mrs Macquarie's Chair seeing 'Valkyrie' with Tom Cruise.

Worship Unplugged # 56 Google Earth Prayer

Over three Bible Studies at our biennial national youth event [NCYC] we used Google Earth to plot the punters specific prayers alongside some related to news of the week. Each place was pinpointed and as the globe rotated and zoomed in and out we planned a musical soundtrack for reflection which for time sake became a live backing. This was typical of Tristan D's creativity following the usual response of "or we could..."

Post NCYC in Melbourne

The dust hasn't settled on NCYC but I find myself having farewelled various groups within our tour, including dinner with the Wollongong crowd tonight at St Kilda!! and so now I am in the home stretch!!
I decided not to go to the 'gigglefest' 20Twenty at the G and so I am looking forward to a good sleep before hitting the roasd for home...
For the record, while I find the batting entertaining I still think they ought to just put a bowling machine at one end and let rip... and I don't believe it'll be good for cricket in the long run... yet it is how I liked to bat in all forms of the game...
Perhaps while Israel bombs the tripe out of Gaza there are more important things going on in the world!!
In coming weeks we will be celebrating our work at Bible Studies and writing our material into a Resource for use by others. It was really energising and it was quite amazing to work with such a talented team who all worked hard to go with the creative style that got such great feedback from the 'punters.'

My highlights included:
Our day themes of Inverted, Ugly and the legendary Beautiful>Naked
Rah's painting
Sam/Katie's music
'Fall At Your Feet' with Jesse Attwood at Kicks DVD while Sam/Katie played live
Google Earth Prayer was very cool
Laser Grafitti was great until the video camera took a spill
[note to self about replacing that]
The feedback we received from delegates and their leaders was really positive
Having the time/resources/talents to do most of what we dreamed
Just seeing drama, music, speaking and video come together
Overcoming the limitations of the space
Laughing a lot about the 5 litres of paint we spilled on the storeroom floor

ncyc09 Converge

i am blogging today from Melbourne where we have today been'flash mobbing' to draw attention to 'make poverty history' as a submersion action.
I have also been working with a brilliant team in presenting a 'surfing level' bible study with 170 punters over 16

Photos to follow in coming days...

Deadpool 2009

I'll write more when I get home from NCYC09 in Melbourne BUT I know some will be horrified that I am again entering a 'Deadpool' for 2009 with some cricketing mates and friends of friends....

Each will sumbit 15 potential well knowns who might die during 2009 and earn a point for each year under 100 of each successsful prediction.... I was leading in 2008 with Edmund Hillary and Steve Fossett [legally dead in Feb] but didn't punt on the Bali Bombers who were tragically young in wasting their lives...

Anyhow, if offended, look away now:

1. Nelson Mandela
2. Barack Obama
3. Fidel Castro
4. Michael J Fox
5. Billy Graham
6. Patrick Swayze
7. Phyllis Diller
8. Farah Fawcett
9. Kirk Douglas
10. BB King
11. Mickey Rooney
12. Britney Spears
13. Paul Gasgoigne
14. Eli Wallach
15. Joan Fontaine

Just remember... I don't want any of these people to die... but they just might!!

Video for NCYC09

Just to avoid doing more prep work right now I thought I'd post one of the audio-visuals I've prepared for Bible Study at NCYC09 in Melbourne... way too much to do, way too little time!!

It's for "Ugly" theme day as an open ended intro about us 'getting ugly' in response to who Jesus spent time with and who we are called to be and what we're called to build... the world lived according to the values of God!!

"No Line on the Horizon" U2

OK so I couldn't resist after all....
The reports are that you could get your hands on new U2 on 2nd March 2009.
"I'll believe it when I see it" but some new tracks, songs that didn't make it for "Atomic Bomb" and a re-energise group working with Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno and Steve Lillywhite [The Captain] promises at least some interesting moments ahead of Easter if it all comes to pass!!
See u2.com for details of course.

"Valkyrie" rated tbc at Openair Cinema Sydney

After some internet drama I was able to book the annual sojourn to the Openair at 'Mrs Macquarie's Chair' in Sydney. We've been going along once or twice each season since it began in 1997. It's a brilliant night out with certain quirky features:

• It's a temporary grandstand with tiered seating of locked together sebel plastic chairs where the screen is on two pylons in the harbour and the hydraulics haul it into place at 8.15pm for a series of arty adverts [one year even an actual boat on the water featured alongside an ad]
  
• You must pre-book and arrive before 6pm [it wasn't always so popular but since St George took over from Phillips as major sponsor and as word got around you now have to have a system to get your dinner table and the best seats]
  
• Watch as various punters: get in the wrong queue, try to sneak in to the shortest line, attempt to sneak in bottles of wine, entertain those nearby with stories of rich relatives, their season tickets at the STC, anecdotes from the last 11 years of lining up, or repeatedly need to phone their slack friends who've let them line up for 2 hours only to arrive just as 'gates open'
  
• One of us heads straight for the seat markers and the less well known left stairs with free Lindt chocolate in hand, the other charges up to the dinner tables to reserve a space where there's not enough for all despite a recent expansion
  
• We choose to sit in the centre on an aisle with the crossover aisle right behind us so when we lean back it isn't into someone elses lap or dinner
  
• With seat markers in place we choose bangers and mash, thai beef noodles or fish n chips from Belinda Franks caterers by tagging at the long tables and then proceed to eat as slowly as possible, adding coffee and drinks so as to divert the seagullers trying to guilt you into giving up your table
  
• Only when absolutely necessary we move to our seats with extra softdrinks stowed, newspapers and magazines aplenty and take one more photo of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the background
  
• Rain ponchos are distributed on the rare occasion rain is possible [needed twice in eleven years]
  
• Choose a movie under 2 hours or thereabouts if possible because of the seats


• Having parked across from the entrance by circling the headland we are well placed at movie end to retry the side stairs, hustle up the hill and getaway quickly with a stop in 20-30mins for a softdrink or snack proior to the 2 hour drive home!!


• "One year" we say "we must try out the Moonlight Cinema at Centennial Park where you take your own deckchair."

For 2009 we managed to secure tix for "Valkyrie" the reason for Tom Cruise spooky Beatlesesque hair cut 18 months ago. It's based on the story of the attempt by insiders to kill Adolf Hitler and the names besides Cruise give me some cause to think it'll be a good film.

Click the title or go here to check it out http://valkyrie.unitedartists.com/

Happy Christmas from Pumphouse via U2

While heavily into preparations as part of my team who are leading a 'surfing level' Bible Study at the upcoming NCYC09 in Melbourne!! I pause for an early 'HAPPY CHRISTMAS' to my two or three readers out there!! With the help of U2 [I will say nothing about their 'it's like nothing else we've ever recorded' line or the slated release dates for their new album or indeed the video recording in London]

U2's cover of Greg Lake's 'I Believe in Father Christmas' is among cuts from The Killers, John Legend, Jay-Z and Coldplay on (RED)WIRE, a groundbreaking new digital magazine service supporting the fight against global poverty. Check out RED WIRE!

GetUp on Climate Change

The activist network 'GetUp' has put together a funny TV spot making the point that with the Rudd government measly 5% carbon reduction target they've released a policy not too dissimilar to one that John Howard might have been dragged kicking and screaming towards.
While they've 'wedged' Malcolm Turnbull they've fallen way short of their own Garnuat Report and rhetoric.
GetUp are previewing the spot here and asking for donations to get it on air during the Aussie Boxing Day cricket Test in Melbourne telecast by the Nine Network.

Don Bradman's 1948 Australian Cricket 'Baggy Green' Cap

A piece of history is up for auction today... if only I had a lazy few hundred thousand dollars!

For the non cricket mad readers... in the game of cricket there is no greater player than 'The Don'... playing both sides of World War 2. and bringing people to the grounds when news spread that he was batting. He had no peer in his ability to make big scores at all levels of the game and led to specific tactics being developed by English Captain Douglas Jardine and enacted in the so called 'bodyline' series in the 1930's.

In a sport where a batsmen's average either side of 50 runs per innings is a fair achievement and special players average 60, Bradman averaged 99.94. Part of the legend is of course that he needed only four runs in his final innings to average 100 but was dismissed for zero [a duck].

The 1948 Australian team swept all before them and were undefeated on an extended Tour and in some 31 first class cricket matches including 4-0 with one draw in the Test Match series v England, becaming known as the 'Invincibles.'

This is the Don's 1948 cap and is up for auction in Melbourne later today!!.

Some of the notable touring party members are:

Don Bradman (captain)
Lindsay Hassett (vice-captain)
Ray Lindwall
Keith Miller
Sam Loxton
Neil Harvey
Bill Brown
Arthur Morris
Don Tallon (wicket-keeper)
Sid Barnes
Ian Johnson
Bill Johnston
Ernie Toshack
Doug Ring
and three or four others

Like any person the legend is larger than life with the occasional story about a catholic/protestant split in the team, Bradman's clash with officials over a newspaper job and later as an administrator.

Former Australian Captain Ian Chappell dared to criticise Bradman for resisting the players attempts to gain greater financial reward from playing the game. Chappell said he thought Bradman would have been more understanding as a former player, that he felt he was treated like a child and as though the money was coming out of Bradman's own wallet!!

I think he mostly likes to be seen as the only one game to speak out more than seeing the issue or the accurate history as being important!! He continues to make media comment in favour of those 'on his team' as measured by ability to down a beer or twelve while there's no doubt he was also an inspiring and successful Aussie skipper.

Row 'M' Seat 30 "Seven Pounds"

"It is within my power to drastically change his cirumstances, but I don't want to give that man a gift he doesn't deserve."

Angela 'scoop' Bishop's entertainment wrap for TEN this morning on TV included a sneak peak at Will Smith's new movie due here in Oz in January!!
"Seven Pounds" Ben (Will Smith) is an IRS agent who is deeply depressed and guilt-ridden over mistakes from his past. He sets out in his job to help seven strangers. When he meets Emily (Rosario Dawson), a beautiful woman with a heart condition, he falls in love with her, thereby complicating his plans. Woody Harrelson also appears as a blind pianist who befriends Ben.
It's from the makers of 'Pursuit of Happyness' so it's probably more than the marketing that's a similar feel to that film!!

Other cinema to look for now/2009:
'Frost/Nixon' December
'Valkyrie' January [the reason for that Tom Cruise hairstyle]
'Star Trek' May
'Terminator Salvation' with Christian Bale as John Connor
'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' June
'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' July [should have been November 2008]
'The Seventh Python' July
'GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra' August
'Dirt Music' based on Tim Winton's novel September

Worship Unplugged # 55 Prayer Hands

Here's one idea I didn't get to do at the recent Advent Retreat! It was inspired by one photo from the 'We're Not Afraid' website that began in response to the 2005 London bombings.

It involves inviting everyone to write a prayer or response on the palm of their hand with a permanent marker and taking photos of each hand. Poison ball activist and U2 doppleganger Bradon tells me they walked the proverbial tightrope recently at North Rocks by doing this all on one evening... you see you take the photos and plug them into Photostory with a sound track and you have an instant audio-visual for prayer, reflection or sending out!!

The North Rocks mob were asked 'what can you offer?' It could be a response to any challenge or invitation, prayers of the people, a commitment, 'one' word...

Did Coldplay copy Joe Satriani?

No coincidence that media outlets have news of Joe Satriani's lawsuit against Coldplay just as they grab seven Grammy nominations!! This youtube video demonstrates the similarity but like many other similar cases there are probably two likelihoods:
1. There are actually only a limited number of chords so eventually similar songs emerge
2. An 'out of court settlement' before Coldplay's tour

Check it out for yourself!!

'Woman at the Well' Advent Retreat

Last weekend I was able to contribute input to our tertiary students 'Advent Retreat' which focused on 'Practicing our Faith'. On Saturday I was talking about 'stories' and one such story was the 'Woman at the Well' using a pretty good modern daramatised first person drama posted on youtube by 'lalaland481'!!

I am posting it here so collaborators on our NCYC Bible Study in January can see the kind of thing we might want to get people to do on video ahead of time of 'live' in the space.

More on the Retreat input soon!!

Life Ahead CD in aid of 'The Buttery' Rehab Centre

The current Rolling Stone has an advert and article explaining this great collection of B sides and rarities from some of Oz best rock and rollers and beyond!!

Grab a copy of the double CD here

Unreliable Idea: 'Previously'

I went to the bookshop for another title but picked up a copy of 'Previously' which I and other are still working on for a few different uses the story immediately suggests!
Each little story picks up a well known fairy tale character e.g. Jack who was puffing from having climbed down a beanstalk... Previously he had.... and then as it goes back over his story it links to the next one and so on...
At the weekend I used it at a Tertiary Students Advent Retreat inviting them at the end of a long year to write a 'Previously...' about where they were coming from to be in that space and then be able to be 'in' the moment on the weekend at hand...

I'm sure it wouldn't work everywhere with every group but it went OK this time around...
It would work in a different way with: kids; in resource ministry training, in Intentional Interim Ministry or short term roles helping people unpack the past... check it at your local bookshop before you buy!!