Chance for the Chancers

The first song by Poor Old Lu that I ever heard - and my favourite.

Click here to download the song for free from the official Poor Old Lu website

Click here to visit my Poor Old Lu fansite

"Certainly one of the most haunting, melodic songs that we ever wrote. I was personally completely taken by it the very first time that I heard the music, and I couldn't wait to write lyrics. The title comes from the song 'Honeydrip' off of Ian McCulloch's solo album "Mysterio". Like much of our "8th Wonder" album, this song was written entirely in the studio during our 2-week tracking session.

A few songs over the years were lyrically driven by my family relationships, and this is one of those. Although it speaks directly to my relationship with my brother, it can also deal on more general terms, that is, those who will not listen to the truth of Jesus Christ and turn a deaf ear instead. The second verse speaks to the brevity of life, the time that we have to share the Gospel, and how difficult it can be to hear. In the final verse, however, the tables turn and the Lord is now comforting me (us) that He takes over when we share our faith with others... and makes the words powerful. "

everything's gonna be okay
He's gonna wipe those fears away
and before the night is thru
this is all going to make sense to you

but you won't hear these words
no you don't have the time
that would be a crime

right now, right away
before it gets too cold
and I know how it kills
and I know how it makes you ill

but you won't hear these words
no you don't have the time
that would be a crime

everything's gonna be okay
He's gonna wipe those fears away
and before the night is thru
this is all going to make sense

Calvin & Hobbes fun

Calvin & Hobbes are great. Our family has got four or five of the books. Over here in New Zealand, we never had the comic strip in our Newspapers - not as far as I know, anyway.

I modified the two below - on the 10th of August 2006 according to Windows... ;) You need to click on them so you can read them. Thanks to Nathan for telling me about these - I had forgotten about them...

And here's a classic original...

Now you have a shot at it... Use Microsoft Paint, that's what I used back in the day... ;)

Farming

Waihola, South Otago, New Zealand.
On the phone after a long day out in the field. ;)

Give Them Parking Space, But Let Them Starve

An excerpt from an article on Liz Brown's blog.  It made my heart cry.

Another moral threshold was crossed when a tiny baby boy, at the specific request of his parents and with the sanction of the Supreme Court of Indiana, was starved to death in a hospital. "Infant Doe" (he was not allowed the usual recognition of being human by being named), born with Down's syndrome and a malfunctioning esophagus (the latter could have been corrected with surgery), died, as the Washington Post (April 18) stated, "not because he couldn't sustain life without a million dollars worth of medical machinery, but because no one fed him." For six days the nurses in that Bloomington hospital went about their usual routines of bathing and changing and feeding all the newborns except one. They bathed and changed Baby Doe but they never gave him a bottle. Over his crib was a notice, DO NOT FEED. Several couples came forward, begging to be allowed to adopt him. They were turned down.

Click here to read the full article

Bill English attacks Labour over "shambles"

Bill English spoke well at the second reading of the Electoral Finance bill. I congratulated him on his firey speech at the A&P Show down in Balclutha on Saturday. He will make a good deputy Prime Minister in 2008.

If you're not sure what the EFB is all about, watch this video and you'll get a better grasp on it.

My Political Compass

Economic Left/Right: 2.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.21

Where are you on the political compass?

Electoral Finance Bill as good as Dunne

The Electoral Finance bill passed it's second reading today. It is almost certain to become law. Thanks so much, Winston First. Peter Dunne and Judy Turner of United Future let us down once again. The Maori party showed an unusual bit of commonsense offering two token votes against the bill. ACT and Gordon Copeland voted against the bill - but it doesn't make much difference, what New Zealand needs at the moment is for New Zealand First to grow um... a moustache and realign themselves closer to National as they once were.

Click here to find out why the EFB is so bad for New Zealand.

National 14 points ahead

In the most recent Roy Morgan poll, National is polling at 14 points ahead of Labour. Results below.

October 29-Novmber 11, 2007
Labour 34
National 48
NZ First 5.5
Greens 7.5
United Future 1
Maori 2.5
ACT 1
Other 0.5

This comes after the month of October where the gap between the two parties was much closer, at times around 5%.

When we sing the National Anthem do we mean it?

from the Section 59 blog

God of Nations at Thy feet,
In the bonds of love we meet,
Hear our voices, we entreat,
God defend our free land.
Guard Pacific's triple star
From the shafts of strife and war,
Make her praises heard afar,
God defend New Zealand.

Men of every creed and race,
Gather here before Thy face,
Asking Thee to bless this place,
God defend our free land.
From dissension, envy, hate,
And corruption guard our state,
Make our country good and great,
God defend New Zealand.

Peace, not war, shall be our boast,
But, should foes assail our coast,
Make us then a mighty host,
God defend our free land.
Lord of battles in Thy might,
Put our enemies to flight,
Let our cause be just and right,
God defend New Zealand.

Let our love for Thee increase,
May Thy blessings never cease,
Give us plenty, give us peace,
God defend our free land.
From dishonour and from shame,
Guard our country's spotless name,
Crown her with immortal fame,
God defend New Zealand.

May our mountains ever be
Freedom's ramparts on the sea,
Make us faithful unto Thee,
God defend our free land.
Guide her in the nation's van,
Preaching love and truth to man,
Working out Thy glorious plan,
God defend New Zealand.

_______________________________________
This is something we need to seriously think about.

Flowers in Tauranga

As I said to my mate Larry "evolution... huh?"

Taken with my Motorolla V600. Not an award-winning picture. But no matter how hard scientists try, they will never ever create anything so perfect as that small bunch of flowers I'm holding there. Just weeds, growing at the base of some re-located trees. More complex than the most mind-blowing cutting-edge technology. How is it that suposedly (allegedly) intelligent people can claim to believe in the theory of evolution?

Romans 1:18-23 sums this up very nicely...

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

commercialised sport and middle-aged air-hostesses

I've almost finished my cup of tea in a special "Air New Zealand - Anton Oliver" insulated cardboard cup. On the cup it informs me that Air New Zealand is a fanatical sponsor of the All Blacks. Well as far as I can see, any company would be fanatic if their investment in a professional sports team brought such great dividends. What the heck happened to the good old days of non-professional sport, where the All Blacks were down to earth kiwi blokes who could have been your next-door neighbor? Now we've got Dan Carter advertising underwear by way of stripping off on unduly large placards and banners hung on towering edifices in our major cities. The numbered Air New Zealand cup collection; "oh, do you mind if I have the number 6 cup please?". Dear me.

The middle-aged air-hostess is bringing the elderly Japanese couple in the seat behind me up to date with the 21st century, explaining that Australia and New Zealand do infact have different currencies, and "oh, that's fantastic, you're going to Australia". I get eye-contact with the middle-aged air-hostess as she finishes her conversation with the travellers behind me. I draw your attention to the fact that she is middle-aged simply because it is a bit interesting. "Do you know how high we are?" The air-hostess looks somewhat puzzled and I rephrase my question. She takes a step back into the aisle, towards the right hand side of the plane. Peering out the port-hole she purses her lips and screws up her nose. "I can ask the Captain..." her words trail off. "Oh no, I was just after a rough estimate..." "rough?" "Yeah, just an idea..." "We'd be at about 30,000 feet... between 26,000 and 30,000 feet."

Freak me out, those wings look so small compared to the size of the plane. Why don't they have bigger ones, just in case. Why do they go through the rigmarole of showing us the video about what we should do "if there is an emergency". They seem to presume that the only emergencies take place while over a body of water. Seems to me, seeing as we're flying up New Zealand, they might not be able to make it over to the sea.

The Captain's just signed out, he reckons we'll be outside the terminal at 2:15... Well I think Si's cellphone is 10 minutes ahead so I guess we're around about 45 minutes away. Ahhh, just spoke to the middle-aged hostess (that's a bit harsh, she's probably only just turned 30...), and she informs me that the Captain got it wrong, seeing as it's 2:35pm now, we should be landing at about quarter to three. Ah, well that's all good...

I'm just ripping into a green "lime" aeroplane lolly now, Lyd will probably kill me if she finds out, because I know she and Nath like them. Heck, I'll get them...

At this stage the middle-aged air-hostess turned up and gave me the evil eye. "Better close that up now" she said, her voice laced with danger. ctrl+s, alt+f4, I shut the lid of the Toshiba Portege 4010 and sat it on the empty seat beside me.

Guy Fawkes

The classic poem...

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up King and Parliament.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

Click here for the second verse

This song comes to mind. "My will be a dead man" by Project86. I don't know about the video, but I like the song. It's good easy listening for November the 5th.

Did you know? Some key people in Parliament knew about the gunpowder plot from early on in the piece. One of the schemers was actually a rat, employed by parliament to feed in information and updates on the plot. This was just what the Protestant Parliament wanted, a chance to foil a plot by Roman Catholics to kill the King and all the MPs in Parliament. It was essentially a complex and well thought out publicity stunt. When the people of England heard that the Roman Catholics were trying to blow up Parliament, they would be unhappy - and all power to the current Government!

Parliament buildings: still standing

If by some bizarre chance Guy Fawkes and the crew had been successful in blowing up Parliament, they would have also succeeding in bringing total havoc and disorder to the whole country of England. The right of the common man to read and write could well have been again removed, and the hierarchical Roman Catholic reinstated as the oppressive regime that it had been prior to the Reformation.

Don't even get me started on Nanny State only allowing the sale of fireworks between the 2nd and the 5th of November. It's quite simple, just chuck the irresponsible and immature losers in prison. Don't restrict the freedom of everyone just so that you manage to stop the few who ruin it for the rest of us.

Yesterday

Yesterday I's out in town collecting signatures for the petition for a referendum on the new anti-smacking law - see here for more info: www.unityforliberty.net.nz. For the first two or three hours I had two mums and an eleven-year old boy helping me. He had kind of red hair too, so I was wondering if people thought I was his brother...

People often take pictures of us when we're out collecting signatures, today was the most ever - had to have been five or six.

Had some interesting people past the table.

• Three girls who had all pretty recently turned 18 were more than happy to sign.
  
• A group of Emo boys - probably all about 14 - were wanting to sign. I asked them if they were 18 and they walked away annoyed.
• Two girls came over to the table while their dad stood nearby, on the phone, maybe 14 and 12 years old. "Can we sign?". I asked them if they were over 18. They like it if you sound as if you think that they may be almost 18. Nope... they walked away - as soon as dad was off the phone, he was over here signing.
• A bunch of three guys my sister's age - I knew one of them, they wanted to sign, but of course they couldn't, too young.
• And this one guy with a teal/blue shirt with a picture of a fat buddah, and the words "I have the body of a god". "Nice shirt" I complimented him. He told me his girl-friend had given it to him.
• The guy with the tartan 3/4's and studs all over him didn't look to happy when I told him that I was "loving your trousers, aye". He didn't sign, but his mate did.
• The guy from the UK holding a guitar in a cardboard box. "I coompleetly ****ing disagree with what yer doing".
• A couple of girls and their mum came over. One of the girls signed - I think the other was too young. I asked the mother why she wasn't signing - she said she thought the new law was absolutely stupid. So I said, well you'd probably like to sign the top one here then. She refused and I said "whatever". Heck, it gets pretty frustrating. She walks away saying "whatever?" in a disbelieving way - how could he have said that?
• The family from Holland with 3 little children. They were great. They didn't even get angry when I asked them if they were from Germany. They were totally supportive of the petition and wished they could sign.

Ah, well, that's about all I can remember now... It was a pretty full on day. We got 222 signatures in 7 hours which is a very good ratio for Christchurch at this stage in the game.

Food:
1 thumping great 1.25L bottle of Pump.
2 cold Whoppers from Burger King
2 bottles of V Berry
half a pack of Extra white sugar-free chewing-gum
Some just-juice in a E2 bottle that my younger brother gave me

virgin mary image on pebble

Heheheh, I had a bit of fun this week, running a take-off auction of the virgin mary image on pebble auction. It sold for $5.50 which was a bit of a shame, I'd hoped that my 9 bidders might have got all excited and had a bit of a bidding war. Oh well... My auction got 12,962 hits, so that was fun...


I also made a blog: http://virginmaryonpebble.blogspot.com and that's got 1,158 hits so far... in just 7 days, lol.

Check out Steve's auction for virgin mary on a surfboard pebble. Bidding is going well, and is currently at $157.50 and 33,676 views. Steve is donating all proceeds of the auction to the Cancer Society, and is also fundraising via the Q&A facility, asking people to pop $5 in the mail to the Cancer Society. He will be making an online photo-album of all the people who have donated to this worthy cause - and when this comes up online, I'll link to it from this blog.

;)