Did you know: A square 82cm by 82cm will occupy one pixel on google earth at an altitude of 1km.
This square was produced by artist Helmut Smits.
I like. Found here.
That is all.
Month: March 2009
On beans…
Walden is a famous book by Henry David Thoreau. It’s almost a precursor to the modern – or post modern – practice of sustainable living. But indirectly it has a lot to say about coffee.
During his hermitage Thoreau grew beans for a living. He reflected often on beans. Here are some prescient quotes – if I were to start a coffee shop today I’d call it Walden.
“I was determined to know beans.”
“Most men I do not meet at all, for they seem not to have time; they are busy about their beans.”
“Why concern ourselves so much about our beans for seed, and not be concerned at all about a new generation of men? We should really be fed and cheered if when we met a man we were sure to see that some of the qualities which I have named, which we all prize more than those other productions, but which are for the most part broadcast and floating in the air, had taken root and grown in him. Here comes such a subtile and ineffable quality, for instance, as truth or justice, though the slightest amount or new variety of it, along the road.”
“What shall I learn of beans or beans of me? I cherish them, I hoe them, early and late I have an eye to them; and this is my day’s work. It is a fine broad leaf to look on.”
“I was much slower, and became much more intimate with my beans than usual. But labor of the hands, even when pursued to the verge of drudgery, is perhaps never the worst form of idleness. It has a constant and imperishable moral, and to the scholar it yields a classic result.”
Our daily Fred: Pac-ing more into your baking
These Pac-Man oven mitts are perfect for handling all your awesome Pac-Man baking. Like these most fantastic (and no doubt delicious) examples…
Beginners guide to taking over the world – foreword
Foreword
Are you tired of reading those so-called self-help books that leave you no better off than you were before you bought them, worse off in fact, for having spent the $19.95 on a book that promised the world but delivered nothing?
Have you been suckered into forking out your hard earned dollars for products that had attractive packaging only to find that the product inside fell apart after one use?
Are you sick of politicians taking advantage of you, making promises they can’t keep, all the while filling their pockets with public funds, money that should have been spent on hospitals and schools?
Do you want to do something about it?
Well here’s the book for you.
World domination is not easy. Many people have tried to rule the world. Few have succeeded. Those who succeed are immortalised in poems, songs and statues, revered by many and laughed at by none. Those who failed are despised, ridiculed and often end up dead, evil despots seldom live long lives.
Taking over the world is obviously not an easy task. There are snares that many would be world leaders have fallen into, hurdles that others have fallen at after strong starts and obstacles to overcome at every turn.
This is a seven step guide to any would be monarch, guaranteed to at least set you on the right path to glory and unimaginable power.
The beginners guide to taking over the world – foreword to the foreword
It’s a sad morning this morning. The last offering of “our daily Fred” until they release their next catalogue.
It’s been nice having a series of posts in the pipeline appearing once a day. I like that it makes me (or at least my post rate) look a little more prolific.
Coincidentally I’ve recently been putting all my eggs into one basket – or rather, all my documents onto one hard drive, and I came across a document I wrote some time ago… before I had a blog even… that I would like to share with you all. Piece by piece. I’ll be putting it up unedited – in the confidence that it’s as timeless as any mediocre self help book.
Starting with the next post. There’ll be 12 in total. Which will pad out my postings for the next week… or next 11 (today excluded) days to be precise. But who’s counting?
Pillow Talk: The whole pac
Two of my pet topics converge – novelty pillows and Pacman. Awesome. And hand made to boot – well not literally, you shouldn’t be kicking these… they’re art.
$US90 for the set – from Etsy.
A bunch of links – March 30, 2009
- #510. Apologizing after an April Fool#39;s Day Prank – The Terror Level Color Coded Apology System
- Weird, Confusing and Irritating Photography
- Parking
- Missiological or personal preference: Why do contemporary church?
- Seven Things That Aren’t Worth Your Money [Saving]
- 9 Steps To A Happy Relationship With Your Hosting Provider
- Should we indoctrinate our children?
Eagles and jet engines
I am annoyed. Here’s a recipe for being annoyed.
- My beloved Sea Eagles are zero and three after three rounds.
- Tonight they went down 12-10 to Penrith.
- They can’t win/score points without Brett Stewart or David Williams.
- I spent the second half listening to Phil Gould gloating about the Eagle’s plight. For someone who relied on the Sea Eagle’s money to keep the ARL alive during the Super League war he’s sure got a bad mid term memory.
Oh well, at least the Raiders are worse.
(Vege)table tennis
This is quite bizarre. I had never been to Design Bloom prior to little sister number two’s recommendation last week – and now I’m posting another link to it.
Where has this site been all my life?
Merging two types of tables is nothing new – KMart has been selling an all-in-one air hockey/pool table/table soccer table for years.
But this is so classy. Table Tennis meets the dining room.
Pre-emptive strike
Sometimes when I’m driving home I feel like one of the vehicles involved unwittingly in a game of Frogger. I wonder if the cars in the classic arcade game were theoretically able to see the pedestrian frog?
There is one particular stretch of road just outside my office – at the bottom of Flinders Street – that is particularly bad. Flinders Street is dotted with gazetted pedestrian crossings – and yet they are widely ignored. Pedestrians cross without paying any heed to oncoming traffic.
What really gets me isn’t the jaywalking. It’s the pre-emptive pedestrians – the ones who start stepping onto the road as you approach in your car.
Defensive driving means assuming that every other road user is an idiot. I operate under that principle. Whenever I see a pedestrian start their perambulations I hesitate – like a rabbit in the headlights – only I’m driving. I’m the one posing the threat.
The thought of pedestrians blindly wandering in front of my pristine purple excel fills me with dread. A pedestrian would no doubt do more damage to my car than a kangaroo…
So, next time you start crossing the road as a car approaches – even if you are completely aware the car is approaching – stop, and think of the children.
Fat chance
Morbidly obese pregnant women ‘commonplace’
Does this mean it’s ok to ask a large lady if she’s pregnant now?
Really though, this is another one of those irresistible headlines from the SMH.
Particularly when coupled with this picture:
Insert “your mum’s so fat” joke here.
This article really poses more questions than answers… but lets not go there. This is mostly a family friendly blog. Perhaps no more.
That is all.
On the blacklist
I’m on a blacklist. The Education Queensland blacklist no less. Apparently…
Tim says:
“Just thought i’d let you know your site has been blocked by eq hierachy. Congratulations on making it to the level of facebook and my blog… the question is now what am i gonna do when i should be working…. hmmmm i wonder if stick cricket can be tracked”
Was it something I said?
Now I know a little of what all those nasty sites will feel once the clean feed begins in earnest.
My advice for Tim – and for others in the same boat – is just subscribe to my blog using Google Reader – no school in its right mind will block google. You may have to rename the feed.
Facebook is blocked at my work too – but I get my friend’s status updates via RSS.
Video hits
Chris just beat me to the punch on this. Video preaching. Some are for it. Some against. I’m mostly against. I think you’d have to be pretty arrogant to think that your sermons should be broadcast to the thousands in your auditorium – and then to thousands more in multiple auditoriums elsewhere around the city, state, nation or globe.
But wait you say… Mark Driscoll does it – in a “multi-campus” format for his church – Mars Hill – in his city – Seattle… Driscoll also wants 900 men to plant churches in the US – how’s he going to find 900 men world wide if he can’t find 8 suitable men in his own city?
I understand the practicality of embracing the model. There are no doubt thousands of people who’d like to listen to Mark Driscoll in church every Sunday. I’m happy enough for Mars Hill to pursue that model provided it’s in the same city and being driven by humble pragmatism – and not the inability to find the people to do the preaching elsewhere…
There were some interesting points raised by the original article – by an emerging church type (which means he has a bone to pick with Driscoll – even if he doesn’t name him specifically… oh wait, he does)…
“This is the rule: Technology, taken too far, creates the opposite of what it was intended to create.
Still doubt it? Ask yourself- Email was meant to keep you in touch and ease communication, right? But when you are trying to process 100 emails a day, you don’t feel in touch, you feel crushed. You’re not communicating- you are wading through spam, forwards, fyi’s… Your emails get shorter and shorter, more and more terse, and mis-communication happens more often than not. “
“If we’re not more thoughtful about this, soon, every city and town will have the Driscoll franchise… maybe even two or three. And the Andy Stanley, Ed Young Jr franchise as well. Is Joel Osteen too far behind? Hybels, Warren, Groeschel… the market is going to get crowded.”
See, here’s my concern. Nicely articulated. We want not just one preacher for a generation – but a generation of preachers. Bible teaching is enhanced by a diverse platform of voices all spurring one another on. There’s one preacher in that list of luminaries who I’d listen to. Only one. And yet, a world full of churches with just these seven men is technologically (and therefore technically) possible.
This really is the biggest question mark raised over the Mars Hill model for me – and by extension the Acts 29 church planting philosophy. Sure, Driscoll’s a gifted guy. A once in a generation preacher. But that doesn’t mean we should all be listening to him in our churches week in week out.
Nice rug
This is part of a collection of very expensive novelty rugs from Dan Golden. I like it because it’s making fun of bad doctrine.
That is all. For now.
Sub edit fail
The Townsville Bulletin’s sub editors have made a slight mistake today – incorrectly identifying the Member for the Burdekin – Rosemary Menkins – as Gandhi. Obscure political statement? Warranted kudos? No, I say mistake. Or joke.
It appears next to this comment by perennial political bridesmaid (and never the political bride) – Greens candidate Jenny Stirling.
“Jobs, justice, climate. That’s the theme of the protests at the G20 conference of world leaders and it hits the mark fairly and squarely. In Britain alone, 35,000 people marched and there was no violence, no ramaging crowds or damage to property, just real people fed up with a system that ultimately sees ordinary people’s lives and well-being as expendable. The only way we have ever had any sort of real and lasting social progress has been through non-violent expressions of people power: Mandela in South Africa, Martin Luther King and civil rights movement in the US, Gandhi in India and so on. And if all things are equal, the ballot box. ”