One of the fundamental, and mostly unmentioned, elements of “pick on someone your own size” is the idea that if you don’t there may in fact be a sibling or protector involved in the equation that you haven’t yet considered.
Month: October 2009
Fecal matters
One of the things I’ve been truly amazed by as I search for funny google autofill results for my new blog is how often people ask google questions about poo.
People are clearly worried.
So if you googled “should my poo float” or “should my poo smell” or “why is my poo green” then perhaps this infographic will solve all of your problems…
And remember people. The best feces are like bananas.
Where-fi
The same designer who brought the world the blood powered lamp has produced this wifi detecting rod…
Clever.
Look out, look out, there be zombies about
To celebrate the Brisbane Zombie Walk (which happened today) I thought I’d post eleven great zombie things from around the interwebs. But before I begin – the ABC is releasing all its footage and photos of the Zombie Walk into the open source ether through a service called pool.org.au which looks pretty cool.
“ABC is building an online ‘town square’ for all Australians. Pool is a collaborative space where audiences become ‘co-creators’. It’s a place to share and talk about creative work – music, photos, videos, documentaries, interviews, animations and more.”
But now. The zombies.
Some people are so scared of the zombie apocalypse they’re preemptively screenprinting their black four wheel drives just so people know who to turn to…
I see trees of green, undead zombies too, I look around and think… well, I’ll leave watching this to you…
Shooting zombies with shotguns is the best way to get rid of them… but to do that you’ll need some target practice. Which is why it’s lucky that this company called law enforcement targets has targets you can use down at the shooting range…
If you want to plot your strategy using Lego men on a model of your city then you’ll need an accurate rendition of your zombie fighting weapons – and BrickArms has you covered.
In the event that zombies are overrunning the planet you might need a deterrent. Give the other zombies the impression that your house is already undead meat and they’ll head next door…
You can use one of these ornaments. Or several.
If zombies do take over the world then you’re going to have to learn how to get ahead in life. Your career in the new zombie world is going to depend on your man-eat-man approach to life. Which is where this book comes in…
Churches won’t really be safe in a zompocalypse. Gatherings of people will be too much like a buffet. Decapolis has you sorted with a nice approach to your devotional life…
“During a zombie attack, it’s really easy to be anxious. Zombies want your brain, and you probably would like to keep it for yourself. Yes, you have to think about physical stuff like, “Where’s the shotgun,” and “aim for the head,” but beneath all situations is a spiritual level.
…
You have to be able to point to something God has actually said if you are to have a real peace.RO 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Ah! There’s a promise God made. I can point to that verse and go, “Hey, I believe that promise.”
Now think of the things that make you anxious and replace “in all things” with your situation…
And we know that during zombie attacks God works for the good of those who love him.”
This one is gone – but there’ll be a new market for zombie teddy bears and toys – this one sold for $89 on ebay.
And then there’s the matter of wardrobe. These ones come via t-shirt rater.
iGroan
Zombies Were People Too
More on Moses
While we’re on the subject of Moses…
The Big Mac (which is what I’m going to call Dave McDougall today) made a really interesting link that I’d never noticed today.
We’re doing a series on prayer at the moment (I’m preaching on the Lord’s Prayer next Sunday) and today was on the subject of God saying “no” to our prayers.
God said “no” to Moses when he prayed to be allowed to set foot in the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 3. I always felt a bit sorry for Moses. He worked pretty hard at trying to keep an unwieldy people in line. And I felt vicariously ripped off for him that he had to miss out on the fulfillment of the promise he worked so hard to deliver.
I’ve also always struggled to figure out the significance of his presence at the transfiguration (Matthew 17). He, like Elijah, is a pretty significant Old Testament player. And I thought that could be it. This is where the Big Mac came to the fore this morning. At the transfiguration Moses is present both in the Promised Land and with the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy. Which is pretty special – and now I don’t feel sorry on his behalf at all.
Moses v Jesus
I just found this pretty interesting article (though it’s on Fox’s website so it’s probably inaccurate and full of bias) that concluded that Moses is more culturally important to the United States than Jesus.
Which I guess says a lot about some of the religious identity problems plaguing America.
“But as important as Jesus was to Americans’ private lives, he had far less influence than Moses on the great transformations of our public life. The themes of Jesus’ life – love, charity, alleviating poverty – would not make the list of the defining impulses of most Americans.
The themes of Moses’ life, by contrast – social mobility, standing up to authority, balancing freedom and law, dreaming of a promised land – would make any short list of America’s defining traits.”
On typology
I’ve had a fair bit to say about typography lately – so don’t get confused here. The first one is about the patterns made by letters, typology is the study of “types” and theologically it’s a way of linking the Old Testament to the New Testament.
Think of the way we use the words archetype and prototype and you’re getting close.
One of the foundational reasons that I think Jesus is something special is the way he fulfils the Old Testament. I don’t mean just the specific prophecies regarding the coming saviour that atheists are so keen to claim are debunked on the basis of generality or whatever other reasons they give. I mean the way he is the fulfillment of the narrative of the Old Testament. In particular the pivotal characters of the Old Testament. And I don’t see how it’s possible for that to be debunked any time soon. Here’s a cool list from a Tim Keller sermon via the new Evangel group blog…
- Jesus is the true and better Adam, who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.
- Jesus is the true and better Abel, who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out not for our condemnation, but for our acquittal.
- Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar, and go out into the void, not knowing whither he went, to create a new people of God.
- Jesus is the true and better Isaac, who was not just offered up by his Father on the mount,but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “now I know you love me, because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me, now we can look at God, taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing Him, and say,” now we know that you love us, because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from us.”
- Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserve, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.
- Jesus is the true and better Joseph, who at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold Him, and uses His new power to save them.
- Jesus is the true and better Moses, who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.
- Jesus is the true and better rock of Moses who was struck with the rod of God’s justice, and now gives us water in the desert.
- Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.
- Jesus is the true and better David, whose victory becomes his people’s victory though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.
- Jesus is the true and better Esther, who didn’t just risk losing an earthly palace, but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.
- Jesus is the true and better Jonah, who was cast out into the storm so we could be brought in.
- He is the real passover lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so that the angel of death would pass over us
It’s not an exhaustive list – there’s no mention of any of the judges or many of the prophets. But until atheists get this, and critique this properly, they don’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to the claim that anyone can “fulfill the Old Testament” given the right mix of intention and coincidence.
The only good toy cat…
Sadly, as far as I can tell, this isn’t a real toy but a work of art.
I found this particular dead cat at BoingBoing.
I would buy one, I’d also buy some of the previously featured roadkill toys that are sold on this website.
Splodge the hedgehog is great for those people hanging out for the results of my pathos laden letter to K-Rudd. He’s also great for those people wanting to traumatise their children with a plush toy. And he’s completely consistent with my own experiences with the Australian echidna…
An idea with no legs
Craigslist not only the place to go to let the world know about the attractive girl you didn’t talk to on the bus… it’s also, apparently, where you go to recruit people to function as part of your slightly bizarre Halloween costume.
This guy should get points for trying. Maybe. Here’s a bigger version of that picture.
If you haven’t clicked the link to read the picture for yourself – here’s the text…
So this might seem strange and really offensive to some but hopefully someone will reply. I have always loved the scene in Empire Strikes Back where Chewbacca has to carry around a half reconstructed C3PO in a backpack because he hasn’t reattached his lower body yet. For Halloween I would love to dress up like this. I’m big enough and strong enough to pull off both the Chewbacca look and carry around a lot of weight for the night. So I’m looking for a double amputee (someone missing both legs – preferably at the hip) to accompany me as C3PO for the evening. We should meet ahead of time to work out the backpack/harness system. There are a few parties that I want to attend and I think we will be the hit of any event we attend. Anyone up for this?
Craigslist connections
I think Australian culture is poorer for not having the same addiction to Craigslist that our American friends do. There is an Australian site.
There’s apparently a whole culture I was almost completely unaware of, where you post “Missed Connections” advertisements or messages in the hope of finding that person who caught your eye.
I know Text the Editor in our local paper occasionally features this sort of behaviour. But it’s mostly so that people can vent or rage about bad driving.
This is a long preamble to bring to your attention this blog called “Missed Connections” where an artist provides artistic renditions of these ads that catch her eye.
Like these…
“Monday, March 23, 2009
-m4w (Harlem)
Remember? Uptown A train. Sunday at around 9pm. I was the black dude reading Bukowski’s Post Office. You were reading the Arts and Leisure section. You passed wind rather loudly and started chuckling. I’d like to see you again. The flatulence wasn’t a turn-off. “
“Thursday, August 27, 2009
sorry your bike got stolen. its beautiful. when some guy offered it to me for 40 bucks, i didnt even think twice. i was drunk, missing my bike and figured if not me, someone else would buy it anyways. also, my bike got stolen last week. who knows, maybe you bought it for 40 bucks from some guy on the street. so if you see me riding it, feel free to say hey. maybe we could trade back. if not, you can buy it from me for 40 bucks. id buy my old bike back for 40 bucks. it was way more comfortable than this one. “
“Saturday, October 17, 2009
– m4w
We shared a bear suit at an apartment party on Saturday night.
I asked for your number and you gave it to me, but somehow I don’t have an area code written down. I had a great time talking with you, and I don’t trust Chance enough to wait until I see you in the elevators… “
Robyn’s Report Timer
Just for fun I thought I’d see how many hours I’ve spent writing reports. You can read about it here.
25/10/09 17 hours and 45 minutes
27/10/09 23 hours and 45 minutes
28/10/09 30 hours and 30 minutes
30/10/09 38 hours
03/11/09 43 hours
04/11/09 48 hours (& loving it!)
05/11/09 54 hours
10/11/09 58 hours
11/11/09 63 hours
12/11/09 65 hours
13/11/09 70 hours
14/11/09 72 hours 30 minutes
They’re finished! Read my review here…
A night at the football
We went to the Fury game last night. And despite what Joel says about football there is something thrilling about a tight, low scoring game that isn’t really decided until the final whistle.
And there’s something beautiful about a player who knows the rules gazumping a pack of whingers who don’t…
Robbie Fowler is a class player. Tim was going to post this video too – I don’t think he has yet…
Knight to south paw
Chess boxing is my new favourite sport.
“The basic idea in chessboxing is to combine the #1 thinking sport and the #1 fighting sport into a hybrid that demands the most of its competitors – both mentally and physically.
In a chessboxing fight two opponents play alternating rounds of chess and boxing. The contest starts with a round of chess, followed by a boxing round, followed by another round of chess and so on.
A contest consists of 11 rounds, 6 rounds of chess, 5 rounds of boxing. A round of chess takes 4 minutes. Each competitor has 12 minutes on the chess timer.”
I can’t help but think that it’s one of those sports that will be forever dominated by participants from the former USSR.
It would seem that in order to ensure chess players can last more than one round one of the only qualifications for the competition is the ability to play chess… but competitors should be a little worried.
One of the Klitschko brothers, Vitali, holds a PhD in sports science. He’s no dummy. And he and his brother are both keen chess players and world heavyweight boxing champions… from Wikipedia…
“Both Vitali and his brother are avid chess players. Vitali is a friend of former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik and the two have played, with Kramnik always winning. Vitali has commented that “chess is similar to boxing. You need to develop a strategy, and you need to think two or three steps ahead about what your opponent is doing. You have to be smart. But what’s the difference between chess and boxing? In chess, nobody is an expert, but everybody plays. In boxing everybody is an expert, but nobody fights.””
