Author: Nathan Campbell

Nathan runs St Eutychus. He loves Jesus. His wife. His daughter. His son. His other daughter. His dog. Coffee. And the Internet. He is the pastor of City South Presbyterian Church, a church in Brisbane, a graduate of Queensland Theological College (M. Div) and the Queensland University of Technology (B. Journ). He spent a significant portion of his pre-ministry-as-a-full-time-job life working in Public Relations, and now loves promoting Jesus in Brisbane and online. He can't believe how great it is that people pay him to talk and think about Jesus. If you'd like to support his writing financially you can do that by giving to his church.

Our daily Fred: On a knife’s edge

Fred and friends have produced some pretty amazingly cool products – I’ve featured a number of them before – and now, in a special series of posts I’ll be sharing my favourites from World Wide Fred…

The Evidence Knife…

March 22, 2009

A bunch of links – March 22, 2009

March 22, 2009

Geek checklist

Continuing the vein of discussion about whether I’m a geek or a nerd (and in fact whether the distinction is necessary) – here’s a list of ten habits of a geek spouse from Wired. And here’s how I fare…
1. Punning.
Guilty as charged. Really, really guilty. I had no idea that this was a geek thing. 1 point.
2. Swearing in Klingon.
Nope. Not interested. Not really interested in sci-fi – but that doesn’t stop me wearing my Star Wars inspired “Milk I am your Father” shirt. 0 points.
3. Weird or over the top ways of celebrating mainstream holidays.
Not that I can think of off the top of my head. I do however celebrate federal budget night with an annual beer and budget celebration featuring only myself (and my wife who is there in presence not spirit). I’ll give myself half a point.
4. Dissecting movies.
I’m not really a movie geek/film buff. In fact I like really stupid movies that would no doubt annoy those who are film geeks. I certainly don’t point out continuity errors or any time a movie breaks natural law. So no points.
5. Wearing obscure geeky t-shirts to “normal places”.
Well yes, I do that. Lots. It shows just how clever you are. If you understand them. It’s like an idiot filter. 1 point.

6. Requiring extra space in the house for geeky things.
Yes. I have a coffee machine that’s more than a metre wide. I have a breadmaker set up on the back patio for roasting coffee, and I have four archaic consoles sitting in our TV unit. 1 point.
7. Geeky toys/decorations can be hard to explain to kids.
Well I don’t have kids. But I can’t imagine explaining why I own a plastic Bob Hawke drink dispenser will be easy. 1 point.
8. Looking up information while a discussion/argument is still in progress.
In the internet age who doesn’t do this? Really? Maybe it is just me. Very, very guilty. Especially when I know I’m right and I’m just doing it to back up my argument. 1 point.
9. Needing to watch certain TV shows ASAP to avoid spoilers.
Well, I actively seek out spoilers at times – just to stay ahead of the curve. But there are times when I guess this could be true. 1/2 a point.
10. Geeky projects that take over the house and whole weekends.
I guess ripping apart a breadmaker to install a switch bypassing the circuit board is pretty geeky. I like little DIY challenges – like the restoration of my coffee machine. 1 point.

Things aren’t looking so good. Lets count up those points. Drum roll.

6 7 out of 10 by my count. I guess that makes me an annoying geek spouse.

March 22, 2009

Burger masterpiece

Not since Jason Statham in the Transporter 2 has grease been used so artistically.

This is quite phenomenal. It’s an advertisement for a pure and natural burger chain – Arbys.

Wow.

March 22, 2009

Ahh… It’s a trap

No it’s not. It’s a cheese knife and cutting board set. Shame it’s not actually for sale. I’d totally buy one. They’re available here. I’d love to buy one. And then my wife would totally make me give it to someone as a present.

Found here.

The guy behind the product design has some other cool ideas.

Like this.

And this.

Update – it turns out a lot of the really cool ideas I’ve linked to before were designed by this guy and the company he works for – worldwidefred.com – you can buy their stuff from Amazon and a host of other novelty kitchen suppliers. Like here.

March 22, 2009

Alien v Predator

Finding a new angle to promote a movie franchise that has been around for a long time and received a big budget campaign to begin with must be tough. So kudos to the company behind these ads for upcoming screenings of Aliens v Predator on Sky TV in New Zealand.

March 22, 2009

Brew by you

What do you get if you merge a bike pump with a coffee machine? A handpresso.

This could be the world’s smallest espresso producing device – unless you’ve got a really small stovetop brewer. It’s very cool – and $99.

The downside – as far as I can see – is that the system uses pods. Which plenty of people are enthusiastic about. But nothing beats freshly ground, freshly roasted coffee. When there’s a basket system this could be a winner. You can buy it here.

March 22, 2009

A bunch of links – March 21, 2009

March 21, 2009

Unleavened bread

Have you ever thought about how many different types of “flatbread” there are? Bread varieties that are essentially the same thing just used different ways by different cultures? Profound hey. One man’s Yiros is another man’s burrito. Here’s the list from Wikipedia.

March 21, 2009

Election day

The countdown is over. We voted this morning. Robyn told me afterwards that she’d voted for Family First. It was a funny joke. We laughed. 

Here’s why I don’t vote for Family First…

  1. While I appreciate that Family First put the family first and often that means supporting things that are good for Christians and Christianity – I think their very presence dilutes the conservative vote and is counterproductive for Christians looking to vote on their issues. 
  2. I don’t like the idea of giving politicians a mandate to turn Australia into anything other than the democratic system we have now – theocracies are great provided you’re a believer. Which I am. But they don’t do a good job of protecting minorities or other interests. I’d rather a candidate sympathetic to all than a candidate only sympathetic to me. 
  3. It’s not the state’s job to convert people to Christianity – it’s ours. Separation of church and state is a protection for the church too…
  4. Better the devil you know – I know that the LNP and the ALP will act in a predictable manner based on their convictions. The same can not be said for Family First members. There have been too many loose cannon loonies running for the party for them to have much credibility as a united voice. The idea of a united Christian voice is nice in theory – but you only have to look at the Uniting Church to see it in practice. 
  5. It’s a wasted vote. Unless we’re voting for a Federal senate spot the party will never the numbers to get candidates into seats. What’s the point of voting for Family First when you can be voting against a party you disagree with and keeping them out of power.  

I have no numbers to back this up. But I’m sure I could find them. I know that some people who are single issue voters on abortion will get angry when I say this. But voting for family first when you’re a nominally conservative voter who doesn’t like abortion is pretty much a vote for Labor – who (despite their name being similar to the act of giving birth) are the most likely party to legalise abortion in Australian states.

Obviously the preference system allows you to make this statement while still essentially voting for the LNP – but a real statement would be made by the number of people not preferentially voting at all – and ousting a government without having to rely on preferences at all. 

It may be a principled move. It may make a statement.  But it’s a phyrric victory only. So I won’t be making that move any time soon. 

This is too late to change anyone’s mind anyway. But it’s my two cents worth.

Also, I think it’s slightly ironic that the Greens print out how to vote cards. They’re such a waste of paper. Perhaps we should change the legislation to allow each nominated candidate to place a “how to vote” card in the voting booth. That’s under 10 printouts per candidate per booth – rather than thousands.

March 21, 2009

Weekend roast

I picked up a new breadmaker today from Cash Converters – it solves all my roasting problems by spinning right from the start. I roasted my first batch. I’m very excited. No more stirring by hand or spending ages waiting for a spin cycle to kick into gear. 

I also used the new heat gun I picked up while garage sailing the other week.

I really only wrote this so that I could use that title. It would have been more appropriate had I written it tomorrow.

March 21, 2009

Make your next beer a blast

Why is it that I make one of the coolest posts I’ve made in days weeks months ever and the next day I spot something that would have been an absolutely perfect fit. I give you the beer blaster.

Actually, it’s probably good enough to warrant its own post. Here’s where you can get yours – and here it is in action.

March 20, 2009

A bunch of links – March 20, 2009

March 20, 2009

That which divides

There’s nothing like politics for dividing Christian unity. Jeremy Halcrow writes for the Sydney Anglican website. He’s a writer I’ve largely appreciated and benefited from. We happen to disagree on the Government’s Clean Feed. Here’s his post and long discussion thread on the Sydney Anglican website. Interesting read if you’re looking to sort through various Christian responses to the debate and trying to sort out an ethical approach to online content. 

Here’s what Mr Halcrow had to say to me on another blog for daring to disagree with his position:

“Nathan, you don’t know what is the ACMA blacklist and neither does your extremist libertarian source you quote.

I’m not engaging with you any more for all I know your a Greens Party stooge or some other extremist libertarian group.

I don’t think you are discussing this in good faith.”

A Green Party stooge? Ouch. That’s hit a raw nerve. He follows with this little piece of irony (posted anonymously – but I’m pretty sure it’s him, it’s corroborated on the Sydney Anglican website at the bottom of the article)…

“You are wrong and I know you are wrong.

I am happy to say I have had an off-the record briefing with the Government.

I can’t say any more than that.

You are putting your faith in people who are out to spread mischief and misinformaton”

His information is as sensitive and secretive in nature as the Government blacklist he’s defending.

I did not respond in a loving manner.

March 20, 2009

Categorical denial

Today was a busy day for me – what with elections being tomorrow and my job being what it is… you can check out what the candidates have promised North Queensland on our website.

I also played around with my “categories” – culling some, combining some and rearranging them into the following order… you can now also subscribe just to a category. It’s as easy as clicking on the RSS images below.

March 20, 2009