Ice blocking

Tonight at P1 we did iceblocking.  For the uninitiated, iceblocking is ... well sliding around on big blocks of ice.  So for the last few weeks, Megan has had the freezer in the church shed and the one in the hall, filled with big containers of water slowly changing to ice.

These photos are not really representative of the night as they are mostly of our family and many were taken after the event while we were cleaning up.  We left the hall with the windows open and the fans running to try to dry out the floor.

 ICE BLOCKING GAMES
1 Hold the ice
Teams of 5 at one end of the hall.  Each team given a ice block.
Each member of the team must have 1 hand on the ice block.
Push the ice block up the hall, toch the wall at the far end and push it back.
Sit down to signiofy your team has done it.

 2 SIT DOWN RELAY
Teams of 5.  One person sits on the ice block.  A second person pushes.
Push down to other end of hall, turn and push back.
Change over so the sitter becomes the pusher and you have a new sitter.
Continue for 5 goes.
Team sits to signify completion.

3 STOCK CAR RACE.
Put out two charis to mark the turn around markers.  Set up teams with ice blocks.  One sitter one pusher.  On go they do two laps.
Careful of broken fingers when they crash into each other.

 4 SLIDE
Put a table against the stage to form a ramp.
Two people use their feet to stop the table slipping
Another two people hold the ice atthe top of the ramp.  The rider climbs on and 3 2 1 let go.  They slide down the ramp.
Hint - Sit as far forward as possible.

 5 CURLING
Use blocks of ice like lawn bowles.  Put out a marker or jack.  See who can get closer.
Distroys ice blocks so do last.

6 BIG PUSH
Use chalk to draw a start line about 3m from one wall of the hall.
One person sits or better still lies face down on tbe block of ice.  The rest of the team run and push but have to let go before they cross the chalk line.

Family Worship

Once a month at Sherwood Uniting Church we have two simultaneous church services.  A traditional one and "Family Worship"

This week "Family Worship" was in the fellowship room.  The traditional service was in the hall because the Church was full of stuff from the festival.

A big thank you to Bob and Jenny for organising it and Jenny who is the organiser if Family Worship in general.

We started with breakfast.  I had brought the makings of pancakes but when I got there I discovered that so had someone else.  James Erickson did a great job cooking them.There did not seem to be any bowls so I ate my cereal out of some kind of serving bowl and I saw someone else eating out of a piece of random Tupperware.  Still tasted good.

We started with a few songs.  Joel on keyboard,  Jenny on PowerPoint and Grace leading.  All abelly supervised by Bob.

Later the kids moved into the main church and created artwork and the adults had a discussion about Intelligent design vs Evolution.

Bob stimulated this by showing a few minutes from a DVD on a thing called a "flagellum motor".  It appears that the "Intelligent Design" crowd feel that this little baby is just too simple yet too complicated to have "evolved".

It made for the most fascinating discussion / sermon I have heard for a while.  Sure beat the Jesus Seminar vs ACC.  It would have been good to have had more time, more coffee and more child minding to discuss this in more detail.  Some points that were raised included:-

God of the Gaps theory - This is the idea that because we have not worked out how something happened or evolved then "OK that must be God".  The problem being that over time, more and more is explained so God becomes smaller and smaller.

+?  What were the other points??? Grant, Margaret, Joel, Bob and others all contributed.  Feel free to remind me by posting a comment.

On a slightly related topic, we should remember that the whole "Intelligent Design" thing came about because the Americans do not allow RE in their state schools.  So the over enthusiastic Christians found a way to dress up religion as science.  You may have read or heard in the news that NSW is trying to replace RE with a sort of Morals and Ethics course.  A pity in my view because the side effect will be that it will be the more extreme Christians who use things like intelligent design to get religion back into the schools.  Personally I love to see RE in the schools so we can present the kids with a moderate view of a loving God in an open and honest way.  Take that opportunity away and we will have the extremists sneaking a dodgy pseudo scientific thing into the schools and present kids with a narrow interpretation and understanding of God.  My opinion anyway.

Watch this video or search YouTube for flagellum motor.  You will get both the pro and anti "Intelligent Design" folks competing for your devotion.

Sherwood Community Festival

Friday 12-Nov-2010 was the fifteenth sherwood festival and I have been involved for 14 of them.  Cripes.

This year, Frank Horky and Som helped out greatly.  Som is involved in running a festival with a Thai Temple that he attends and so his involvement let him see first hand some of the behind the scenes stuff.  Frank, Som and myself and a few ring ins put up the video screens, the light towers and a gazillion toilet signs.

Actually enjoyed this year much more than last year.  Not sure why.  Probably doing less.  George did a lot of the tech organising - Generators from Generator Hire Service (Great service and gear), Light towers, PA systems - Show Biz sound supplied 3 x PA & Light systems and Glynn provided PA & Light at the stage outside the UC).  All the stages went really well.   Jan did a great and difficult job organising stall holders.  Often having to rearrange because of some issue or other.  (Someone parked in my space, where do I get power, and so on)  Speaking of Power, David De Jeong once again did a great job looking after power during the night.  I guess he switched on the light towers.

Interestingly, I dropped in on one stage to see hw they were going and the SM relayed an interesting story that started with the words "the precious band that were just on...".  Apparantly nothing was to their liking and at one stage when the sound tech had left the sound desk, to go out into the audience (The mixing point is basically on stage), well the band decided to let the audience in on their displeasure.

Somewhat later in the night I was talking to a friend of mine and they related a story where they were listening to this band.  "Pretty good sound" when the band let fly at the soung crew.  I was going to by their CD but they just lost me when they did that.  I walked off they said.  I smiled to myself.

Carmel sits at the info desk

 Kelly - She did a great job organising the entertainment and a gazillion other things.

 Nick, Danika, Catherine and Andrew.  Andrew did a great job as always as the MC at the main stage.

 The video screen at St Matthews.  The supervisors at the right do a great job to ensure none nicks anythimg.

Interesting to note the black blob front centre.  I think that is the lens on the camera shading the flash.  Design shortcoming?.  The screen consists of dereks projection surface.  The vertical and horizontal poles are from the old YAF setup the props are 6.3m 50mm al tube.  There is a hole drilled 50mm from the end near the ground and a decent sized tent peg shoved in.  The vertical that touches the fence is GAF'd to the fence to stop it all flying away on its own. 

The projector and laptop are all in the big wooden box.  This keeps it all dry if it rains.

The image came from the old Asus running screenmonkey.  That way we could easily switch between the standard streetparty power point and the PP for the Lutherans Live Nativity Play.  The VGA output went into a VGA to composite converter.  From there the VGA continued to the projector and the composite went to the two monoitors at the front of the stage.

Franks ute used to hold the follow spot

Ash, Dan, Paul making and selling dutch doughnits while being seranaided by Sean on Air guitar

BCC band ?

This is a very rare photo of Glynn and whats more it is a photo with him smiling.  Now Glynn does smile and he is a great guy but he somehow always seems to manage to avoid having his photo taken.

Glynn did the sound at the Railway stage opposite the UC.  Ably assisted by Paul Merifield, Errol, +?.  Roz stage managed.  Gee she is a wonderfully competent woman.  There were two great girls from some catholic school who compared.  They cpopared this stage because other kids from their school were programmed to dance on this stage and they wanted to be with their mates.  So Andrew got bumped to the Main stage.

This is Nicole Johnstone.  She gained gained a degree of notrioity when she opposed Lord Mayor Campel Newman paking his busses on the site off Sherwood Rd.  Turned out they were in the same party and Campbel got his nose out of joint and gave Nicole the silent treatment and then forced her to leave the party.  Nicole has been a great supporter of the street party.  The only politician in living memory to attend more than two street party organising meetings and she took on a crap job and that was checking the dunnies had paper.    I may have to move into her electorate so I can vote for her.  She told me she is going to run again as an independant.

 Roar community choir - Megan is in this choir and they practice on Monday nights at Graceville.  Go to yaniworld.com if you would like to join them.  But surprisingly the most important feature of this photo is the BCC banner which must be displayed or we incur the wrath of the BCC beaurcracy.  That needs to be avoided at all costs.  If ever there was an organisaton obsessed with petty rules, the BCC is it.  They give us a decent donation.  $10 or $15k I think but that hardly compensates for the fees and charges they impose and the absolutely emotionally draining effect of having to communicate with them.  This year for example, they wanted $3 per square meter of footpath space that would be occupied by the festiva.  They even have a form with a check box for festivals.  What pointless triviality.

 Megan on the right getting warmed up for a solo.

The weekend

Friday night -

Megan had P1.

The rest of the night was pretty quiet.  Nothing of substance happened as far as I recall.

Saturday 

Megan has a bushband gig on Saturday night.  Did a bit of research into foldback systems.  For the non techo or non musical, a foldback speaker is the loud speaker on the stage that points back at the band so they can hear them sleves.  Very useful if they are out of tune.  You turn them up and they think they are really carrying the show.

Now I have  to decide between buying speakers with built in amplifiers known as powered speakers or plain ordinary speakers and a separate amplifier.  The decision on that will depend on what other uses will be found for the speakers.  For example as door stops or turn them on their end and place them beside the couch as a coffee cup holder.

We (Marcus, Alistair and Frank) removed the middle row of seats from the vito.  Bob kindly helped me load the PA system and the drum kit and the keyboard into the Vito and then Bob and I drove to Kenmore and set the PA up ready for the band to just rock on up and use it.

Meanwhile, Marcus took the train into town.

I then drove into town and met up with Marcus.  We were going to the BGS music dinner bit we had no tickets.  So we went to Maccas.  Marcus performed a few times during the night and also received a couple of awards.

We left after his ast performance figuring if you want us to stay and listen to a speech then we need to be bribed with food and drink which was not forthcoming.  Drove to the Kenmore venue arriving around 11:10pm.  The road was very dark but my headlights lit up several clumps of teenagers sitting or lying in gutters and on the nature strip.  Inside the band were playing and megan was attempting to teach some very drunk people to bush dance.  They were all having a great time.  I decided that since Marcus had to be up early Sunday morning to take him home.  He was already asleep in the car.  

Megan crawled into bed sometime around 1 I think.

Sunday

I think I got up around 6am and left with Marcus at 6:30 to get him to school by 7:00am for sailing classes.  Yes sailing on a sunday.  So envious.  Having dropped him at school and signed an indemnity form I figured a coffee would be in order but I could not find an open coffee shop.  Drove home.

At home decided on some scrambled eggs and coffee.  Megan advised she had to be at Church at 8:15 for a music rehersal.  I've got the scrambled eggs going, the toaster pops up and I have taken a sip of my coffee.  The phone rings and its Jacob and he tells me that he is just coming round the round about at Oxley on his way to pick up Dan.  Megan recalls that ah yes arrangements have been made for Dan to go with his friend to Dream World.  Only problem is ... No Dan.  I tell Megan, you get some togs and clothes ready for Dan.  I jump in the ute and head over to the Horkey's place and grab Dan.  Jemma was also there but not ready so I said I would be back for her later.  Back to the house with Dan and he hops in Jacobs car with Jacob and his family and we havn't seen him since.  Turns out he packed his school uniform and will spend the night at Jacob's and go with Jacob to school on Monday.

I then returned to my cold scrambled eggs on cold toast with cold coffee.

Then picked up Jemma and went to Church.  Megan lead some singing.  Heather lead a childrens address where everyone had to be quiet and then asked the kids what they could hear.  Cars, Fans, The sea :).  Jemma remarked that it was like Taize and that was what I was thinking.  "Be still and know that I am God". Heather then moved onto the opposite extreme where she handed out musical instruments and had the kids "make a joiful noise to the Lord".  Personally I thinkk there is a difference between a joyful noise and just noise.

Church finished and I do not recall a sermon.  Now thats an idea.

Darryn helped me unload the PA out of the vito and James and Natty and Tim unloaded the Drum kit.

6pm - Picked up Marcus from School.  Somewhat sunburnt.  Did I tell him to use sunscreen.  Its a tan he says.  Sure.  Red.  A tan.  yea whatever.

In the evening we had a great family meal.  Well most of us.  Dan is still away but the rest of us shared roast beef and vegies.

Then a game of Uno with Chris, Jemma, megan and myself.

Another hospital Visit

This morning Marcus wanders into the kitchen dripping blood as he has a tendancy to do these days.  I was all for him just laying around for the day and relaxing.  However it was decided that I should take him back to the hospital for a warranty service.  A bag was packed and electronic gadgets collected and off we went.

The hospital computer knows all about us and that seemed to be a good thing because it appears they keep a room reserved for us.  A spritely young female doctor took a cursory look at Marcus and jabbed a needle in him to extract some blood.  I would have thought she could have held her collection bottles under his nose but that is not the proceedure.  She disappeared and we sat and dozed for a while.  Occasionally being awoken to verify that we hadn't died by having our blood pressure tested.  Finally at about 9:30am we were advised that we would be seen in ENT at 11am and that we could wait in the coffee shop.  Hmm I wonder if there is a kickback here.  Maybe coffee should be covered by medicare.  (Actually it is when you are an "in patient" but like most publicly funded things it is luke warm instant and in a styrofoam cub).

We arrive in the ENT area at about 10:45 and the doctor is paged and we get in early.  There is a bit of a delay while equipment is located but then we get right into it shoving very long things up his nose.   

Eventually the problem is located

Well actually we did not extract this through his nose, the doctor prescribed relaxation therapy to keep the blood pressure low.  So we dropped into the RSPCA on the way home.

I suspect that sibling rivalry will require 3 more to be acquired.  Anyone got a spare or one that needs looking after.  (cats that is :) )

Jesus Seminar vs ACC

I went to a talk on Friday night titled
"Progressive Crristianity and the conspiracy to reinvent Jesus"
Now I should say that I am feeling a little in the spiritual doldrums at the moment and so having observed that various members of our congregation had been sufficiently enthused by the advertisment for the talk to fire off a few emails, I figured I would go and have a look.

Now I have to say that I went along blissfully ignorant of all the history here and listened to a somewhat negative talk presented by a somewhat un dynamic speaker.  The jist of the talk was to bring up claims by a mob called the "Jesus Seminar" and to refute those claims.  As I say somewhat negative.  OK so far and actually some of the points and the refutation (is that a word) were in themselves quite interesting.

However in the end it seemed we had one group of very dedicated people wound up about another small group of equally dedicated people. 

And nobody else really cares.

Perhaps we the people, God and the Church would be better served if they expended their energy preaching the gospel, caring for the needy and praying and giving thanks for a wonderful world.

OK so what were they on about.

Well it seems that "The Jesus Seminar" attempted some kind of psudo sceintific analysis of the bible to try to identify text that was a direct quote of Jesus or text that was sort of what Jesus may have said and text that someone else had written and passed it off as coming from Jesus.  OK sounds good to me.  I could really get into a good discussion on this over a glass of wine or coffee or round a camp fire but do we really need a whole organisation dedicated to this?

But what was their sin?
Well it appears that these guys have tried to deny the spiritual aspect of Jesus.  I understand that their claim is that Jesus was just a itinerant teacher and that he was not also God.  Our Chrstian belief is that Jesus is wholly human and wholly God at the same time. (post a correction if you wish).  I understand that they claim he was not crucified, and did not rise again.  Ooh on slippery ground there.

But who were the group hosting the talk you may ask.  Well so you might.  Turns out they are ACC. 

Not the Australian Crime Comission    http://www.crimecommission.gov.au/    (although that does sound approproiate given the gravity of the sin in question)

nor is it the Australian Christian Channel http://www.acctv.com.au/  (Although a little TV traction might make it all the more intersting)

Nor is it http://www.acc.org.au/  (Some kind of penecostal coordination body.)

The ACC it appears is a group formed in responde to a resolution that was debated by the UC on the issue of homo thexuals (said with emphasis) a while back. Resolution 84?.   The problem being that whether or not said issue was biblical depended on how one interpreted the bible and the "Jesus Seminar" don't interpret it the right way. 

So if you wish to discuss interpreting the bible, invite our family over for dinner, entertain the kids and we will work through all the issues over a glass of red.

and tim tams of course.

if you look very carefully, you will see tim tams on the table.


btw, the bad guys are at
http://tcpc.org/template/index.cfm

Bleeding Nose

Last night I discover Marcus on his bed with a bleeding nose.  There he has been sitting for the best part of an hour dripping into an ice cream container and me upstairs and everyone else downstairs.  No one seemed to be too concerned.  Megan was doing some bed time reading and prayers with one child and Marcus was on face book.  I later discover, he was describing his ailment and receiving messages of sympathy.

As I discover this situation, sudenly others become excited and phone calls are made and we discover that the Doc's locum service is over busy and can't come tonight.  So Put Marcus in the car and take him to the Taringa medical centre.  Along with his bucket of blood.  They try to refer us to the Wesley (private hospital) but the Wesley are having none of this and so its on to Royal Childrens (public hospital).

Surprisingly at Royal Children's we jump the queue of screaming babies and zoned out pre teens and get ushered straight in.  The phone call from Taringa must have oiled something.  There  are two counters staffed with between 5 and 8 people (varies through the night).  Marcus is whisked away.  I am pumped for information.  medicare number, privat health details, Marcus's birth date including year, Family doctors name and so on.  Each request resulting in a blank stare from me and a text to Megan.  The bucket of blood is weighed as 465g which the astute would recognise and meaning that we have about half a litre of blood.

Then the waiting begins. Actually it seemed to me that the bleedingwas beginning to stop while we sat there. Then they tell me that he will be staying in over night for observation.   I suggest that I will drop of his school uniform so he can check out in the morning and walk up to school.  They indiacted that Qld health would not allow that.  There are rules to follow and forms to fill in that will take I suspect several days.  After a while they shove a thing called a Rhino up his right nostril.  This is like a thin rubber tube wrapped in gause.  The idea is that once it is in, they can inflate it and the pressure will stop the bleeding.  They also tell us that he will be in a bed on the 4th floor and not too long after we discover this will be in a ward called "Surf ward".  OK so far.  They seem organised.

11pm and I ask whats going on.  "The beds not ready.  They are very busy up there". is the response.

Midnight passes.
I wonder why they can keep so many people busy feeding computers and yet can not find someone to make a bed.  In fact I wonder why they wait for a new body before making the bed.  Surely it would be more efficient to make the bed ready for a new patient.  Then you could get the patients out of emergency and into the wards quicker.  A conspiracy theorist might suggest that the procedure is designed to make the back log in emergency look bad and justify more people feeding computers.  But I would'nt think that.

I attempt to leave but I am told I can not leave until Marus is admitted and settled in his ward.
A nurse wheels in a recliner chair.  This is heaps better than the upright chair I had been attempting to sleep in.  Like airports, they have specifically insalled chairs designed to prevent people from lying down.

1am passes.
Finally a wardsman arrives and wheels Marcus's stretcher upstairs.  The lights are out.  No nurse anywhere to be seen.  The nurse riding shotgun with us flicked through some paperwork and established that we are to be bed 10 and a quick check confirms bed 10 to be un occupied.  So Marcus hops in.  A nurse appears and there is a huddled conversation.  This is called a "hand over".  I tell I am going and they look somwhat taken aback and I explain that he has been on sleepover before.  I am sure he will survive the night and they have a whole hospital to deal with any life threatening issues that may arise.

1:30am. 
I manage to leave

2:00 I arrive home.

It seems to me understandable that Qld Health can't get their pay system right.  If it takes two hours to do something simple like make a bed (remember they found it available almost immediatly) then one can hardly expect them to do something complicated like implement a complex computerised pay system.  Mind you, you then have to ask why, if its all so easy, could neither the Taringa medical centre nor the Marter handle something as simple as a bleeding nose.