View Larger Map I'd never been to this lookout before, and both Diane and I were impressed with the amount of birdlife that was evident through the song...even though we had difficulty spotting many birds at all. They were all very well hidden in the scrub, though a few did make themselves known to us. Some of said song is captured in this short vlog....though perhaps it should be a slog since the its mainly the song and not the video. Anyhoo, enjoy the weird and wonderful world of Australian birdsong. It's shorter and less melodic than I would have liked...because the battery went flat literally seconds before beautiful melody was breaking out. D'oh!
Preposterousness
pre·pos·ter·ous [priˈpostərəs] adj : absurd; or ... how God's ways appear to man
worshipper. hubby. soon-to-be daddy. ex-pat Aussie. music lover. accountant. creator of electronica. ERP nerd. media+web for Exchange Church. owner of freaky thumbs.
www.davidgoodwin.com music.davidgoodwin.com résumé.davidgoodwin.com
I only blog here occasionally, as most of my blogging energies go into the Exchange Church Blog, so you might also like to head over there for more of thoughts.
Bird Is The Word
Tempting as it was to post the Family Guy link here...this post is of far greater cultural import than such frivolity.
Last Sunday, we travelled up to the Blue Mountains after church. The Blue Mountains are one of our favourite places on earth, and are an easy drive.
Diane has some pics from the trip over at her blog, but I'm including one little bit of the day here.
We went to visit Cahill Lookout to view the early stages of sunset, before we headed on to Echo Point for the rest of it.
View Larger Map I'd never been to this lookout before, and both Diane and I were impressed with the amount of birdlife that was evident through the song...even though we had difficulty spotting many birds at all. They were all very well hidden in the scrub, though a few did make themselves known to us. Some of said song is captured in this short vlog....though perhaps it should be a slog since the its mainly the song and not the video. Anyhoo, enjoy the weird and wonderful world of Australian birdsong. It's shorter and less melodic than I would have liked...because the battery went flat literally seconds before beautiful melody was breaking out. D'oh!
View Larger Map I'd never been to this lookout before, and both Diane and I were impressed with the amount of birdlife that was evident through the song...even though we had difficulty spotting many birds at all. They were all very well hidden in the scrub, though a few did make themselves known to us. Some of said song is captured in this short vlog....though perhaps it should be a slog since the its mainly the song and not the video. Anyhoo, enjoy the weird and wonderful world of Australian birdsong. It's shorter and less melodic than I would have liked...because the battery went flat literally seconds before beautiful melody was breaking out. D'oh!
Snubbed. Gobsmacked. Bewildered.
For reasons which currently are not public, a completely ludicrous decision has been made today.
One of the nation's leading church-based charity groups, the Salvation Army, has been left off the committee that will oversee bushfire appeal funds. Despite raising more than $12 million for bushfire victims and already distributing $1.4 million in cash, the Salvation Army will not play a role in overseeing the operation of distributing the millions raised. Opposition community services spokesman Tony Abbott called for the inclusion of the Salvation Army. "The Salvation Army are always there when times are tough, without any favouritism as to race or creed," Mr Abbott said. "The Salvos are at least as active as any other welfare group. It is disappointing they aren't being given a look-in at official level. "For some reason -- maybe it is because of their Christian orientation, maybe because they were thought to be close to the Howard government -- the Rudd Government is giving them the cold shoulder. It is wrong and it should stop immediately." Salvation Army spokesman Neil Venables said the organisation was ready to respond to any invitation. "We would hope that it's not because of our Christian values and the perception that we were close to the previous government," Major Venables said. "We were committed to working with the Howard government, as we are committed to working with the Rudd Government. "It is not about political persuasion; it is about how we most effectively fulfil our mission. At times like this, the Army has the ability to do its best work." Sources within the Salvation Army said many officers had been "gobsmacked and bewildered" by their failure to be included in government planning and co-ordination, including being omitted from the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund Advisory Panel. The administration costs of the official government-Red Cross appeal are being picked up by the Government, but the same offer has not been extended to the Salvation Army Bushfire Appeal. Source: Compiled by APN from media reportsI really hope this is rectified. The Salvation Army are one of the most trusted charity organisations in Australia (quite apart from being a church), and to exclude them from this process is foolishness. This is especially so considering how much they have already contributed to the relief of the misery caused by the tragedy, and the overt Christianity of our Prime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd. To be denied a mission field such as this strikes me as a real miscarriage of justice. What do you think? Even if you don't know much about the fires, or Australia, tell me how you think the government, the church and secular charity organisations shoud / can work together in times like these.
History Schmistory - Freakin' Part V
Unless there is some overwhelming demand for a continuation of this series, this is where it ends. Even though we've left LOTS unsaid.
Thanks for reading and watching the beginnings of our little love story. This blog will get back to more current space shaping next time...probably...
You know what to do if you think it should be otherwise. And stalkers, this includes you... ;)
Herstory / History - Part IV
And the blabbing just keeps on going...and going...and going...
Diane noted that we should talk less and say more in these things. Too late now.
Disclaimer Note Thingy: I may or may not have said something about Tasmania which perpetuates a common, funny yet somewhat crude myth about the lovely people of that state. I should note that both Diane and I love Tasmania - a lot - and have considered moving there (kind of). One thing that prevents us from doing that is missing our church family, specifically knowing that God isn't done with us where we are just yet. Another would be that they're not likely to let me in again now...
History / Herstory - Part III
OK, so as requested, we've finished this as a video series. Yes, I said series.
This is as much for us as it is for you, so suck it up people ;)
Seriously, we hope you enjoy it, but are also blessed by the (unspoken) background workings of God in bringing us together. We're still working out exactly what He wants us to do that involved such massive life upheaval, but we know we're on the right path. More patience is needed...more...patience...
History / Herstory - Part III from David Goodwin on Vimeo.
History / Herstory - Part III from David Goodwin on Vimeo.
Herstory (& His too) - Part II
"How's it going, cobber? Probably not the best way to ingratiate myself to an Australian, but we'll see what happens".
These were the very first words sent across the interwebs from Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland to Moree, New South Wales, Australia back in May 2001 by a Miss Diane Bruce to a Mr David Goodwin.
Before I really get into the story too deeply, I need to state how, even after all these years, I'm totally floored by how God was weaving this story together before we had any idea what was going on :)
I should also say that we are sickeningly sweet, so be prepared to get sugar-induced queasiness as you follow our tale.
We met at Christian Cafe, and PalTalk became our technology of choice back in the days when IM was still a little bit novel. The silly Australian was immediately taken by the slight hints of self-deprecation evident in the opening text sent half way round the world by the lovely NornIrisher. Her profile talked of passion for Jesus, a desire to be a history maker for God, and her recent study at the International Bible Training Institute in England. (NB: that link seems to be having issues right now...it is the right one though).
Then of course, there was the anticipation of that lovely voice. Don't get me wrong, I didn't fall in love with her because of gorgeous voice, but it sure helped ;)
I was housesitting for my sister's mother-in-law (yes, that's right, and henceforth known as SMIL) who was visiting said sister and her husband in Palau, where he was the chief local pilot (now there's a whole other story). SMIL had a substantial amount of pre-paid dial up to be used before the end of the month, so I took it upon myself to ensure there was none that got wasted and set about searching for a place to buy the impossible-to-find-in-Australia DVD of "Left Behind". I never found a place to buy it (and I believe I'm not missing anything), but what I did find was Christian Cafe.
This was of some interest as I'd been through a time of enormous spiritual growth in the years prior, and while content with being single, I wanted to find my soul/helpmate who I was fairly sure didn't live in outback Australia. Far more importantly though, the Christian Cafe site was based in Canada, so there were a lot of Canadians on the site. Why did I care about that? I was the holder of a 12 month Canadian work visa which I was planning to use the following year, and I knew no-one in Canada. This might be a great way to help with the trip planning if nothing else.
But I didn't meet anyone from Canada, just a couple of people on the US west coast, and one in Northern Ireland...
I don't want each of these posts to get too long, and as this is now almost 600 words, I think it's time to leave it til tomorrow :)
Sarah suggested we do a video post for some of this story telling series, and we might do that. Just not right this instant as Diane is working out how to use the shiny new (church-owned) MacBook Pro. It's pretty similar to our iMac (and naturally, TokBox was the first thing we did on it the other day), but none of that will get it set up ready to use as our multi-media hub for Sunday. So Diane's doing that...amidst deciding on the layout for her blog...which will be way better than mine when it begins OK, let's just state that upfront :)
Anyway, further instalments in the History/Herstory saga to come...if anything's unclear up to this point, you know what to do!
History (& Hers too) - Part I
Last night, a very cool group of Twitterers TokBoxed the night away. It reminded me of some history that probably isn't all that well known; certainly amongst the blogging community anyway :)
In fact, whenever people ask how @machroi and I met, we still look at each other and 'argue' over whose turn it is to tell the story this time. We usually end up with a short-ish run through of the basics, but never get into much of the detail. Even when they'd rather we did.
So, now that pretty much everyone who ever visits this blog has graduated to be a 'real-life' friend (making my 25 Things song a LIE), it's probably time to tell you a little bit more about us, and in particular, how I managed to convince Northern Ireland to give up one of its' greatest assets and entrust her into my care down here in Australia.
And more amazingly, she agreed ! Who'd leave this...
for this ?
So come around over the next few days, as the story unfolds...
And be sure to let me know if you have any
(1) questions about the story as revealed so far (not likely, but you're always surprising me)
(2) suggestions on how this should be presented for maximum impact (whatever that means), or
(3) I have no idea what to ask for (3), it just needed a 3rd question...which it didn't get...maybe next time...
And no spoilers if you read and comment, Cee ;)
