Seagal Confirmation

At last, what we have all known in the depths of souls has been confirmed! We have all long known that Steven Seagal one of the worst actors ever (up there with Matty Lloyd) who should be convicted for crimes against humanity for such atrocities as Under Siege I and II.

But now Urban Stone is appalled to reveal that there is a budding recording career hidden behind the rocky facade of this expressive piece of chip board. The exquisitely entitled "Mojo Priest" is now available for the terminally deaf, Rossy and $5 budget bins all around the country. Click here for entry into the house of horror.
Warning: Viewers spending longer than 5 minutes at the Seagal house may discover themselves committing unsuspected acts of self harm.

Crawford Mega-Fundraising-Blog-a-thon

(or how to raise cash for a trip without selling the kids)

Professor Kent and Madam Mel are tripping off to the States. They say it's for a wedding - but it's amazing how it coincides with the Rendezview TV Fan Club Conference? And Mel did mention something about catching up with Angelina again...

But don't take my word for it - they've begun their very own blog for this purpose! Go and visit their world for a while - more wine than John Howard on Education, more secret recipes than the Iranian cabinet, and the best chance for an embarrasing photo since Colin met Paris! And all for a very, very good cause.

Dave and Beth

Choices

Mucking around with digital imaging - trying to learn the different tricks of manipulation. So here is the same photo, done in two different styles. Which one do you prefer? Leave a comment and vote.

Darwin

searching
Originally uploaded by urbanstone.

Just back from running some workshops in Darwin for a few days. A really hectic schedule meant that I didn't get to see a lot of the area, but we did grab an hour at Casuarina Beach one afternoon. The texture of the sand, the small trails and the shells all held quite a different sense to east coast beaches.

Click on the photo to see a few more shots over at flickr.

Fragments

As I reflect upon what has shaped my practice of ministry for a subject this semester, I am struck again by how we are influenced by others. My grandfather for example. Not simply in the sense of how important and loved he was - but rather, as I take in his experiences of WWI and his fathers post-trauma, his own forming during the Depression and the style of man and father he chose to be during WWII and beyond. His choices, his experiences have shaped my families emotional responses.

No blame attached - we all shape our families and communities. We each take responsibility for our own choices - but the canvas we begin to write upon is never blank.

Fragments of his choices and experiences have filtered through and moulded some of me.

Tropfest Twins Victory

Congrats to the winning short film "Carmichael and Shane" in this year's Tropfest. Although hard to tell without seeing the last 4 films that sank under the domain downpour, "Carmichael and Shane" made me laugh very, very hard. A single father bringing up twins, decides to overcome the dilemma of competing for attention by simply favouring one twin over the other. Sounds mean? It is, but with Rob Carlton as the father it works. You recognise his face as the dopey, bloke next door froms several ads and such. His deadpan Aussie drawl is perfect.

My personal fave was "Carnivore Reflux", which was a very-Monty Pythonesque short that held a sharp social comment on consumerism. (surprise, surprise I hear you say!)

I'm looking forward to watching the 15 legitimate finalists again after the DVD is published with this Saturday's SMH.

So as the sun begins to set upon another summer, and Sydney sinks into the wet season (go the tropfest 200m dash) - yet another Budgewoi Open has come and gone. Thanks as always to Bruiser for the accommodation - and to Team Meatloaf for the inspiration!

Victory

Victory
Originally uploaded by urbanstone.

Supercoach

Supercoach
Originally uploaded by urbanstone.

deadly assassin

deadly assassin
Originally uploaded by urbanstone.

Poetry in Motion

Poetry in Motion
Originally uploaded by urbanstone.

Team Meatloaf

Team Meatloaf
Originally uploaded by urbanstone.

Jeff and Sue's Wedding

Hottest wedding ever!

more photos soon...

The Meatrix

Take the red pill or the blue pill...

Not as happy with this shot - but it is nice to pay respects to one's neighbours!

More shots from the Bangalow garden, post rain shower. Go to urbanstone smugmug gallery for more.

Movies

Two separate nights, two different movies.

Friday night; helping out the youth group at West Epping by acting as a chauffeur to the Drive-In's! Haven't been there in about 20 years? Anyway, Jodie Foster in Flightplan was a slight let down. A good idea with plenty of twists - it seems like a rehash of things like fightclub, The Sixth Sense etc... Has she lost her daughter? kidnappers? terrorists? does her daughter really exist? Is Jodie Foster insane? An excellent first half of the movie posed lots of questions - but unfortunately the second half chose one option and did it poorly. For this Jodie Foster fan, it was not her best performance - although admittedly it had limited scope as an hysterical mother on a jumbo jet.

3 stars. (NB interesting to note the dig at Arab profiling by Americans when the tension was up)

Saturday Night; Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Typical dark and fun Burton. Done with musical flair (a nod to Ray Charles) and a sort of Grimm Brothers Fairytale feel - German Aristicrats with murder most foul and true love across social classes. Funny, great music and visually appealing. If I had any qualms, it was that it was too short - perhaps resolved too neatly. But fun none the less.

3.75 stars