Monthly Archives: September 2006

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Worship, feelings, and what-if?
What if I don’t feel like God is there? Should I act on those feelings? Or is there something more important than my emotions? (I’m sure you can guess the answer…)

Trickle Theory
Got an impossible task that needs doing? Try using trickle theory to get it finished.

Kids Having Fun
These pictures are amazing (they get better lower down).

Male Restroom Etiquette
Every guy should watch this too. But it has less of a priority than the iMonk post.

internetmonk.com ยป The Man in the Shadow of Adultery
Read this. Especially if you are married. It is super-important.

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My $3 Million Internet Connection

Ok, doing some quick sums while waiting for a late-running CityRail train (don’t get me started…), an equivalent price for my home internet connection would run somewhere in the order of $3 million each year. And I’m on one of my ISP’s cheaper plans. I can understand paying more for mobile internet, but when the cost of a phone call is very expensive at a rate of 50c per thirty seconds, and I can download a MB of data in a minute or two on my phone, I can’t see how they can justify a 5000x increase in price compared to the landline data transfer.

The more I think about it, the more easily I can see how Telstra can pay ridiculous amounts of money to it’s bosses (thanks Dave).

RodeoClown: slightly more annoyed than last time.

Attention: Anybody with a Telstra Mobile

Do NOT use their mobile internet service… 2.8MB = $43… That’s roughly $15 per megabyte.

To summarise: do not use Telstra’s mobile internet service. Also, if you are thinking of getting a Telstra mobile, don’t. I’m pretty frustrated that I did. The phone is nice, the service is not.

I thought the government should keep full control of Telstra before. Now I hope it gets sold, and quickly, and they can start competing – either that or it hurries up and dies, so a decent phone company can take over and get rid of the extravagantly priced line rental, shocking internet prices and terrible mobile phone service.

RodeoClown: ripped (and ticked) off.

Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Mark, a friend from uni, recently wrote this blog entry: Willingness to Change.

He gives a few (very real sounding) examples and then this:

Compromise starts with one step in the wrong direction. But where does compromise end? In the act of trying to ignore God’s prompting, and ignoring your own conscience, what happens to your heart or your spirit?

How long do you need to be nagged before repenting?
If you know something is sin but refuse to stop, are you mocking Christ’s death?
Is struggling with sin and losing the same as wilful sin?
What’s the difference?

Many questions, and they all hit close to home.

Another friend pointed out that as we mature as Christians it often feels like we are sinning more often (and this can be extremely discouraging), when we are just more aware of the sin in our lives.

Things to consider.

RodeoClown: convicted.

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Irony
It’s like ray-hee-aiin on your wedding day. Or like proving you are peaceful by burning effigies… either way.

Andy Ruminations: Dan Brown on faith…
Dr. Luke vs Dan Brown.

10 Reasons To Drink More Water
Really, you should drink more water. Here’s why.

Stem-cell decision is a question of morality, not science
Professor Neil Ormerod outlines why the question of embryonic stem-cell research is not going to go away, and why there is no middle ground that can be agreed on.

The Little Girl Giant
The most incredible puppetry I’ve ever seen. A giant puppet walking through a park. You completely forget there is a crane behind her and dozens of puppeteers. Again, incredible.

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Arachnid Poem Two

I’d love to be a spider
and spin a web of silk,
paralyse small insects
and drink their guts like milk

I’d make my web an artwork
spun round and round and round
When someone saw it on the grass
they’d stomp it to the ground

I could get to any room at all
even in the shower.
I could watch the girls get undressed
they’d see me and they’d cower

I’d bite them with my dripping fangs,
inject them with my bite.
They’d swell and itch and howl with pain
and drop dead by that night

My love-life would be exciting
I would have to hit and run
My girl would use me for her babies,
then try and eat me when she’s done!

Original notes:

Well, this is my second spider poem.
The last one is much more serious.
It would be pretty fun to be a spider.
I had a different ending verse, but it
was pretty rude, so I changed it. I’m
not sure if I like this one better or not.

New notes:
I wrote this poem while I was at university. I found it recently and thought I’d give it a re-airing. It was originally posted here.

RodeoClown: webilicious.

Arachnid Poem One

Sometimes I wish I was a spider
I’d make a subtle web
spun from the finest silk
and wait for a fly

I would make my home an artwork
to be seen by all the world
sparkling in the dawn,
invisible at dusk

I could crawl wherever I pleased
my only dread a shoe
thrown at me in fear
and they often miss

Sit upon the ceiling, watching
as another world passes by.
Another fly-on-the-wall
is just a meal

The venom in my mouth would not
come just from my tongue
I would destroy with my fangs
and not with words

A short life, and morbid
living on a death-trap
with no friends at all
even my mate wants to eat me

Original notes:
Have you ever wanted to be a spider, and just be really small, and completely ignored?

This poem, and its counterpart are both inspired by a web I drew. I couldn’t decide whether to have a serious poem, or a fun poem so I chose both, read my other arachnid poem two…
Did you like that use of ‘two’ to also mean ‘too’… um, I’ll go now…

New notes:
I wrote this poem while I was at university. I found it recently and thought I’d give it a re-airing. It was originally posted here.

RodeoClown: just like flies.

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Adrian Plass: A Critical Point
You want to criticise someone and have them actually taken note? Try being close to them in the first place.

Freely I confess my sins
For God has poured his grace in
But when another lists my faults
I want to smash his face in.

Joseph Called Bethlehem Home?
Hey… that’s a really good point – if Joseph came from Bethlehem, why didn’t he stay with any of his family there?

Jonathan Coulton – I’m Your Moon
OK, I lied. But this will (almost definitely, quite probably, in-fact-almost possibly) be the last Pluto ‘thing’ I mention. Charon, singing to Pluto regarding rejection from the planetary line-up. Best line “They invented a reason, that’s why it stings”.

Did I hear an Echo in here?
When you post something on your blog, add something that will make it more than just regurgitating the news.

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