God in politics

Interesting reading...

Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie

Oi, Oi, Oi!!!!!

As of last night, I am an Australian citizen. And this morning, I applied for my Australian passport. What a good feeling it is. I feel like I have been set free of bonds, now officially part of a free society. We had a great session at the Victoria Park Civic Centre, and we have a lovely town mayor. Must be the most friendly politician I have ever met.

And of course I can now vote. I also have to vote, but that does not bother me at all.

Pretty cool, all in all.

You are my sunshine

The following from Ekklesia: The Journey. Do you believe in miracles? I do. This is one of them. And it specifically appeals to me, since I have not been spending enough time speaking to our new baby, as I did with my daughter before she was born. Well, tonight it starts.

Silence of the hand

I can not remember when last I posted something here. And even today there is not much to say.

Except perhaps, that it is a beautiful day, lots of rain, lots of wind, and we need it - the rain, that is, not the wind. Life has been good since my last scribblings. And I can ask for little more.

Commercial Level Simulations have announced that they are in the process of modelling an Eclipse 500 light jet. I will be following that with interest.

Apologies to my regular readers, I will eventually get back on top of workload, family life, music, beta-testing, and a few other things...

God bless.

FSX Shared skies video

Found this on Avsim. It is a video featuring the new shared skies concept in FSX. Not a new concept, but a great video. 38 Mb .wmv file, for those that might find it a constraint.

John Patitucci on bass

Just for fun, here is John playing a classical Bach piece. I am deeply humbled. But, perfect practice makes perfect.



And here is a great solo from John as well.

Jaco Pastorius Improvising

Awesome video. Now, why didn't I bring my bass along with me? I really wish I was home now. At least I can still do my finger excercises... Via.

The evolution of dance

This must be the best video on Youtube ever. Original page.

Our pledge

Today my wife and I went for our Australian citizenship interview. Only a few more months now, and we will have full citizenship. Very exciting, is it not? I can hardly wait to get my Australian passport. Just imagine, just one visa per year, not ten filling up pages in my passport. I had a look this morning, and it is incredible how much I have travelled in the last two years. A few more months, and the passport will be full.

Which is a very interesting subject in itself. Every time I now go through passport control, I have to specify a page number where the officer can stamp. Else the risk is that someone stamps on a blank page, removing a whole visa page in the process. Oh, the stresses of frequent travel - LOL.

Not by might, nor by power

but by My Spirit, says the Lord Zec 4:6. And thus it was tonight during worship. I had a tough week, a tough Saturday, and I felt terribly unprepared. But God stepped in, made our music heavenly, taking our hands and voices, and making it perfect, despite our imperfections. All I can do is give thanks, thanks for the grace, the mercy God shows every day of our lives.

For without Him we are nothing, our talents, our abilities are worthless. And since we are here on earth only as stewards, nothing belongs to us. We can not take our posessions to heaven or hell with us, we have to leave it all behind. How nice it is to dedicate what we have to Him, and not to the world.

Legal XP owners, arise

One of the nicest things about now being legal, apart from getting frequent updates, is that my computer can now hybernate. Since I have first used this feature, I just knew that every computer should be able to do that. How is it useful to me? I can pause my Flight Simulator in the middle of a flight, Hybernate, and then continue again a few days later.

I have nearly finished setting up my new hard drive with all the programs and data, and will hopefully be able to make a Norton Ghost backup later the week.

Oh, and did I mention that I now no longer need to feel guilty about my Windows version? The truth shall set you free.

Ladder telemarketing commercial gone wrong

This must really have hurt!

Frantic week and my first song in years

It started on Saturday: Perth-Singapore-London-Stockholm-Luleå, meeting on Monday, Luleå-Stockholm-London-Narita, meeting on Thursday (today), and tonight back to Perth via Hong Kong.

But as tiring as it was, I had lots of fun, and am glad I could go. And God arranged an upgrade to first class on the London-Narita leg, as well as a complimentary massage in Heathrow. I felt truly pampered, and privileged. So this is my public thank you to my Lord Jesus.

Speaking of which, here is something I wrote down sometime the week. If anyone wants to add music before I do, please feel free.

Thank You for all You have given me
When I look at what I have,

all I can do is to give thanks
You truly are my provider.
My hope rests in You.
My enemies plot against me
Scheming and planning my downfall
But You lift me up from the ashes
You restore my health
Restore my faith
You bring healing to my life
And all I can do is give thanks.

I praise You because You are my provider
My source of strength
With out You I am nothing
Take all I have
All my abilities
My talents
Without You it is all nothing.

I long to worship You
Long to praise You
It is all about You
Not about me
It is all about You
Not about me

Luleå runway at speed

The runway at Luleå in Sweden. Pretty cool picture, heh! And to the pilots reading, no, I was not this fortunate. Snapped it as we turned to backtrack down the runway.

Fresh as a daisy

Fresh as a daisy. That's how I feel now. I have just had a magnificent shower in Heathrow, on my way to Sweden. First time ever that I have showered in the middle of a series of flights, and I will do it again. So why is this so exciting? Who knows.

Hope Rwanda very successful

Hope Rwanda is touching lives in a way that only God can. People have access to medical teams, houses are built for widows of the genocide 10 years ago, children's prayers for rice and blankets are answered by people halfway across the world, teachers receive teaching aids, people are miraculously healed as people lay hands on them and pray.

To read more, visit the official Hope Rwanda blog.

Keep on praying. Keep on giving. Be part of God's answer to the world's problems.

A ringtone meant to fall on deaf ears

This article from the New York Times (you will need to subscribe to see it) tells of a high frequency ringtone that many adults can not hear, but children can. So I have now downloaded it, and installed it as my Meeting Profile Ringtone. The experiment will be to see how many of my colleagues will hear it ring.

"In settings where cellphone use is forbidden — in class, for example — it is perfect for signaling the arrival of a text message without being detected by an elder of the species.
"When I heard about it I didn't believe it at first," said Donna Lewis, a technology teacher at the Trinity School in Manhattan. "But one of the kids gave me a copy, and I sent it to a colleague. She played it for her first graders. All of them could hear it, and neither she nor I could."
The technology, which relies on the fact that most adults gradually lose the ability to hear high-pitched sounds, was developed in Britain but has only recently spread to America — by Internet, of course."

Which reminds me of another crazy experiment: Eating only monkey food for a week. Adam Scott from Canada did this, and you can find his video diaries over on Youtube.com. The last video states that if you only act on your good ideas, you will never do anything. I do not agree with the sentiment, but his ordeal/experiment is quite funny.

Light of the World

Jesus truly is the light of the world. I am amazed more and more every day in how intricately perfect everything has been designed, and made, for our pleasure. Apple blossoms, luring bees, waiting for cross-pollination. Who thought of that? The apple tree? I don't think so. The banana, fitting into a human hand so perfectly. Did we engeneer it like that? I don't think so.

The sun, the moon, the stars. All just there for our pleasure, our amazement. Gazing up into the heavens, wishing we could travel there, wishing we could fly. Wishing we could swim like the fish do. We were put here on earth to enjoy life, to mange and reign over this planet. And I know we are not always responsible as a human race.

Perfectly crafted in the image of God, with free will, the ability to choose our destiny. What a profound responsibility. Seeing one of my colleagues' heart aching, searching for something more, yearning back for teenage years when life was simple, and joyful. Well, it can be that way again. It can be that way all the time.

God knows the number of hears on my head. Why? Because He can, and because He cares. And He looks after the sparrows day after day. So why should we worry about earthly concerns. God is there for us.

I want to work hard, excel to the best of my ability, make music from my heart, dance like there is no tomorrow, love God and my family with all my heart. Love my colleagues, love everyone I see, and those I do not see.

Pray for everyone I know, in all the countries I have been, for healing, for a renewing of their minds, and hearts, that they may know You, God. I want to have a guard in front of my mouth, speak only things that inspire, and make people think.

I want to be known as God's child, not as anything else.

God, my soul cries out to You today. Hear my prayer, hear my cries. Forgive my sins. THank You for loving me, despite my fallen human nature. Despite my many transgressions. Your love is difficult to fathom. So big, so kind. And yet, we were created in Your image. We have the same capability, we can love the same way if we so choose.

I pray for healing for my wife, for Your touch on her body. I pray for less travel for me, for more time to spend at home. I thank You for Your protection.

What am I doing in Perth, Lord? I am ready to do Your will. Please make it known to me. I know that the time is coming soon.

Explosive Pepsi and Mentos?

There is a myth that you can explode Pepsi with Mentos. Here is the result of an experiment to disprove this myth (sorry, no embedded player).

Cool Bass fishing video by Danny Thomson