"Thank You, Big Oz"

I'm going to start with a little reflection today. I remember a time back when I was a lad and we had - as a family - gone on one of our infrequent outings to Milton Keynes to wander around the futuristic dystopian shopping mall of Buckinghamshire's favourite new town. My parents bought a tape (this was back in the day when you didn't have CD players in your car unless you were Dr. Who or some other time travelling rascal) tape that purported to contain Colin Blunstone's Greatest Hits or something like that. Except it wasn't. It was Colin Blunstone's Greatest Hits 'tributed' by someone else. I guess mum and dad should have heard the alarm bells when they saw that the cassette declared that it starred "Paul Bean and His Amazing Wurlitzer". I remember dad putting it in the tape player and being extremely disappointed to find out that not only was it purely instrumental but that it had been done by someone on a Casio keyboard for a GCSE music project.

There is a reason why I sharing all this nostalgia with you. This tale came to mind when we were in Target today and I was tempted to be a CD called Synthesizer Greats for $2. I know I should have been warned off by the fact that it said 'Instrumental' down the spine and had the name L'Orchestra Electronique on it, but I went against my better judgement. Actually, it's turned out to be a pretty good purchase. The nature of synthesizer music means that it's not hard for a tribute band to reproduce the exact sound of the original, and the fact that it's 'Instrumental' doesn't matter either because tunes like Chariots of Fire and Oxygene are not renowned for their lyrical excellence. Oh, I also bought a proper CD - Dystopia by the Midnight Juggernauts who are an Australian band that Terry would like.


When I was on the mat run yesterday I held the door open for an endearing aboriginal gentleman who said, I think, "Thank you, big Oz" as he went by. I've never heard that expression before but assume it's a generic greeting for a tall male fella who looks like he might be Australian. Mind you, as I said, there was something inherently endearing about the man so he could have said "Thank you, ugly troll" and I probably would have felt just as pleased. Having things like this happen to you is just one of the minor benefits of having a job like the mat run. The biggest benefit is, of course, that your forearms smell of rubber all the year round.

Xanthe has not been well recently. She's had an ear infection so has been on antibiotics for a week. They've been helping her ear, but no-one warned us about the horrible side effects! Her hand has swollen to the extent that it's now as large as her head!


The clocks go forward tonight, and they go back in the UK so that means we'll go from being 9 hours ahead to being 11 hours ahead. I put that information in for family members who might not be aware of the chronological changes.

I've been doing this for a while now - at least one blog a week for 38 weeks. I'm thinking of cutting back to a fortnightly blog simply so that I can maintain the quality that I know that all of you discerning readers demand. So this is my way of saying that there might not be a blog posted next Saturday (but there might) and if there isn't then one will be along in another week. Have a good week/fortnight!

Happy Birthday to Roo

On Monday of this week we celebrated Ruth's thirtieth birthday. She had a really nice time and the community went to great lengths to make it a day to remember. We had our fellowship group meeting at the Volkofskys and Penny had created this amazing four course meal that we all really enjoyed. After this we went to the lounge for a party of sorts. We had some more great food and a great time. There was supposed to be an 'English' theme to the party so we had plenty of tea to drink and a few special guests, namely Dr. Who, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and a random Englishman in a peaked cap. We felt very honoured by their presence. Kind of.


You may remember that a few blogs back I reported that I had crushed my finger during the fateful trip to Swan Hill. Well, the fingernail is still black and ugly but doesn't seem to be doing anything. It's neither healing nor dropping off. It's like it can't decide whether to be dead or not. It continues to live, function and grow in a state of undeath but it's definitely not being 'normal'. It's my undead fingernail; my zombie ungula. An ungula, by the way, is another word for 'claw' or 'talon'. I looked it up on the Internet when I was searching for another way of saying 'fingernail'. So now everyone who insists that it's only a good blog when they 'learn something new' should be happy.

We've finally got some idea what we'll be up to next year. We think we'll be staying here in Dubbo for the first part of the year (probably anywhere between three and six months) and then being sent to a first-year centre. At the moment the favourite seems to be Swan Hill, but we'll see. Things can change in the course of a month. While we're here in Dubbo we'll be finalising things like our visas and how much of the course that I haven't yet done I can get away with not doing.

It's really hot here. It must be mid-thirties. And it's still only spring.

Calvin has been pestering us for a pet for a while. He's tried to convince us that a goldfish wouldn't be much work but I don't believe him. Or maybe I should put it this way, I believe that a goldfish is not much work but the point is that Ruth and I would be the ones doing it. Well, OK, mostly Ruth. However, we have now acquired two guinea pigs and they sit in a bird cage on our front lawn. The guinea pigs are sisters (I hope they are anyway because I gather than guinea pigs don't have the same qualms that we have about brother/sister relationships) and the boys 'possess' one each. Calvin named his little pet 'Sydney', which is quite a good name for a female Australian guinea pig. Reid showed a little less sensitivity but just as much imagination by naming his 'Spiderman'. So we have two new additions to the family - Sydney and Spiderman. Hmmmmm. I made it clear to Ruth that we could only take them on if I was not expected to have anything to do with them. I failed to get a similar understanding in place when Xanthe was born so I wasn't going to get caught out this time.

Have a good week. See you in a week and hopefully I'll have something worth saying.

Bored of the Flies

The photo above is how I looked before the Australia/England rugby game last week. There is no photo of how I looked during or after the game, but be assured that I definitely looked happier that I do in the photo above. The game against France is being shown at 4a.m. tomorrow morning. I think I'll be giving that one a miss. I'll have to check the score when I wake up in the morning.

Open Week has finished here at Cornerstone. I think that it went very well and it certainly seemed to make a positive impact on many of the the people who visited us. I enjoyed talking to people and hearing their stories - it's fascinating to hear how God is and has been working in people's lives. I also really enjoyed the first game of soccer I've played since arriving in Australia. Of course, regular fellow-players will not be surprised to learn that I dazzled the entire nation with my silky skills. However, I did discover that, despite the exertions of the mat run, I seem to be a bit out of shape. It also showed me that I do miss the games I used to enjoy as an integral part of HHBC FC. Maybe I can remedy that situation in the near future.

I've found that, pretty much without exception as far as I know, people who spend some time living here in community at Burrabadine are generally attracted to what we are doing and experiencing out here. Cornerstone is far from perfect, but the heart of what it is about is focused on mission, discipleship and whole-of-life spirituality. The general response from Christians who spend enough time here to get over the 'radical' nature of things can see the advantages and blessing of the way that we're doing things. I think it can be quite hard to be confronted with the example of a different way of living, especially as people can see that there's a lot to be said for it. There are things that could be a lot better here; things that other organisations will do very well, but I think that Cornerstone has made a genuine difference over the years and will keep doing so as it continues.


Eddie is back! No, not really. I haven't seen him in many months so have to assume that he's long gone and maybe been eaten by something. Possibly Reid. This lizard was spotted outside our house a couple of days ago in about the same spot that Reid saw the lizard with the black tongue a long time ago (I mention it in a previous blog, continuity fans). When we drove to Bourke was saw a few lizards just sitting on the road, sunning themselves. There is a lot more variety of reptilian activity here in Oz. We are not known for out scaly wildlife in the UK.


Speaking of which, the flies. THE FLIES! I've already mentioned the veracity of the flies here and I've been suffering for the past couple of weeks. Just stepping outside of the house is an invitation to be set-upon by a swarm of The Buzzing Death. They are either very brave or highly stupid as they seem to have no sense of self-preservation. They sit on your face until you try to kill them and then...then they fly off for a nanosecond before returning to your face. I'm surprised at how well I've adapted to them so far. Annoying as they are they don't bother me as much as they used to. However, I have a feeling that when the summer finally kicks in I'll be longing for the days when they only attacked in groups of ten. I have to say that I don't think I'll ever get used to the terribly horrible position of getting in the car and setting off only to find that you've trapped three flies in with you. You're totally at their mercy then as any attempt to swipe them away, open the door or even shoo them out of a window can result in sudden veering and / or potential death. You just have to sit and bear it as they proceed to lay eggs in your eyelids. Still, I suppose that life can't just be fun all the time.

Dubbo in the Spring

It's been a bit quiet round here. It's school holidays and last Monday was a bank holiday. There were no lectures last week so lots of people cleared off for a few days. A large group of Cornerstoners were away providing a Pizza Runners service at Black Stump, a Christian alternative music festival. I think it sounds like the name of an amputee reunion rather than a music festival, but that's Oz for you.

This coming week (the second week of the spring break) is the Cornerstone open week. There will be about thirty people joining us here in Dubbo to spend a week experiencing Cornerstone and deciding if they want to join us. It would be tempting to welcome the people with a big smiley face but then pass them secret notes during the week with things like "HELP ME" written in big red crayon. As I am a Christian I shall resist the temptation.

It's well and truly spring here, with temperatures reaching into the 30s. We're still waiting for rain but as I write big black clouds fill the sky and Ruth has brought her washing in. It's looking pretty hopeful.

I've been preparing some teaching sessions on Acts to prepare for the first week back in classes. We're doing a nationally recognised Training and Assessment course so we need to teach some classes to make sure that we're competent at teaching. This is in preparation for those of us who want to stay on at Cornerstone as staff members. I've quite enjoyed preparing the classes, though I see that a lot of work goes into each session. I'm looking forward to it though.

Tonight is a big night for me. At 10pm England shall be facing off against Australia in the Rugby World Cup. Things could go very well or very badly. I shall be watching it with a bunch of Aussies so it's not going to be my finest hour whatever happens. A friend suggested that I get there half an hour before kick off and just gloat over the fact that we're World Champions for as long as I can just in case it all goes badly after the game. By the time some of you read this it will have all been decided. Congratulations or commiserations will be welcome as appropriate.