On Friday night we alpha tested Samurai, an RPG that Nic and Stack made up, which is loosely based on feudal Japan. It was very good, considering that it was the alpha test.
If anyone wants to test it out, Nic's posted the rules here, in the RPG section of the new Reality is Overrated Forum.
Updated rules
Updated setting
Martial arts
Yesterday when we got to Batmania, we spent at least half and hour trying to find somewhere to park. We eventually parked at Security Parking, on the same block as the Museum of Victoria. $10 all day. This is the (rather amusing) ticket:
Just found out tonight that I'm going to Batmania tomorrow and not Thursday, so I can't go to Nic's Faustoberfest. Me and John are going to the Immigration Museum (historically immigration's been very important in our country, particularly Batmania), having lunch at Urban Seed, and going to the Forge Postcards event.
More about it all tomorrow night probably.
Been reading Colossians. My mentor Michael's been reading it too, and reckons one of the main things he's found from reading it this time around is that the Christ needs to be at the centre of our spirituality (2:6-20). Michael reckons that two things that can distract Christians from the Christ are obsession with rules:
Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 'Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!'? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.and obsessive pursuit of spiritual experiences:
(Colossians 2:20-22)
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.He thinks it's these things that usually stuff us Christians up.
(Colossians 2:18)
Read Sin City #2 A Dame to Kill For
Darren's posted a discussion paper on the film here at Digital Orthodoxy.
Really impressed by the drawing style, but the plot didn't interest me very much. Seemed like just a generic femme fatale story. Dunno, maybe some of the others are better.
Sin City, Frank Miller, comic, noir, femme fatale
Been reading Acts. I find these bits amusing:
Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead.(Don't worry he gets resurrected.)
(Acts 20:9)
'You are out of your mind, Paul!' he shouted. 'Your great learning is driving you insane.'
Acts 26:24
SwarmSketch is a game where many users get to contibute one line each to a drawing, and vote on how visible other contributors lines should be. There is a new picture each week. Today's topic is 'bird flu'.
'An enemy is a friend waiting to be made; that's the only hope for this conflict-ridden world.' - Desmond Tutu
Tonight at the writers group we talked a bit about Australia's big cats. We also talked a bit about the possibility of diprotodonts in Western Australia, but they haven't been in the tabloid.
This bloke ^ from Noble Park (where I lived longer than anywhere else) reckons he shot a big cat near Sale. This article says it might have actually been a really really big feral cat.
An old(er) post by Fernando from his Desk:
...the most common response is either naive acceptance, or reactionary rejection of culture. By contrast, we should approach our culture open both to find what is good and reject that which is not, on the basis of familiarity with Christ and with the practice of faith...Read the whole post here. Also check out Matt Stone's post about Daniel and how we measure missional success.
Yesterday Centrelink cut my allowence again. I became extremely angrified at this yesterday morning when I went to my bank account and found it empty. Luckily I found $2 on the footpath, and was thus able to get to uni and also to deangrify myself significantly.
Went in there today and they said it was because I hadn't gotten my parents to fill in a form which I was never sent in the first place, because they think I still live at my old address, even though I told them I'd moved at the start of the year and filled the form you're supposed to fill out when you move. So because they ahve no record, they reckon I just didn't notify them.
Exactly the same thing happened last year. Centrelink is really good, but it is also quite crap.
Last night we (Reality Writers) had a gig (Night on the Tiles) at Grainery Lane and made lots of money, so it looks we are going to publish an anthology of stuff we've written this year.
It turned out that the MC we got for the gig was the brother of a girl I went out with in year 12.
I read bits from my ¿novel?, Prochorus. Some of us also did a radio-play style reading of Hendo's Nerd Diaries #9, because he refused to read anything.
After the readings, 23rd of Elvis (their guitarist is from Snog) played and this guy threw an armchair at them.
Interesting review at The Program. Eve's Memory part of a trilogy of plays by Duncan Graham, based on stories from Genesis. It's about an Adam and Eve who believe themselves to be the last people on Earth. Read the whole review here.
Lexi's written a good post about the mystery and beauty of faith:
Sometimes I wish I were a witch, or a wiccan like my sister so I’d have lovely stories of mystery and beauty of nature - sacred rituals in the small clearing of the wood - describing the underside of a sparrow’s wing - believing in the earth, her cycles, the seasons and the winds.Read the whole post here.
I've just been reading Anthony's Scrambled #3 ($2.50 at Rediscovery, Sturt St, Ballarat) about his pen leaking on the plane, because of the lower air pressure.
Then a couple of pages later Anthony says something about dipping his pen in Coke on the plane to Vancouver.
Then I thought, People are probably getting less stuff than they think they are! Because of the low air pressure, the Coke (or any other beverage) would be less compressed and if the Coke had been served on the ground! Aaaaargggh!
melbourne9
Originally uploaded by zaido.
Another place we visited on our city walk last week was Crown Casino. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us in, because they reckoned Erin wasn't old enough, and she didn't have ID on her. So we stood in the foyer and read this piece of scripture:
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.So it looks like Jesus reckons it's awesome that this woman is putting all her money in. But when we look at this scripture, we don't often look at the bit that comes before:
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.'
(Mark 12:41-44)
As he taught, Jesus said, 'Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.'Jesus definitely doesn't undervalue the poor widow's offering. He says that she put in more than anyone else.
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.'
(Mark 12:38-44)
bushfire
Originally uploaded by Zimbo.
To you, O Lord, I cry. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have burned all the trees of the field. Even the wild animals cry to you because the watercourses are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.This reminds me that we are in fact fortunate when 'crap' stuff happens, because it means we turn to God. Truly, the poor, the weeping, et cetera are blessed, because it's easier for them to find God.
( Joel 1:19-20)
(a.k.a. The Golden Compass)
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.Just finished reading Northern Lights
(Genesis 3:19)
a couple of hours ago. It's set in a parallel universe that has a lot in common with ours. In this world the Christian church is still very powerful, and it doesn't seem like there has been a Reformation.Jesus said to his audience,
'Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.(This story is in Luke and Mark's gospels as well.)
'The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said.
'But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, "This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance." So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
'Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?'
'He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,' they replied, 'and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.'
Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the Scriptures:"The stone the builders rejected'Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.'
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes"'?
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
(Matthew 21:33-46)
One of the places we went to was the statue of John Batman. John Batman claimed to be the founder of Melbourne (although he wanted it to be called Batmania). Batmania claimed to have made an agreement with the Wurundjeri people, to rent their land from them. Although he didn't agree to pay them very much, the government refused to recognise this agreement, because the colony had been founded on the premise that the whole continent was uninhabited. So John Pascoe Fawkner was recognised as the official founder of Melbourne, and there is a statue of him just near Batman's.My loved one had a vineyardIt's tradionally understood that this piece of scripture is talking about God. Waetjen reckons that Jesus started it off like that to trick the chief priests and Pharisees. If the Pharisees interpreted the landowner as being God, then that would make them the rebellious tenants. So perhaps Jesus was trying to trick them into looking at the situation from the point of view of the people they were oppressing?
on a fertile hillside.
He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
(Isaiah 5:1-2)
If I knew how much botherment going to university while living off Centrelink would cause, I don't think I would have bothered.
Last year I moved into the student residence at Gillies Street. At about Easter, Centrelink cut back my allowence so I had about $10 a week left after rent. So I decided to eat stuff and keep going to classes and I got behind in rent.
This year I've been gradually paying it off, but there's still a lot to pay off.
Anyway, since the start of this semester I've been trying to get enrolled in two off-campus classes so that I can finish my diploma, but everyone kept sending me to someone else. Today it looked like I was finally going to get enrolled. But they won't let me because because of my debt, even though I've been paying it off.
And the Commonwealth Bank keeps taking my money, even though I'm a student! So if you know a bank that doesn't do things like that please tell me, because I am in the right mind to change my account if they don't sort it out! Centrelink, university, debt, banks
