I can't believe I won, three times!

In the space of two minutes I visited two MySpace pages. I try and avoid MySpace wherever possible, but I was following links to a couple of bands from a friend's blog. At the top of each page was a banner:

Blog 1, banner 1: Congratulations, you are the 1,000,000th visitor! You've won a laptop! Click here to claim!


Blog 2, banner 2: You are the 999,999th visitor! Congratulations you WON! Click here to claim!

I couldn't believe it! Twice in two minutes I managed to be the winner of two separate competitions! It gets better though.

I then returned later in the evening to a completely different MySpace page and discovered that I had won yet another laptop!

This was either an extremely lucky day for me, or I was the victim of some primitive internet advertising. I know where I'd put my money (and yours for that matter).

It's interesting that the internet has advanced in so many ways yet we still see advertisements like this that first appeared on the internet 15 years ago. I wonder who clicks on these tacky, flashing ads? Probably the same people who send money in response to the Nigerian e-mail scams.

To kiss, or not to kiss...

Earlier this week I picked up a colleague from the airport and it turned out to be a very awkward experience.

I have worked with this colleague for a number of years - we do a similar job in offices on opposite sides of the country. We've come to know each other pretty well, and have built up a good relationship. This was only the second time that we had met in person.

As I approached her I reached forward, right arm outstretched to shake her hand. At the same time, she leant forward to give me a kiss on the cheek. What resulted was a messy hand shake/shoulder collision that left us both feeling rather awkward.

I was left in a dilemma about what to do in these situations. Here's why:

1. a hand shake is the safest move when greeting someone. To go in for a kiss on the cheek when you aren't 100% sure it will be welcomed is a dangerous move.

2. however, to not kiss when the other person thinks a kiss is appropriate might show disrespect for the relationship, indicating that you don't think the relationship is as close as they do.

Today I had lunch with some friends and I discussed this with them. I now have even more questions, for example:

- can you kiss someone the first time you meet?
- do you kiss each time you meet, or only when you haven't seen them for a while?
- when you kiss, should your lips actually make contact with their cheek, or should you simply brush cheeks and kiss the air?
- who should make the first move to kiss?
- what should you do you do with your arms and hands when you kiss?
- how long should you make contact for?

I think in future I will just say 'hello' and smile warmly!

Sign Language, Part 2

This is a cracker! I snapped this sign at the front of a store at Wynyard station in Sydney.

On a positive note, the spelling is correct - this is a good start. Unfortunately, they couldn't manage the hang the sign the correct way up!

Perhaps the upside-down sign is part of the marketing strategy - there is a sign on a window in the background that also has the store name written upside-down! If this is the case, I've no idea what kind of message they're trying to promote, perhaps "come to our store, we can't hang our sign the right way, but you can trust us with your health"!

Don't forsake your spleen

I recently picked up a copy of BMA magazine – a culture/music magazine distributed around Australia (or maybe just Canberra?) I noticed an interesting section that encouraged readers to write in and rant/complain about a particular person, anonymously.

I've got two questions - 1. why do people feel the need to vent in public, and 2. what does it actually achieve?

Our world is full of frustrating, even angering situations. I am frustrated that I took my car to get fixed and they dropped a soldering iron on the back seat and burnt a hole in it. I am frustrated that I parked my car on the street and my rear wiper was bent 180 degrees and rendered useless. I also have other frustrations that aren't car related.

I realise that it can be somewhat therapeutic to vent about life's frustrations. But health benefits aside, are there any potential positive outcomes of an abusive rant?

My boss once told me "people don’t want to hear about the problems [they usually know what they are already], they want to hear the solutions". I think that’s spot on. So if I were the editor of BMA magazine, I'd banish the current section, and create a new section that encouraged readers to identify a problem in the world and share what individual action they would take to improve it.

Instead of venting your spleen, think creatively about how you can make the world a better place.

'The suspicion. The affair. The public humiliation'

This was the headline for television show, A Current Affair. The story (and I only gleaned this from the promo - I didn't go anywhere near the program) was about footballer Brendan Fevola and his secret love triangle. Whether it is actually true or not, I didn't stick around to find out.

What I don't understand is why people care about this. Why do we take such great interest in the lives of celebrities, particularly when something goes wrong, when a relationship is in trouble, or when someone is humiliated?

Suspicion, affairs and public humiliation are nothing to rejoice in, and these are precisely the things we don't want in our own lives or relationships. Yet the media, and those who consume the media, are so intrigued when they see the lives and relationships of celebrities disintegrate and fail.

When we hate these things in our own lives, why do we (and by 'we' I am referring to the world at large) show so much interest when celebrities fail? This led me to reflect on the fruits of the Spirit - some of the marks of being a Christian. These are described in the Bible as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control". These are the qualities of a relationship that surely everyone longs for and admires.

Imagine seeing an promo for A Current Affair with the headline 'Love, Joy, Patience' and reference to a celebrity couple - it just seems so unlikely doesn't it. Whilst I am sure there are celebrity couples who could be described in these terms, the media seems completely disinterested and prefers to highlight the failings and heartbreaks.

The Nile Delta

A delta is the collection of sediment at the mouth of a river. The Nile delta is my definition for the remarkable collection of ill-feeling that surfaced in a recent post regarding Fred Nile.

Dominic Knight has a blog on the upcoming New South Wales election, and the subject of his most recent post is the Christian Member of Parliament, Rev. Fred Nile. Fred Nile is a Uniting Church minister who has been in NSW Parliament since 1981.

The underlying theme of the post is that Knight considers Nile as "someone who...seeks to impose conservative Christian values on everyone in NSW, irrespective of their religion...". In fact, this is the (very strong) feeling of at least 90% of the 141 respondents to this post.

The vehement opposition to Nile is curious for two reasons:

1. Since 1981, Nile has been democratically elected. His presence in parliament is legitimate - he has been elected by a majority of people in his electorate. People may not like the fact that Nile got elected, but this is democracy (and subsequently freedom of speech and opinion) in action.

2. Nile is accused of imposing his values on other people, as if he is the only politician with values. Yet we all have values. Nile's are informed by his Christian faith, others by their own framework or experiences. Every politician is going to bring to the table their own values, and those of the people they represent.

It seems that free speech is good, and democratic representation is good, as long as it is not by a Christian.

Yesterday is no guarantee

Can you guarantee that it will ever rain again?

Australia has been suffering the worst drought ever. Towns are drying up and water supplies of cities with millions of people are running down at an alarming rate. In Canberra where I live, the rainfall in 2006 was 90% lower than the average yearly rainfall. Considering water is so crucial to our survival, that isn’t good news.

Yet we operate on the assumption that it will rain again. This is a fairly safe assumption given that it has rained in the past and precipitation is part of the natural cycle.

Yet the past is no guarantee of the future. No one can say with absolute certainty that it will ever rain again. I realise that this viewpoint may seem a bit naïve. I mean, who can say with absolute certainty that the sun will rise again in the morning?

The point I am making here is that we take so much for granted without recognising that God is the one who sends the rain. This experience of drought has reminded me that we are all utterly dependent on God.