mincedLifeCentral

It's over!

2006-09-04T23:18:00.000+12:00

This is my final entry into this blog.

Fret not, dear readers, for the new blog is nigh. Please update your bookmarks/favorites and RSS feeds accordingly.

The new blog is located at http://mince-reloaded.blogspot.com/

Truth or fiction?

2006-08-08T16:08:00.000+12:00

One would be a complete fool to believe anything in the international news these days. Look at this for example.

I honestly fail to find a logical reason why anybody would do something like this to ultimately undermine their own cause, and how the rest of the world is buying into it wholesale.

Foot-in-mouth Friday

2006-08-04T20:46:00.000+12:00

It was supposed to be just another typical day driving to work.

Changing gears through the morning fog, I suddenly noticed somebody following in a not-so-subtle manner. Matching my move for move, I pulled off the road into the office carpark, warily keeping an eye on the rearview mirror.

Different scenarios went through my mind as the following car did an abrupt 180 turn on the road, just outside the entrance.

The district of East Tamaki was not exactly known for its security, and break-ins have happened in broad daylight before. That's it, must be some unsavoury character looking for easy pickings...

Having heard the reassuring "clonk" of the door locks behind me, I briskly entered my office with a renewed sense of purpose and urgency. Keys were hit, and an email quickly materialised in front of every computer screen in the head office.

"Watch your possessions", it exhorted, bringing to attention this brazen, malignant plan.

Mission accomplished, I settled into the work routines of the day with a sigh of relief.

Within five minutes, the first emails of the day started to arrive in my inbox. One of them said,

"Hey. It was me. I park on the street."

I wonder whether he or I had a more embarassing day.

A bit of nostalgia

2006-07-05T21:01:00.000+12:00

This post is dedicated to those who were in the Storm the Nations 2002 Tanzania team. Remember the very first village that we went to? Here it is, in all its glory in February 2006.

Back to Sakawa on Vimeo

Lightsaber skills

2006-07-02T11:24:00.000+12:00

Here is what happens when you cross Star Wars with Napoleon Dynamite...

Demolitions

2006-06-26T21:56:00.000+12:00

Unless Jehovah builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless Jehovah keeps the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. - Psalms 127:1

Lately I've been feeling like a wrecking ball in the house of God.

I see so much effort going on for so little... can't we just get back to basics and concentrate on the raw pursuit of the author of life Himself? Are our lifes so full of programs and accessories that they act like bugs on a windshield, obscuring our true vision?

God give me the grace to let go of the excess baggage, to live and do only what really matterth.

Stranger on the bus

2006-06-05T23:27:00.000+12:00

This sort of stuff can only happen in Hong Kong... a verbal altercation on board a bus spawns a frenzy that marketing types can only ever dream of. View the subtitled version here (NWS)

There's an introduction to The Bus Uncle from Wikipedia.

Over in metafilter there's an interesting dissection of the cultural aspects involved. Another discussion in the same site deals with a similiar sort of thing.

Queen's Birthday weekend update

2006-06-05T14:31:00.000+12:00

Things have been relatively uneventful in the last little while except:

1. Pimpin' up the Cabbage Carriage
2. Building an IBM Netvista 6578 for GT, and
3. Getting my nose in other little things

This marks my entrance to this New Zealand winter. Man, it's cold...

Cookin' it up

2006-05-27T18:00:00.000+12:00

I'm no SNAG here, but once in a while a man's gotta venture into the kitchen and make something. In this case it's all because of a "bring-a-home-made-plate" requirement for a birthday party, the easiest thing to make would be a salad.

So ladies and gentlemen, my first foray into rabbit-food production! If you're brave (or foolhardy) enough to try this, tell me what you think ;-)

Ingredients:

300g mesclun

1x egg

2x tomatoes

1x pkt instant noodles (~60g net)

olive oil

cidar vinegar

Assembly instructions:

Cook noodles as per instructions, put in all flavourings etc. After they're cooked, strain and let cool.

Boil egg and slice.

Slice tomatoes.

Cut "cake" of noodles into about eight sections.

Toss everything and add dressings as appropriate.

I see therefore I act?

2006-05-23T18:49:00.000+12:00

I feel spoilt for a fight - podiatric realignment of the gluteus maximus in a cosmic scale.

So much has been happening with:
1) People to whom I hold dear;
2) And to a lesser degree, myself.

This time I'm in a position to really respond, and I feel alive instead of being overwhelmed.

Yeah.

Not quite speechless

2006-05-08T00:05:00.000+12:00

Umm... some conversations are peppered with "fillers" such as, er, umm... nevermind.

Full, succinct article here.

The skeleton, the mish, and the closet

2006-04-30T21:46:00.000+12:00

I was asked, along with other people in GCC, to talk about their mission trip experiences. Only I find I do not have much to talk about, thus realising that I still have lots to process through and that it's all just chucked into the closet. The skeletons want out now...

One thing in my favor is that I have the house to myself for this week. Time to make use of the personal space to go head-to-head with the "boss upstairs".

Finding my way around GPS land

2006-04-24T20:39:00.001+12:00

A local electronics retailer had the Navman iCN630 on a serious special, so I dipped my toes, um, wallet into it...

The unit is chunky enough to fend off attackers as you jog through a dodgy park at night, but won't be of much use finding an escape route. Not containing its own battery power confines it to either the AC transformer or the car's cigarette lighter.

Everything else is well put together. The suction mount is secure in the windscreen, the LCD screen is watchable both in exterme glare and nighttime conditions, and the voice guidance is loud and clear.

Unfortunately it didn't work properly inside my car as it demands 5V and 2.5A... to put this in perspective a typical ten year old CD walkman uses 4.5V and 500mA. It was just too much juice for the cigarette lighter to provide, with the net result of the unit blacking out as soon as there is a decent load (eg. speech playback). This, and the lack of an internal battery, I deem to be a fatal design flaw (probably somwhat rectified in the iCN635).

Having said that, tried it in another car and it worked wonderfully as long as the electrical contact is secure. So, if you spot a cheap one, have a go as long as you have an opportunity to get a refund - like I did.

L-st in transit

2006-04-15T22:45:00.000+12:00

I wonder how a suitcase that is checked-in all the way to Chile from Hong Kong via Auckland somehow ended up in the Auckland baggage carousel... which my relative somehow managed to pick up today...

Earlier in the afternoon I caught up with a friend and regaled her with my African stories - including the incident at Dubai/Nairobi. It was kinda funny to see another luggage gaffe within the same day, it has a certain deja-vu quality to it.

Big props to the cute lady at MENZIES for sorting this out just before closing for the day. :o)

Is that dedication or what...

2006-04-13T20:30:00.000+12:00

Anybody who thinks their daily commute to and from work is long will want to read this.

Seven hours of travelling per day takes the cake - all because of the killer view at home. I'd bet that it would be too dark to see it in most days, though.

So... do you think it's worth it?

A matter of convenience

2006-04-10T22:30:00.000+12:00

One of the supposed benefits of using a blogging tool is that you don't have to fiddle with HTML and CSS, and instead concentrate on the content.

I didn't like the whitespaces on the previous template, so I went and choose a new one.

Almost an hour later... I think it's done. So much for choosing another default template. Played with the CSS enough to make me wonder if I should've just built an entire template from scratch.

And oh, please tell me if anything looks broken as I can only test it in IE and Firefox.

Boy buys BMW, halves horsepower

2006-03-28T21:12:00.000+12:00

Bought my own set-of-wheels today. I can now officialy say I'm settled back in NZ :-)

Those who know me in real life must be wondering what was wrong with me. From a 220hp (in standard form) Subaru WRX to... a 115hp BMW 318i? Well, it's cheap, a manual, less than 100000ks, and in good nick. For the amount of money I planned to spend on a plain Japanese car I might as well try something different.

p.s. Yes, Raymond, your Nissan Primera has 190hp...

Tanzania photos are here

2006-03-08T19:27:00.000+13:00

I have just finished transferring my rolls of 35mm film from my Africa trip on to this intarweb thing.

Click here to go to my flickr.com set. Feel free to download the original sized files for reprints etc...

Back home

2006-03-07T01:22:00.000+13:00

The mission is over and I'm back in Auckland.

Now I know why the sabbath exists :) Will write more when the time comes...

Of dusty paths and bucket bathes

2006-02-09T02:12:00.000+13:00

Three more weeks to go in Tanzania, and we're all going for it full throttle.

The last village we visited was named Majimoto (literally hot water). It had a hot spring with a bit of geothermal activity. The water is just great for laundry, apparently.

The locals were very receptive and welcomed us with open arms. Even our regular hired cook had a day off as seven of the ladies cooked for us all!

It is quite weird in a way to see faces that recognise me (as I have been in the area before) but it's also quite comforting.

Just a quick note to tell you all how things are going. And hopefully a bit of an insight to what it is like out there...

More news from afar

2006-01-17T02:44:00.000+13:00

Location: Musoma, Tanzania

The one-month teams have now left and while we have a tentative itinery, things have yet to be set in concrete. I might be able to be contacted by email for the next day or so...

The four of us are resting at the moment and preparing for the six-ish weeks ahead.

:)

p.s. more updates are also available at http://globaltask.org/s/page17.php and clicking on the "Tanzania 3M" link there.

Quick Africa update

2006-01-14T22:05:00.000+13:00

Here I am, in an internet cafe in Musoma, Tanzania.

I'm almost out of the country for a month... and things in Tanzania surely changed somewhat since my last time there. There's lots more people speaking broken English now, and there are cellphones everywhere! Now I know what to bring next time - of course charging the thing will remain a challenge.

Travel:

This time the travel was a separate adventure in itself. I volunteered to stay behind to chaperone another team member who had passport troubles and could not board the original flight. It was a miracle that we had confirmed seats four days later all the way to Dubai and then Nairobi. It was pretty normal until we landed in Dubai - the flight in was a bit late and for some reason I couldn't figure out which gate to go to for the connecting flight - managed to miss it! Amid panic and prayer we got standby tickets for the next flight six hours later and we were able to board it. The odds of that are quite slim since the flights were so full for the Christmas period.

Josh and I landed in Nairobi where Gerald (our Kenyan contact) was a legend in looking after us and finding us a good honest bus all the way to the Tanzanian border. To complicate things my main pack got lost... it appeared that it was not unloaded from the plane when we missed the flight from Dubai. Gerald managed to liaise with the lost baggage handlers and even ship the pack to the Tanzanian border (a bit of a messy place)

We crossed the border in Boxing Day and were quickly reunited with the teams :)

Inland travel across the Tanzanian terrain was by Toyota Landcruisers which were much more reliable than the vans in the previous missions. Nonetheless we have managed to blow a head gasket (I guess due to oil pressure failure). Our replacement vehicle was flash by local standards - electric windows, air conditioning, and a turbo under the bonnet :D

Ministry:

The villagers were generally very welcoming and they felt honoured to have visitors from afar. The team was excellent in overcoming the pockets of spiritual resistance. We have seen the blind recover their sight, the lame walk and other healings.

Serengeti National Park:

We had serious close-ups of lions, lots of other animals, but most elephants have already migrated. Gotta see the video to believe it!

Now What:

The one-month teams will leave in three days, and four of us will stay behind for another six weeks. Rose (leader), Hannah, DJ, and myself. I heard our itinery will be quite full.

I hope you readers had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year... I'm running out of internet time so I'll leave it at that for now...

Might be going offline for awhile

2005-12-11T01:33:00.000+13:00

It's amazing how many loose ends surface when you're about to go away... at least this will be an adequate excuse for this, um, "early" post.

Anyway here are the actual flight details FYI from and to Auckland:

20 December, 5pm - EK419
2 March, 1:40pm - EK406

Hopefully I'll be able to keep this updated in the meantime, otherwise it's major AFK time.

Helplessly confident

2005-12-01T23:41:00.000+13:00

I find myself with a bit over one week before leaving for a missions trip in Tanzania for three months.

The prep camp starts at Monday 12th, and if any readers are in Auckland, there will be a commissioning service at the 18th, 4pm at:

Global Christian Church
Owairaka Primary School hall
113 Richardson Rd, Mt Albert

Actual plane-hopping occurs at the 20th.

This is not the first time I've done this sort of thing - but this year has been a series of shake, rattle and rolls that leaves me with pretty much nothing left except God's faithfulness like a shield around me.

Will try to blog stuff as I go along if at all possible, otherwise periodical updates should appear in the globaltask website.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you readers if I don't see you in real life before then...

Vroom vroom on your desktop

2005-11-26T00:30:00.000+13:00

I always liked paper toys, but this one takes the cake - a functional V8 engine.

I wonder how many kilowatts will it pull?

Music-on-a-stick

2005-11-23T22:49:00.000+13:00

The Barenaked Ladies has released a new "album" with video and other goodies on a 128mb USB flash memory drive.

I was never into their music, but this sounds like a nifty idea...

Ow! My eye!

2005-11-14T22:58:00.000+13:00

After watching the X-Men on TV, I just have to dig up one of these:

You are Cyclops of the X-men!

You are strong headed and very course-driven! When
you get into it, nothing can stop you!A devoted
man by heart, and very passionate by choice.
you Rock!

Which of the X-men do you resemble most?
brought to you by Quizilla

Smurf your surf

2005-11-13T23:12:00.000+13:00

The WebSmurfer translates your favourite website(s) into the language of those, um, "cute" little blue things...

Also try here to make it translate itself ;-)

I have style and poise?!?

2005-11-11T21:19:00.000+13:00

I've seen a few of these pop up lately... so why not?

You are LaFawnduh. Why are you so sweaty?

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

And what is "Napoleon Dyanamite"?

The serrated edge study bible

2005-11-11T18:25:00.000+13:00

Another bit of satire, but which provokes somewhat more serious thought. I even checked some of the references on e-Sword...

How diluted is the language in the Bibles published and sold today (or for the last century or two for that matter)

A discussion can be found here (cheers to Monastic Mumblings for the link), or straight to the audio clip there (Track 8).

The Brick Testament

2005-11-08T22:30:00.000+13:00

While trawling through friends' blogs, I've found this review of "The Brick Testament" - a somewhat satirical and irreverent rendition of parts of the bible using Lego bricks.

Personally I think while there are its share of cheap shots (in just about every sense of the word), the guy actually presented good, fresh angles to some stories - which would be ideal to shock the bored and the know-it-all.

Link here.

Ban Sony CDs now

2005-11-01T18:09:00.000+13:00

Sony's recent copy-protected music installs a backdoor program called a "rootkit" into any Windows computer that you try to play the CD with.

Such a move to install software unauthorised by the user is probably illegal depending on your jurisdiction.

More technical information can be found here.

Boycott Sony products. Now.

Community in Action

2005-10-31T21:16:00.000+13:00

Something good just happened tonight.

As I was about to leave Sommerville after I had my dinner, a teenager shot out of the neighbouring restaurant like a "noctural cave-dwelling bird out of the place of the damned" into the night, followed by the proprietor and a few customers in hot pursuit.

They caught the boy for stealing.

Now for a bit of background for those not in the know, Sommerville is in the east side of Auckland and is a bit of an ethnic area, along with all the diversity (good) and the undercurrent of tensions (bad) of a mixed community.

Just seeing the Korean boss and customers of all sorts of colours sticking up for each other and doing what's right gives me the warm fuzzies.

By the time I post this the cops should have finished taking the shoplifter away...

Das Reboot

2005-10-28T23:15:00.000+13:00

My week @ work - Three server reboots in three days. Ick.

Now that NZ has a government again...

2005-10-18T20:12:00.000+13:00

...it's time to check out what OkCupid thinks of my political affiliations...

You are a
Social Liberal
(60% permissive)

and an...
Economic Conservative
(63% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Centrist

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Today's hero is tomorrow's villian

2005-10-16T22:50:00.000+13:00

It seems to me that almost any fresh attempt at Christian community in the western world starts off well, but somehow along the way it entrophies into a robotic ritual devoid of meaning and connectedness, turning into the stereotypical "organised religion" and becoming the harshest critics of the next "wave".

(Luke 5:36-39, Matthew 9:16-17, Mark 2:21-22)

For those more travelled down this path of life than I have, how did you come to realise this decay? What warning signs did you see?

Review: Star Wreck - The Pirkinning

2005-10-08T16:10:00.000+13:00

This is a free Finnish sci-fi spoof available here.

Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning begins with Captain James B. Pirk of the starship Kickstart shipwrecked on the 21st century Earth with his crew. Originally from the distant future, Pirk and his crew travelled back in time to save the Earth from hostile aliens, but lost their ship and became stranded. Pirk's daily routine consists mainly of stuffing his face at the local fast food restaurant, and he is finding it difficult to convince the ladies he is, in fact, an intergalactic space hero from the future...

The quality of the production is amazing given that this is essentially a home-brew project. Unfortunately most of the humor gets lost in translation, nonetheless it's a good laugh for any sci-fi fans out there.

Biting off more than you can chew

2005-10-07T18:22:00.000+13:00

A python tried to have an alligator for lunch. Link here.

Dial H for happiness

2005-10-04T22:16:00.000+13:00

I stumbled across this article in The Sunday Times (UK).

The lab coat cohorts finally figured out what's been sitting in Phillipians 4:4-7 for centuries.

So "Positive thinking" does work - as long as the source of positivity works...

Have a nice day! :)

Another curly thought

2005-10-02T21:05:00.000+13:00

A friend left the following statement in response to my previous post:

"The ideas of omnipotence and omniscience seem to be ones that Jesus didn't necessarily believe in. They are later categories ascribed to god...Those ideas are certainly present in some level of god's story, but I'm not sure how we're meant to deal with them."

I'd like to put in my "instant-noodle" cooked thoughts on that matter:

J-s-s probably doesn't believe in the ideas of the omni*s since #1. He chucked it away while on Earth to fulfill his mandate as the Son of Man, and, #2. He probably doesn't know anyway...

Before you bring out the stake, petrol and rope, I'll explain #2 further:

G-d exists outside our space-time, and there is only one like Him.
Humanity was created in G-d's image - living mirrors.
You do not know what you look like if you never saw a photo of yourself or your mirror image.
Moses managed to change G-d's mind at some point during their lives. Ummm, dare I say is that a blind spot?
From our point of view, since His thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts, (probably mainly due to the lack of space-time constraint), we correctly give Him the omni* labels.
Giving G-d due credit invites more of His presence...

Could it be that humanity serves as a point of reference and sounding-board in G-d's journey of self-discovery?

Predestined freewill?

2005-10-01T14:31:00.000+12:00

Disclaimer - I am no theologian, and this post comes with no warranty whatsoever :)

A curious soul asked what my understanding of "predestined freewill" is - and here are my thought fragments on this matter:

1. By creating humanity with the capability to choose and setting up a scenario in which Adam and Eve must choose, G-d has predestined us to freewill.

So instead of abdicating moral responsibility: "X made me do it!", it's more like "X made me choose!"

2. Any "logical" attempts to reconcile predestination and freewill is doomed to fail since our "logic" is constrained by our understanding of Time as a serial construct. A countless number of rationalists and philosophers stumble and fall on this...

If the concept of Time is infinitely parallel, then this would not be a problem - although that means now (while we're existing in a serial Time) we won't be able to understand it at all.

Another African story (sort of)

2005-09-29T22:43:00.000+12:00

I've been reading a story from an old friend of mine and it got me thinking again on why I like a place like Tanzania so much.

Walking down the driveway after finishing cell group, past the neighbours inside their comfy houses, getting into the extension of personal space called a car, driving to an intersection and making sure to get out of the way of other people...

Each day the cycle begins again, people getting along with their own lives by themselves, either avoiding or devouring each other...

It's different in a place out there like Africa. If you isolate yourself you die. Physically and perhaps swiftly.

I guess it's the same rules in the western world too - but you die only one day at a time.

Maybe it's the rich sense of community in Tanzanian villages that I miss...

Things have been happening lately

2005-09-25T14:43:00.000+12:00

Charles Dickens once wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

While I'm not French and the country here isn't quite in the throes of a revolution, this little sentiment sums things up quite well.

A couple of weeks ago the people of New Zealand has spoken - but right now the fate of this country hangs in the balance.

Job's fine, got sent to Microsoft TechEd for a few days.

The Silver Bullet is no longer in my possession - it was sold :)

Preparing my way to go back to my African "home", this time for three months...

My parents have just about to embark on (in their eyes) the Mother Of All Property Development Projects - guess who's doing their website?

With quite a few more things going on too, stress levels have generally been elevated somewhat, but this is the part where great friends come in to the picture...

Out on the water

2005-04-03T21:18:00.000+12:00

Last Thursday, two departments in the company and some of our suppliers gathered at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron for a bit of team-building fun aboard eight Farr MRX class yachts for some matchracing. Skippers were provided, of course :)

Across, over and under the Auckland harbour and bridge we went... some learnt what it meant to tack rather quickly after being caught on the wrong side of the boat into the water. Brilliant weather with lots of wind.

I highly recommend something like this although I'm not much of a water person at all...

Outwardly Mobile

2005-03-12T23:14:00.000+13:00

We have moved desks at work - and this is my new view.

Some say the psychology of desk placement states that the closer to the exit you are - the closer you are to exit ;-) Take that whatever way you will...

Of course, a more immediate concern is the glare - which will be fixed one way or another.

But then, I can now definitely leap over my desk, Dukes-of-Hazzard style, and ride out into the sunset after 5pm. Or not.

He swims with the fishes

2005-02-26T23:59:00.000+13:00

It was just the right day for a trip to the Goat Island Marine Reserve, even the water is warm at 22 degrees.

No fishing or feeding the fish of course... but there's the glass bottomed boat tour:

Mates at the beach:

Dinner at a pizza joint in Warkworth - a flat-white feline ;-)

My date with Katherine Francis Cooper ;-)

2005-02-25T21:44:00.000+13:00

Get my backside off the chair,
Now stop surfing the net,
Time to get some fresh air
My stomach is calling me yet.

Driving down the local roundabout,
Sky's subdued blue with warmer brown,
Lots of traffic without a doubt,
Cause it's Friday night, come on down.

Finding a park it took a while,
Then made my way to the counter,
While the drive-through queued for a mile,
I placed my order...

(Don't you just love KFC?)

Almost ready to March on

2005-02-24T23:13:00.000+13:00

I guess I can innundate this blog with the moans and groans of everyday life, but why read about somebody elses' troubles when you have enough yourselves?

Sorta on the topic, I just don't get those "Reality TV" shows. The more cameras and lighting rigs you shove into people's faces, the more contrived things get. Why don't they just hire a decent script writer, for crying out loud?

February is rapidly coming to a close. Which is 1/6th of an entire year.

Mullet no more

2005-01-29T17:40:00.000+13:00

Today the mop got the chop, so it's back to (almost) hairless mode for the next little while.

Flying out to Hong Kong next week to take care of some not-so-pleasantries. What starts must also end at some point.

Althought it isn't exactly hot-off-the-press, I've bought the Steriogram album 'Schmack!' yesterday. The album is energentic but doesn't keep it up for long (it's less than 40 minutes...)

Late but summer nonetheless

2005-01-25T21:43:00.000+13:00

Summer's finally come - after a very rainy December. It's now almost tropical, which suits me just fine since my favourite countries tend to be hot anyway.

Finally something wrong with the car - 1x numberplate bulb, right-hand-side outer CV boot, and a brake warning which disappeared just as mysteriously as it came. All this found and fixed in one Saturday morning service at the dealer's.

Just done a week's worth of C# training. Another day, another chunk of code :)

It might be "back to the old routine" but these days seem to have an air of newness about them. Maybe I'm actually happy after all...

I've found this website about asperger's syndrome while thinking about a random acquaintence of mine. Interesting stuff in there - quite a few of the listed traits fits that person. But is a label like that really beneficial to the label-ee or does it doom him/her to being boxed-in to those stereotypes?

As of today...

2004-12-06T22:23:00.000+13:00

1. I am no longer an unemployed bum student.
2. I am back messing with kid's clothing... just like I've never left.
3. I have changed churches.
4. My computer now has a fairly decent video card - but I guess anything's better than what I had before...

Moving back to Auckland wasn't much of a big deal until trying to fit all the extra guff back into my room. The solution - don't fit, purge. Any random box or thing that might be useful in the future is only as good as your memory telling you that it exists, at the right moment. No "index" - no keep. :p

Since I'm now supposingly an IT professional I should now get some sleep so I look reasonably good at work tomorrow...

*ends*

One quick note

2004-08-16T17:07:00.000+12:00

The reason I haven't been updating this, is, well, there isn't much (time and content) to update :)

Second semester is well underway, it's now 3D nurbs modelling time with Maya, and will be for quite some time.

Time to go back to sleep...

Semester Ends

2004-06-11T13:42:00.000+12:00

Well that's it! A quarter of the way through the course already. The Toiletron will be my hero, baby - or will it?

BTW I've found this cool web game, won't take that much of your time to play, and kinda ends up like checking my email really...

Go to Kings of Chaos to join!

Requiem of a dream

2004-06-04T18:09:00.000+12:00

A second assignment at the last week of the semester. If that goes well then fine. Otherwise I'm outta here.

This seems to be the only reasonable thing left to do with the course.

A path less travelled

2004-05-25T16:25:00.000+12:00

It turns out that I just passed the Photoshop assessment after all. Not that it makes me feel that much better.

There's nothing worse than being indecisive at the moment - makes it hard to focus.

I guess it depends on whether I have 1.5 years to spend on this and whether I want to do this instead of my old job. But for now, the cool thing is that they are more than happy to take me during the inter-semester break.

Pumpkin Patch is doing a limited IPO. Yay. Fun to see how that goes.

And in other news, the WRX's windscreen got clobbered by a big chunk of rock from a truck last week. Add another thing to the "to-do" list along with the front shocks (which is starting to leak, slowly...)

SomeThingsGoDownwards

2004-05-11T22:36:00.000+12:00

I suppose I should do an update here...

The OneThing conference was great, as one expects from Kirk Bennett and Co. It felt like as if heaven came down to earth.

Back at the course, things are raining down like tetris pieces gone mad. A Photoshop summative project that was less than ho-hum, a Premiere video that repeatedly refused to render (wasting my time), and now we're supposed to start AfterEffects tomorrow (already after an extra day's grace due to a row of PCs losing power in the lab!).

Looking at this game with the 80/20 rule, if that much effort and sleepless nights are yielding this level of results, I should start looking at other options...

At least the tutor is meeting everybody one-on-one and providing some feedback, and some interesting conclusions have already been observed amongst my peers. Hope my turn comes soon, it might even confirm my suspicions above.

On the other hand, a classmate gave himself back to the Lord last Thursday night. Now that's good news for a change.

Another day, another rant

2004-05-06T08:38:00.000+12:00

I decided that leadership != management. Although both are needed for a good leader...

I would class "management" as the practical skills, competance and experience to marshall the necessary resources to get something done. A good manager, therefore would tell you what to do but also organise anything you need to get it done with.

Leadership would be the intrinsic character and attitude of the person concerned. A good leader should not feel entitled to boss it over others, have a listening ear, and willing to learn.

You can get more management skills easily enough. Universities tend to churn those out by the hundreds. There isn't much that can fix poor leadership, though.

Obviously, I'd rather be stuck under an incompetent leader (at least they can improve their management skills) than a good manager with bad leadership.

Random thoughts

2004-05-04T16:05:00.000+12:00

In the course every now and then we are required to write some thoughts... thought (getit?) I'll dig up this one dated 18 March:

The ability to harness the constant stream of psuedo-random thoughts from one's imagination into an articulate form is the essence of storytelling - Me :)

The greater the vision, the greater the possibilities - Jerome Tuiala

It is easy to be sucessful, but staying that way is difficult. Come up with some brilliant, and somebody else always do better. There is always the fellow with more power, money, possessions, or apparent satisfaction than you. The trick is to not compare your lot with others, but be content with what you have.

Like a neighborhood of children in a remote African village with nothing but their rags who live happily and harmoniously with each other - as soon as one kid gets given something of perceived unique value (eg. a balloon), the equilbrium is lost, and all hell breaks loose as they now focus on that one thing.

Is the pursuit of excellence/perfection/sucess/whatever doomed to be at the expense of another person? One thing is for sure - it's like a rat in a roller cage that treadmills endlessly.

One must define the meaning of life for him/herself or else everything will look gray and meaningless, not to mention somebody else will impose their meaning on you!

Nice big update

2004-05-04T09:08:00.000+12:00

Well it's about time I dusted off this thing...

So what's been happening... Quit my old job @ Pumpkin Patch, been to Africa and back, moved up to Snells Beach to do (i.e. beta test) some 3D animation course, all in the space of a few short months.

Now I know enough to photochop slightly better than the usual "Mr T vs ?" pictures, and just about to start on real motion picture work with (you might've guessed it), Premiere Pro.

With some form of internet access I can actually now start to update this and me website @ netfirms. But don't hold your breath though, I might lose my meagre audience ;)

Looking forward to OneThing this weekend...

Tchau!

Did I tell you this is just a test?

2003-11-20T21:18:00.000+13:00

Hard-coding - predestination at its best.
Anyway this is the first entry, ever...