Just a useful retort the next time Hollywood spew some sermon about anything…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj4Lm4wXgo4

(This is Ricky Gervais having a go at Hollywood for their earlier praises of Harvey Weinstein)

I normally start the day with letting the dogs out. Then it’s my reading time (Bible) and then I go for a walk/jog before I come back, get cleaned up, have brekky and then into my study to start the work day.

All useful tasks so far.

Then I start to look at some headlines in the papers, and the futility of the day starts.

Increasingly, I wonder why I bother reading the papers anymore. News mostly don’t really reflect what most people think or how they live. Opinion pieces only add to the state of confusion. There are experts or opinion writers on opposite sides of just about any issue you can think of, and increasingly the tent has shrunk so that you’re either in or out, either in this tent or the one across the ditch. Differing opinions no longer live together. So a lay person who just reads stuff on papers or any other non specialist publications, no longer knows what to think.

A piece in The Australian is what make all this gel enough for me to make this entry. It’s about mask wearing during this pandemic. Covid 19 was christened in 2019 so this is into its “4th” year now. This piece said “experts” like Dr Anthony Fauci and other in WHO had said mask wearing was useless. They said this in March 2020. As late as 31 March 2020, scientists in the National Institutes of Health (the umbrella body that Dr Fauci is part of) said masks didnt make any difference. This echoed what WHO said. But – on 3 April 2020, all that changed and masks suddenly became very important. It has been since and today, you can’t go into any building or public indoor places, without wearing one. I often feel stupid wearing one when I’m shopping, in a restaurant, or in church. Yet I wear one because apparently, “experts” (now) say it makes a difference.

I no longer want to read (or watch/listen to) “experts”. Maybe there are just too many people thinking they ought to have a say and be listened to.

Recent sports headlines are showing how sophisticated leading characters of our nations’ major sporting codes have become.

Pat Cummins is the captain of the Australian Cricket Team. He’s come under fire in recent days for his role in the sacking of Justin Langer, the coach. Yesterday, after days of screaming silence, he fronted the press. What he said showed how calm, thoughtful and sophisticated the new captain is. He’s more than just a millenial woke young man. He is perceptive, considerate and well… impressive!

Here’s a clip from The Australian newspaper today.

A second story to have grabbed the headlines was on the alleged behaviour of Simon Goodwin, the senior coach of the Melbourne Footy Club (AFL). Melbourne are the reigning champions and loom large as a club to beat in coming seasons, so this is a big story. He was alleged to have been abusive and bullying towards the ex club doctor. His reaction too, showed strength and a sophisticated take on what the press had simply tried to make out as bad behaviour on his part. In other words, I was impressed with this reaction too.

Here’s a clipm from the Herald Sun today.

I’m really encouraged that these two are not letting the press set the agenda. They calmly fielded what the press threw at them and said stuff that made the public think a bit more. It’s about time we saw more of that – standing against the apparent tide and say hang on….

Something to be positive about, I guess…

I can’t believe January 2022 has come and gone. It has been a bit of a whirlwind few weeks, and I’ve been sloppy with my entries here.

Kiddo and Mic came down to Melbourne about a week before Christmas, but headed off to Tassie the next day for a wedding. They came back a couple of days before Christmas and it was lovely having them here for a couple of weeks. We ate a lot, walked a lot, and went to various places just for fun. We got together at Jason and Mel’s on Christmas Eve and it was really nice to catch up with the usual guys, including the Hipos and made some new friends. We went out to Docklands on New Year’s Eve and I think that’s what got Kiddo done for – she came down with strong symptoms of Omnicron. They went out to a clinic in Glen Waverley to get a PCR test and queued for about 5 hours but got turned away at the last minute and with rapid antigen test kits in short supply, they never got tested. Tress and I later picked up symptoms too but for the same reasons, we never got tested. We simply isolated ourselves for about 10 days and then only went out sparingly.

Kiddo and Mic went back to Canberra in the second week of 2022, and life returned to normal for everyone. Tress and I have continued working from home however, as this quick spreading Omnicron has returned most workplaces to that working mode. I think the dogs (particularly Oreo, the younger one – “Padawan”) missed Milo, Kiddo and Mic’s dog, and Oreo’s ears would prick up when we mention Milo.

Working from home meant I had to put up with the building activities on our neighbouring lot (eastern side). The demolition work started towards the end of last year and they’d been prepping the concrete slab, which is now all poured and set as of a couple of days ago. At the same time, we received a notice from our local council that our other neighbour (on the northern side, adjoining our backyard) is applying for a building permit. They’d be demolishing the existing house and will put up a large 4 bedroom double storey new home. So, it looks like the building/construction activities will go on for a while around us.

That got us thinking about what we should do with our own home. It’s our 15th year here now and I said to Tress the other day, that we’d probably need to only think about this more seriously about 5 years from now.

I have been reading through the books of 1 & 2 Kings and 1 Chronicles and one of the constant themes about David was he always turned to the Lord as a first port of call, before embarking on anything. I think Tim Keller said in one of his messages (I’d been listening to his podcasts) that for most of us, we’d think, plan, come up with options and strategies and then commit all of that to our Lord. David simply turned to Him and probably then did the rest. I’ve been thinking if I should start to put the David model to practice, and really acknowledge that God is God, and Lord.

I picked up another weber barbie a couple of weeks ago – it’s a kettle with a cart, called the “Performer”. I had a first cook last weekend and the chicken was super juicy. I’m hoping a pork belly will be my next cook. Jason said this was my new toy and I guess he’s right.

So, as the new year kicked in, as I continue to plough away at my new role and look at all the construction/building activities around me, I hope I turn to the Lord as a first port of call, on a more regular basis. Meanwhile, I’ll have some fun with my new toy.

It’s the last working day of the year. Like many, I feel like I’m dragging myself to fall across the finishing line. I’ve been exhausted (or feel like I’ve been) for weeks now. I’m looking forward to Christmas not just because it is a wonderful time of the year, but also because I can look forward to some time of rest.

There will be a Christmas party in the office around noon. A spit roast has been organised for the outdoor cafe area, and I’m curious to find out what that’s going to look like. I have also responded for a request for volunteers to help with the set up but somehow, I’ve been roped in for the clean up instead. That’s ok – I can use the activities one way or the other.

Kiddo and Mic are visiting – they arrived last Thursday, but headed out to Tassie the next day for a wedding last weekend. They came back to Melbourne on Tuesday so it has been wonderful with them staying with us.

With covid still raging, St Alf’s has placed limits on number of participants at Christmas services and organised more services to make up for it. So instead of the usual Christmas Eve service, we’ve registered for one tonight. It’ll be a mixed feelings event – on the one hand, it’d be great to be in church singing carols and listening to readings again, but on the other hand, to have so few people – maximum of 250, but only about 170 registered for tonight – will be a bit unusual.

After a tumultous and eventful 2020 and 2021, I wonder what 2022 will bring. It is always interesting to see what God has in store around the corner.

20 December 1991.

That was when I was admitted to practice in the Malaysian Bar. This photo was taken outside the High Court building in Kuala Lumpur.

I remember being totally broke, as I had spent my last few remaining ringgit on the suit, robe and shoes. All that, after 9 months of earning the measly salary as a “pupil in chambers”.

30 years ago, that was…

It was our first Saturday in months, when there wasn’t an early start in the form Padawan’s obedience training school. The night before however, we treated ourselves to having people over for dinner. It was the first time in a very long time, that we did that.

Jason and Mel messaged us about catching up for dinner on Friday night. As Tress has been stressed of late, whenever we were away from home for a little while, I thought it would be better if we got them over to our home instead. That way, the little Padawan would not be seen sitting at the window, waiting for us to return from wherever we found ourselves.

I did a barbeque with some veg, Mel did a salad from her home veg patch (mainly) and we had a good time just catching up at home. We talked late into the night and so slept in (only a little) the next morning.

The night before (Thurs night) our home group had a year-end break up dinner. We went to Enrik’s, as we did the year before. It was nice just chatting in person again, having “met” online for the most part of 2021. It was very pleasant but it did mean a little stressful time for the little Padawan so that was another reason we (more I) thought a home dinner on Fri would be kind of nice.

Tress had a hairdresser’s appointment on Sat morning so I took my time vacuuming and cleaning and generally pottered around the house straightening out this and that. Then it was off to lunch and grocery shopping before we returned and took both boys out for their walk. That night, we settled down to watch Chris Pratt in “Tomorrow’s War” – a crash bang time travelling shoot them up fare… (nuff said)…

On Sunday we headed off to St Alf’s again, and the usual pre-covid lockdown routine of St Alf’s/Lunch has well and truly resumed. After lunch, I headed out to Bunnings and got my Weber gas bottle replaced, in preparation for the turkey I’d be roasting for Christmas. Later in the arvo, I did some of my freelancing work, before we took the boys out again for their walk. It turned out to be a near perfect day in so many ways. I really hope we have seen the last of covid lockdowns.

The Little Padawan has grown on us. Each night, as we settled down on the sofa to watch some tele to wind down the day, he’d burrow his head under our laps and go to sleep. He would have tired himself out after running around in the oval across the road, and chasing his senior (the Jedi Master) to mouth and lick him all over. He would have been a little terror and having exhausted his energy, he’d snuggle up to us, stick his head on or under our laps, and go to sleep. He tugs at your heartstring that way.

On Saturday however, the Padawan caused me a great deal of stress and anxiety. The final class of his puppy training would see him undergo several “tests”. To pass (and earn the right to progress to the next level of training), he had to pass each of half a dozen components. Each of those components score 5 points, so an Einstein of a pup would scorea total of 30 points. The highest scoring one in his cohort had 27 points. Padawan scored 17. He was fifth in class. 5 pups showed up for that final class. So yeah he sort of claimed bottom spot. He passed 5 of the 6 components. The “drop/stay” bit let him (and us) down. When I got back into the car, I rested my forehead on the steering wheel and closed my eyes. Well, at least we manned up. We showed up. There were 4 other pups who didn’t show up. It could have meant we claimed 9th spot instead of 5th, but the facts will show Oreo was 5th in a class of 9. Forget the fact that 5 pups were in that final class… He was 5th in a class of 9…

When we got back, I made Tress and I a large mug of coffee each. I then got to work to clean up the mess that the storms on Thurs and Fri had brought. I also trimmed the lemon tree and camelia bushes. When the raking, sweeping, mowing, etc all done, it was well past 1pm. Our decision to buy something, instead of cooking a dish, for the dinner party later that night, felt totally vindicated. I was both too emotionally traumatised and physically washed up, to whip up anything half decent.

Just before 6pm, I picked up the dish from Mekong (one of Tress’ and my favourite local places) and waited for Seng Huat to arrive at the Nunawading Station nearby. We then drove to Berwick for that dinner party amongst the La Salle old boys who’re in Melbourne. It was at the home of Andrew and Esther. I had reconnected with Andrew through work – he was the insurance broker to my ex employer and we chatted regularly over the next 6 years before I left that company a couple of months ago. When we arrived, we parked across the street from their home and as we walked towards their home, I noticed a gleaming new Audi parked in the gararge. The garage door was wide open for a reason I guess. Later, we made the connection between a track day at Sandowne Andrew had, which he had posted on Facebook. New Audi RS owners get a track day with Steve Pizzati, the presenter host of Top Gear, the Aussie version.

Also at the dinner was Alex and Christy as well as David and Agnes. Alex works with The Good Guys and is a constant supplier of home electronics to Andrew. David works with OnSemi in Singapore and travels widely. He said he had spent 3 months in quarantine in the past year, and the grind has been painful. He brought along a very nice bottle of red (a Henschke!), which he drank heartily. Tress (my usual designated driver) didn’t come along so I only got half a glass of that very good drop. David gulping down glass after glass of that very good bottle, suggests the aggregate 3 month quarantine has indeed been a terrible grind.

We had a good time of just chatting and catching up and by the time I got home, it was midnight. It had been a long day but it ended well. I was exhausted but I went to bed grateful. We have invested well in Oreo, and reconnecting with school mates was very precious. I think in many ways, I didn’t fail my tests – at least not too badly.

Some time last week, an old friend sent me a PDF copy of a book that I have, that sits somewhere on a shelf at home.

The Phileo Story is about the journey of the corporation in Malaysia known as Phileo. I worked for Phileo for a number of years.

When the book came out nearly 20 years ago, I read it and remembered parts of it that quoted my comments. The most poignant one was this:

Every anniversary of September 11, I thought about that experience.

Looking back now, it was such an important part of my working life that I thought I should get this entry in – for posterity.