Hazar for Everything

Hazar for us

2007-04-16T11:25:00.000+10:00

April 14 is an important day in world history.

According to Wikipedia, April 14 is the day Lincoln was assassinated in 1865; it was the day the Titanic stuck an iceberg in 1912; it was the day the first Volvo was demonstrated in 1927; but most importantly, it was the day Edwin proposed to Elissa, and she accepted. Hazar for us!

.e

By the way, if you don't believe that this is a true event in world history, just click here. I can't promise the Wikipedia pedants out there will share my opinion for too long. (Update: the news lasted on Wikipedia for 51 minutes. A bit longer than I thought, actually. I hope they don't think I'm a vandal - I'm just an excited nerd.)

Hazoo for my logo

2007-04-14T09:00:00.000+10:00

My logo sucks. I need a new one.

I was bored at work one day, so I decided to chuck together a logo for my blog. Unfortunately, my creativity was stifled by the following facts:

I only had Paint to work with;
"Hazar for everything" does not instantly lend itself to graphical representations in the same way that say "fish out of water" or "not for the cricket" do and;
I have no creativity.

So I opened up Paint, typed "Hazar for Everything" in two different colours, turned it into a gif and added it as a logo, but now I'm really unhappy with it.

So hazoo for my pitiful attempt at a logo, and a pre-emptive hazar for anyone who wishes to come up with a better one for me. Go on - you know you want to...

.e
[Category: random_stuff]

Hazar for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones

2007-04-13T10:06:00.000+10:00

Yes, it sounds like I made that name up, but I didn't - Béla Fleck is a real person and the Flecktones are a real band. And a darn good one. Check Wikipedia if you think I'm lying!

I had the opportunity to go to a Flecktones concert at the Basement the other night, and it was excellent. Technically they play progressive bluegrass music, but who really cares about that - it was just plain good music.

Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (named after Bartok, Dvorak and Janacek for those music freaks out there) is a middle aged white guy from New York who plays bluegrass/jazzy banjo incredibly well. And he has a fantastic band to play with - Vic Wooten on bass, Jeff Coffin playing that fantastic "I'm playing an amazing number of notes - who cares if they're in the scale" saxophone (and flute), and a bloke named Future Man on percussion.

I'm a percussionist, so I usually spend my time at concerts watching the drummer and trying to copy the rhythms on my legs, but Future Man defeated me. He doesn't use a conventional drum kit, instead he uses the self-made "synth-axe drumitar" - a guitar shaped midi controller with which he made some very clever drum sounds. I could not work out how he controlled everything - it kept me entralled for the whole gig.

Anyhoo, the short of this long post is to issue an emphatic hazar for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, and to assert that if they ever come to a basement near you, go and check them out.
.e
[Category: random_stuff]

Hazar for unexpected respect

2007-04-06T22:00:00.000+10:00

Today is Good Friday, often known as one of the most solemn and holy days in the Christian calendar. And also one of the most misunderstood. Lots of silly ideas abound about what Good Friday is all about - some see it as the best day to go to the Royal Easter Show; some who see it as a day to eat fish; and some see it as just another public holiday.

Christians use Good Friday to remember Jesus' death on the cross - a death which he died to take God's just punishment for all humanity's sinfulness. It is, understandably, very difficult to celebrate this event without talking about human sinfulness (rejection of God's rule in our lives) and Jesus' substitutionary death (see 1 Peter 2:22-25). These ideas are both rightfully confronting and possibly offensive to secular society. People don't like to be told that they are sinners, nor that someone had to take God's punishment in their place.

Which is why I am pleased to issue a Good Friday hazar to both Richard Glover of ABC 702 Radio in Sydney, and television's Channel 7 for showing Good Friday a level of respect I have not seen nor expected from the secular media for a while. On Thursday, Glover invited both Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Geroge Pell onto his drivetime show to explain the Christian message of Easter. He was attentive, interested and respectful, as he should be with all his guests, and he copped a bit of flack from less respectful listeners who were "offended" by two religious guests explaining their particular worldview. Then, tonight, Channel 7 showed Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, a blatantly religious film, complete without ads, so as not to ruin the atmosphere which builds throughout the movie. This, too, was unexpected and appreciated.

So, hazar for the respect shown to Christians on this Good Friday, and I wish everyone a happy and holy Easter. It's not about chocolate, you know...

...e

[Category: random_stuff]

Hazar for expensive grace

2007-02-16T00:53:00.000+11:00

I heard a talk yesterday from Peter Jensen about "reformed" theology. Quite interesting and well-spoken, however a few things went over my head, so I trotted on down with few mates after the talk to ask some questions. Also very interesting, and led to me hearing an explanation of God's grace I have not heard elsewhere.

Glenn Davies was talking about the joy of being saved by God, and he used this illustration: imagine a prison full of murderers (bad ones). They all deserve to be jailed for life, and therefore the punishment they are receiving is quite correct, right? Imagine now that the judge now comes in and pardons one of the murderers and releases him. That's 100% grace - the murderer did nothing to deserve the pardon - in fact, he deserves the opposite. And what of the others - can they complain? No - they are still in the same position as before, getting what they rightly deserve. This is a good way of viewing God's grace to us in Jesus.

I don't know why, but this spoke to me. For many years I have acknowledged the goodness of God and praised the wonder of his grace, but my personal, hidden, and private actions have often revealed that I view this grace all too cheaply. If I disobey God it causes me little grief, for I know that I will be forgiven. When I remember God's grace it causes me little joy, for I know it shall always be available for me. How shallow this understanding is.

I know that expensive grace is not the exact opposite of cheap grace, but it's a phrase which popped into my head and made sense. So hazoo for me and my cheap attitude, and hazar for God and His expensive grace.

.e

P.S. if you want to hear the next talk by Peter Jensen on "evangelicalism", come along to Abbotsleigh at 8pm on Wed 21/2. I recommend it.
[Category: random_stuff]

Hazar for the Tallis Scholars

2007-02-09T23:44:00.000+11:00

I got the opportunity tonight to see the Tallis Scholars, an a capella singing group who specialise in 16th century polyphonic music, such as that composed by Tallis and Palestrina. It was a good concert - a bit sameish perhaps (let's be honest - any collection of 16th Century polyphony is going to sound a bit homogenous), but generally very good. They have defnintely learned the secret of nailing the last note of a piece - do that well and the audience will forgive you for anything. They also performed an interesting version of Allegri's Miserere, well-regarded as one of the most beautiful pieces around, which was quite different to versions of the piece I've heard before. The soprano pulled off some quite clever "vocal acrobatics" during the really high bits, and the cantor sang a different chant to that which I've heard and sung before. I liked it.

The concert was recorded for ABC Classic FM, who will be playing the concert on Saturday 17 February at 12.05pm. Cop a listen if you can. Hazar for the Tallis Scholars and their fine singing.

.e.

[Category: random_stuff]

Hazar for the Metters Super Twin

2007-02-01T22:27:00.000+11:00

Our old fridge died the other day. It blew some kind of circuit and shorted out the house. Several times. Hazar for safety switches. Anyway, we took ages working out which appliance was causing the troubles and it was a real hassle having to go out to the garage and work out how to unplug something which has been running in the same place for a good 10 years or so. But it was the culprit, and we eventually decided that it was time to turn it off forever.

I felt a bit sad about the whole thing - I like having a few extra fridges around to keep some drinks cool or to be really useful for parties. And I also felt like this was a piece of my childhood gone. When I asked Mum about it, she said the fridge had been purchased shortly before I was born - about 26 (argh) years ago.

Now I know that the old thing has probably been sucking up more than its fair share of coal and other natural resources for a good long while, and it's probably been spewing out ozone killing CFCs for a quarter of a century, just to keep a few of my drinks cool, but I can't help feeling that it was a quality appliance. What item purchased today do you expect to be around in 26 years? Your car? Your microwave? Your TV? Piffle - no one expects anything to last these days, and the manufacturers know it. Only Tupperware comes with a lifetime guarantee - everything else is expected to last only two Christmases and then get replaced with a newer model.

So, although I know little about Metters, their Super Twin fridge, or why there's the number 12 before it, I'd like to issue a hearty hazar for Metters and their quality appliance, and an equally hearty hazoo for all those manufacturers out there who don't like their applicances to reach their third birthday.

Hazar for Instructables

2007-01-20T00:19:00.000+11:00

I had a desire today to find out how to screen print. In doing so, I found the Instructables website - a collection of nifty DIY projects. The site contains such interesting, if a little pointless, projects as making a kinetically rechargeable flashlight in a tic tac container, making an LED display board for your fridge, or making a dock for your iPod out of Lego. Obviously lots of outrageously necessary things, which is why I had so much fun browsing through the site. I'll never make anything on the site, but at least I'll know some of the things are possible, which is just as worthwhile, I believe.

.e

[Category: random_stuff]

Hazar for words

2007-01-18T13:34:00.000+11:00

I love words. Words are cool, words are great, words allow one to get one's meaning across, but they also allow so much more. The words you use, the way you use them, and the care with which you choose your words tells a great deal about you, in my opinion. And before you jump to accusations of snobbery, I admit that education and social class are two of the broad categories your word usage can reveal, however those aspects of your character have nothing to do with whether I like you and wish to carry on a conversation with you or not. My friends use words in all sorts of wonderful ways, and I love them for it. Hazar for words.

Having said all that, I'd like to issue a qualified hazoo to the Macquarie Dictionary who have a "Word of the Year" competition on their website, trying to find the best new words or phrases from 2006, presumably to include in the next edition of the Dictionary. They have included such "words" as emo, muffin top, spaghettini, ubersexual and cyberstalking.

Now, I am all for people making up and using words in any way they see fit. I love it when someone tacks the German uber, meaning "super" or similar, onto some other word to show that they loved watching Buffy. I can't get enough of people shortening entire concepts into one brief word (i.e. emo) and then complaining that no one really knows exactly what the word stands for anymore. And I just love phrases such as muffin top, which are nothing but derogatory, becoming common parlance. Words are great that way - but do we really need to write them all down and record them for posterity? I can recall being a young student and being given only the Macquarie Dictionary to study. If this trend has continued today, and I believe it has, then kids will be coming out of school thinking that uberthis and cyberthat are perfectly acceptable English words and phrases, and not the quirky, idiosynratic words they really are. Thin spaghetti is thin spaghetti, or better still, vermicelli, not spaghettini. Call me an old fasioned purist, but I'd love to see people going to the trouble of finding the right word for the circumstance, and not being rewarded when they use the most convenient one which springs to mind.

So, hazar for people being themselves and using words in whichever way they wish, and hazoo for the people who try to record the individuality out of our society.

.e.
[Category: random_stuff]

P.S. I am quite happy to admit that many of the wonderful words we have in our language now were once quirky and new, and then Mr Johnson decided to note them down in his dictionary so we have them today. Excellent! But methinks the practice has to stop sometime, and now is the time!

Hazar for the Hottest 100

2007-01-06T11:03:00.000+11:00

I listen to a lot of radio. Throughout my uni years I spent about 4 hours each day on public transport, and, always preferring to have music or voice or something to listen to, I spent most of that time listening to the radio. And my radio station of choice at the time was triple j, the "youth station" in the Australian ABC stables.

As I have mentioned in the past, I have eclectic tastes in music. So triple j was just right for me - lots of variety, always something new, and rarely anything outrageously commerically poppy. I thought most of the presenters could do with a good course in sensible radio journalism, but generally, I was happy to listen to them.

And I loved the JJJ Hottest 100 - the more or less annual countdown of 100 top songs from the previous year, as voted by triple j listeners. Many a Hottest 100 CD has become the soundtrack to my parties, and I quite often rated the number 1 song as a musical highlight from the year. It's a little commercial and not for everyone, and quite often I haven't heard of half the songs which make it into the 100, but I still like it.

Anyhoo, follow the link above to check out the songs in this year's list and have a vote. For those who wish to know, this year I voted for:

Gotye - Thanks for your time
Gotye - Learnalilgivnanlovin
Anberlin - Never Take Friendship Personal
Ben Harper - Better Way
Karnivool - Roquefort
Matisyahu - King Without A Crown
Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
OK GO - Here It Goes Again
Regina Spektor - Fidelity
Regina Spektor - Samson

Not enough Australian bands in my list for my liking, but it couldn't be helped. Since I don't listen to triple j each day anymore, I can't predict the number 1 song accurately, but I'll take a stab at Wolfmother to get up there. People like them for some reason.

Hazar for triple j and hazar for the Hottest 100!

.e
[Category: random_stuff]

Hazar for Australia

2007-01-05T12:27:00.000+11:00

The Aussie cricket team whitewash the Ashes!!! Whohoo, yay and hazar!

I think I wrote a post during the last Ashes series saying Hazar for Cricket, even though we lost the series. I would like to reiterate that sentiment - hazar for cricket, such an interesting game which is loved by many age groups, social groups and countries. Some may think it a little slow, boring even, but you can't argue with cricket's ability to bring all these diverse people together for 5 days at a time. Such a good game.

Anyhoo, I won't go on, except to say that I was lucky enough to be the guest of an SCG member at the first day of the final test match for Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer, and I'd like to issue a big Hazar to all three of these cricketing champs. Hazar for the atmosphere created (eventually) by the Barmy Army. Oh, and Hazar for Australia!

.e
[Category: random_stuff]

Hazoo for The Holiday

2007-01-01T13:30:00.000+11:00

Despite the fact that I am a red-blooded, facial-hair wearing, sport-loving kind of bloke, I don't mind a good romantic comedy. To be honest, I prefer the quirkier ones - Love Actually, Four Weddings and Funeral, Bridget Jones, So I Married an Axe-Murderer, to name a few. They have some good lines and some humorous characters which make up for the inevitable soppiness of the romantic bits. Not bad movies in my opinion.

Judging by the trailers, I was hoping for The Holiday to be in a similar vein. The cast includes the rather humorous Jack Black and, well, it just looked good. Argh, how disappointed I was.

The plot revolves around two complete strangers, one in L.A., USA and the other in Surrey, England. When both of them suffer a romantic crisis of sorts, they opt to swap houses for two weeks, and, lo and behold, both of them find new romantic pursuits while abroad. Naturally, the two leading ladies (Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz) find two fantastic leading men (Jack Black and Jude Law, respectively), plus a bunch of other characters. Having four leading characters seems to be where the problems begin for this film. Judging by the length of the film (about 2 and a 1/2 hours) the director and writer, Nancy Myers, just couldn't bring herself to reduce the screen time for any of the stars. This would have been acceptable if there were only two of them, but when all 4 need equal face time, it all starts to get a bit long-winded. Compared to the excellent Love Actually, which also features quite a few "stars," the balance was just all wrong. Scenes that should have taken just a few seconds took a minute. Plot lines which should have been only mentioned in passing conversation were shown in full, and characters who really weren't material to the romantic plot line were given unnecessarily and confusingly long treatment.

There were other issues, such as the oddity of sharing house, car, everything with someone with whom you have only shared a few IMs across the internet; the moral issues related to sleeping with people expressly because you'll never see them again; the unreal perfectness of everything in the film; the self-aggrandising commentary on why people in Hollywood spend so long patting each other on the back and giving each other awards; and the blatant level of product placement, to name just a few. It is not all bad - there are some funny lines, mostly from Jack Black, and lots of things to laugh at if not with, but really, this is one for DVD after it is no longer a new release and when you have a few hours to spend.

Looking on IMDB, I've just noticed that Richard Curtis was the writer or director for quite a few of my favourite romantic comedies, Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Bridget Jones, as well as one of my favourite comedies, Blackadder. He seems to be able to make a good romantic comedy which isn't too long-winded or soppy. I don't have much more to say about that other than hazar for Richard Curtis, and hazoo for The Holiday.

Happy new year to both of the people who are likely to read this post.

.e
[Category: random_stuff]

Hazar for Eeyargh

2006-09-19T00:08:00.000+10:00

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is upon us, or should I say "Talk like a Pirate Day ahoy!" Did pirates use the word ahoy, or was it just a naval thing? In fact, a good number of the more established pirates were actually just the navy of a foreign power who was at war with your country - i.e. the French pirated the British merchant ships, the British pirated the Spanish, and the Spanish pirated everyone. Or not - I could have just made that all up. Either way, it was a good story.

I'm prac teaching a class of Yr 5 students at the moment, and I think I'll give the day a mention, but I will stop short of trying to talk like a pirate all day. Too mentally exhausting.

At this stage, however, I would like to proffer (a very cool word) that the word "hazar," as English as it sounds, and as Hebrew as it's root might be, is quite piratical (also a cool word), and causes me to issue a lusty Hazar for talking like a pirate! Eeyargh!

.e
[Category: random_stuff]

Hazar for Random CDs

2006-09-05T00:50:00.000+10:00

Okay, here's my first post about my CD catalogue - some Random CDs. Everyone has a small pile of CDs sitting somewhere in their house which weren't put together for any reason, and which won't be listened to in any particular order. Here is my current pile:

The sound of Milano Fashion 4 Cool D:Vision - thought this would be good after hearing it at a restaurant. Either I bought the wrong CD or the restaurant had it in the mix with something else. Either way, only good for background.

Grey's Anatomy Original Soundtrack - love the show, not so fussed about the CD. Tegan and Sara's "Where does the good go" and Psapp's "Cosy in the rocket" are the standout highlights. Worth it just for the Psapp track.

Both sides of the gun Ben Harper - also not so fussed with this. I loved Live from Mars, but this got a bit too country for me. Meh.

Everything Is Nine Black Alps - I heard a song from this band on JJJ one day and thought "I have to buy that CD one day." About 6 months later I remembered to do so, but could not remember which song I liked and why. I still can't work it out, so this goes on my list of dud purchases.

Like a version two JJJ - a spur of the moment purchase when in an ABC shop. I think I liked the idea of the Mountain Goats singing "Wild World" but the rest of the CD is a bit of a disappointment. I'll give it another shot, but this also might end up in my pile of background music CDs.

That's my random pile at the moment. Stay tuned for more on the catalogue, and hazar for all your random CDs.

.e

[Category: my_cd_catalogue]

Hazar for Third Place

2006-09-04T23:25:00.000+10:00

Hazar! Kristarella has announced me the third place winner in her Self-Portrait Competition. I really only entered because I wanted to show off my weird beard, and I'm quited chuffed that Kriso thought this was good enough to give me even the lowliest of prizes. Thanks, and hazar for third place.

-e-

Hazar for ClassicFM

2006-08-31T17:11:00.000+10:00

I'm one of those lucky people who can have a spot of music on at my desk. It's one of the things that keeps the day moving along. I've been in workplaces where they tell you to turn it off or wear headphones or whatever, which really annoys me. I mean - if you can't listen to music while you're working, what can you do? Listen to the gentle tapping of keyboards all day? Hum?

Anyhoo, my office allows music so I'm happy. Now, for about 6 months I really tested the boundaries with a whole variety of music styles - acoustic, hard rock, Christian rock, electronic, Disney, classical and a whole bunch of stuff in between, and eventually I found that when I had classical music playing, no one asked me to turn it off. Fine with me.

So now I whack on a bit of ClassicFM in the morning, listen all through the day, and quite enjoy it. More often than not I recognise the piece playing, or can make an educated guess as to the composer (ahh, guess the composer - what a game!), and every hour I get some ABC news. Fantastic.

And I find that the music is both calming and keeps the day moving along. It seems like when everything is silent an hour can last for hours, but if you've got music playing, it can move by at just the right pace. That's all very subjective and fluffy, but I think we've all experienced what I mean.

And a bit of music gives something to talk about. I especially like it when one of my co-workers comes along and says that "this classical music is making me feel angry." Bizarre, and something to chat about. So hazar for classical music and the good people at ClassicFM. Makes a boring day just a little more enjoyable.

.e.

[Category: random_stuff]

Hazoo for Blogger Search

2006-08-30T11:17:00.000+10:00

Well,

This category thing is frustrating the pants off me. Not literally - I still have pants on - but figuratively I have no pants.

It appears that Blogger Search only searches the atom RSS feed of your post. That is fine, however, if you edit a post, it doesn't seem to republish the atom feed for that post. So, my last post for example, I accidentally noted the category as "my_cd_catalog" and then published. It understandably didn't come up in my category search for my_cd_catalogue, so I edited the post and republished. But it still doesn't come up in the search because Blogger thinks the original post is the only one. Silly.

I don't know if this is a serious issue, it just frustrated me and causes me to issue a hazoo to Blogger Search.

...e
[Categories: random_stuff, my_cd_catalogue] Let's hope this works this time.

Hazar for CDs

2006-08-30T10:06:00.000+10:00

Howdy all,

I've been playing around with categories for Blogspot recently, so I've been doing more template changing than posting. Sorry to all my fans out there, both of you. I still don't know if the categories thing is working, but I've spent long enough on it and I'll worry about it another day. Or I'll just wait until Blogger chooses me for their Beta program where I can use labels instead of categories. We'll see.

What I really wanted to talk about, though, and the whole reason for my desire for categories, is CDs and the coolness thereof. I have quite a few of the things, and I quite like them. Keep on buying more, actually, which is an expensive hobby, but cheaper than some others.

Now, many people ask me - "Edwin," they say, for that is my name, "what is your favourite style of music?" and I find that quite a difficult question to answer. I like lots of different styles of music, so I usually say "eclectic" when asked about my preference. I then explain what eclectic means and usually talk about my latest acquisitions as cases in point (incidentally - 'Black holes and revelations' by Muse and a self-titled album by Phil Wickham are the two newest). Much discussion usually follows.

So, I have decided to put my CD catalogue (or catalog for you pedants) on the blog for all to see, and I may well give a short review of quite a few of the CDs. This will take quite a while, and probably quite a few posts, hence the need for a category to gather all like-minded posts together. And who knows, I may even get to the end of my catalog one day. Or Jesus might return. Hazar for CDs - they are so useful.

.e.
[Category: my_cd_catalogue]

Hazar for Winter Training

2006-08-23T16:48:00.000+10:00

Checkout this story on SydneyAnglicans.net - it talks about St Andy's, my Christian family in Wahroonga, and the "Winter Training" program we've been doing over the past 6 weeks. It's pretty cool to see a story about something I was involved in - it always is (check your local microfiche for the local newspaper story about Clean up Australia Day 1988 in which I featured prominently) - but I can't help thinking that these 6 weeks of seminars is not really that spectacular compared to the remaining 40 or so weeks of the year spent in regular Bible study groups. It was cool to come together to learn about something nice and theological like the doctrine of the Trinity, but why is that more newsworthy than the hundreds of bible study groups meeting faithfully every week of the year to learn about Biblical theology?

Argh - I realise now the silliness of my argument - meeting in a big church group is similar in some aspects to small groups, and different in others. They are both of benefit, in differing ways, and it is cool that St Andys, and other churches, get involved in both.

Which brings me back to my original idea - hazar for Winter Training, and bring on more in the future!

.e.t.

random_stuff

Hazar for random stuff

2006-08-21T21:11:00.000+10:00

Hey,

Click on "View my complete profile" on the left and you will see my interests. Well, in the old days they would have purely been interests, these days people find "keywords" that easily define them. Anyhoo, I've listed a few interests, and, for wont of a better term, I finished up with "random stuff." Click on random stuff and you will see that a small number people think that random stuff is indeed, a very valid interest.

Now, first time I looked at this it amused me that people always seemed to end their list of pithy keywords with "random stuff" and I thought that it might be a universal rule that "random stuff" will only ever be the final item in people's lists of interests. It then dawned on me that Blogger counts "random stuff" and "random stuff." differently, and only people with a penchant for correct punctuation will appear in the "random stuff." list, whereas the others appear in this list. So much for Edwin's Law of Universal Random Stuff Finality, although I still think there is space for an article on the subject on Wikipedia.

But all of this begs the question, what is "random stuff"? For mine, "random stuff" refers to a sense of humour that is heavily dependent on doing or saying the thing those in your company are least likely to expect. For example, rather than finishing emails with "hope you have a nice day" you instead write "thank you, kind sir, for your assistance with the suits. I hope the wife gets over her spot of gout." That is "random stuff", and quite humourous too.

For others, "random stuff" may refer to reading news items like this and then talking about it loudly at pubs. The best response to that, of course, is the oft-heard phrase "why the hell would you want to know that?" Ahh, delightfully random.

In any event, "random stuff" is what keeps us giggling throughout the day, or at least keeps a quizzical look in our eyes, and I for one want to issue a huge Hazar for Random Stuff!

~Cedric~
You didn't expect that, did you?

Hazar for Weird beards

2006-08-16T23:35:00.000+10:00

Kristarella has inspired me to start blogging again, and I thought I'd start by taking part in her self-portrait competition. I think I'll be the winner, since I'm the only participant, which makes me happy. But I'm mostly happy about being able to show off the weirdest beard I created whilst trying to look like a pirate on a recent camp. Evidently, pirates spent hours tending to their beards, and I was glad to carry on that tradition.

Anyway, who knows what I'll be chucking up hazars or hazoos about in the future. For the meantime, hazar for weird, piratic beards.

.e

Hazar for Categories 2

2006-06-01T22:57:00.000+10:00

Hazar for Categories

2006-06-01T00:27:00.000+10:00

Hazar for Cricket

2005-09-12T23:51:00.000+10:00

Well, the Ashes are drawing to a close, and I for one love the fact that it has been both interesting and exciting. The last match is not over - Australia could clutch victory from the jaws of defeat yet, and I am happy to see that it has been well followed. I was a little hazooful about Australia's batting efforts, and I have sighed many a time at the legendary McGrath's injury woes, but I am now pleased to see that it has all come down to the final day of play and it is gripping.

I don't want to go to sleep! I'm gonna regret it tomorrow (I always do when I stay up) but it feels worth it at the moment!

Hazar for cricket.

Oh, and Hazoo to all you who think cricket's about as interesting as doing a coporate tax return - you just need to get into the game a little more and you'll see why people love it! Learn to appreciate rather than deprecate...

..e..

Hazar for John Anderson

2005-06-23T23:34:00.000+10:00

John Anderson, who was Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party, today stepped down from those positions to serve out the rest of his term on the backbench. I feel a little sad about this - I like the guy (and Tim Fischer before him) and I reckon he did good for the country as Deputy. While I can't point to any particular decisions or policies to back up this likeability, we all know that politics is about 95% "perception" of a particular parliamentarian and my perception is that John Anderson is a good bloke. So, I'm sorry he's not Deputy anymore, and I wish him luck in the rest of his life.

It does bring me to an interesting question, though - why do parliamentarians resign from a position in the middle of a term, when they know they still have to continue as the member for their given electorate? Surely MPs can decide before an election that they would like to retire, or at the end of a term. It makes it seem like ministers are the only ones who do any work, and backbenchers are like working retirees. I'm not sure if this is true, but it's how it sounds. If you can't be a minister anymore, maybe you shouldn't be an MP anymore either, and will need to retire from Parliament completely. Then again, big Kim Beazley shows that people can come back from the backbenches. I don't know. It just intrigues me.

Anyway, hazar for John Anderson. More Christians in parliament please.

..e..

Hazoo for war

2005-04-25T03:13:00.000+10:00

I am sitting here watching The Longest Day, which may or may not be "the greatest war film ever." I don't want to enter that debate (I prefer The Thin Red Line), but I do want to say one thing - war sucks. Stop it.

Now I'm not prone to much emotion, but I do know that I get quite emotional when I see scenes, albeit in pseudo-historical-documentary films, of people dying pointlessly and painfully in battle. There is nothing glorious in war, there is little heroism, there is not much to be celebrated - there is just a lot of needless death as far as I can see.

Today is Australia's national day of rememberance for those who served and died in wartime - known as ANZAC Day. I am never going to look at an ex-serviceman and tell him or her that they should not have fought and I am not grateful for their actions - that would be both wrong and disrespectful. But I am also never going to be thankful that world leaders allowed affairs to get to such a low point that they believed that only the death of millions of their citizens and citizens of other countries could solve their crises. That is something to be deplored, not applauded.

I don't like war.

.e.

Update 1:30pm Mon 25th

I have just watched the dawn service from Gallipoli. Speakers from both Australia and New Zealand, including the Chief of New Zealand's Defence Force our respective Prime Ministers, said some intriguing things. They said that war was not grand etc., but some went on to say that Gallipoli and other aspects of war represented the highest levels of military incompetence and national subservience to Britain. I'm not sure if I've heard that kind of talk from officaldom before. It intrigues me. I will post links to transcripts when and if I can find them.

Hazar for Fun and Games

2005-04-22T12:19:00.000+10:00

Yes, I am a little lazy.

Some days I simply sit on my couch, watch hours of terrible daytime TV, think about having a shower at 4 (when kids programming starts), and play computer games.

But I am not a "gamer"! I can't stand Battlefield 1942, Command and Conquer, or Zelda - I like to play silly little free games.

Which is why I am issuing a massive Hazar to Orisinal. I know nothing about this site other than it offers the largest set of fantasically bizarre and lovely looking games to challenge your minds and fingers. Everything from a space shooting game to a game where a bee supplies pollen to other bees - each game is both weird and wonderful. My favourite is the game where two mice steal sugar cubes so they can have a cup of tea each day. Brilliant.

Other sites which amuse and entertain me include:

Globz - great shockwave games.

Yahoo Games - I especially like Pool and SpellDown.

and Sturtsa.com's versions of good ol' arcade games.

Games are fun - waste your time with them.

..e

Hazar for Lance Armstrong

2005-04-20T16:20:00.000+10:00

Lance Armstrong announces retirement.

Now, I'm no cyclist. In fact, I sold my bike to a cousin a while ago because I get so puffed riding up to the shops that I couldn't be bothered using the thing. But I do like sportspeople who are good at what they do, and for that reason I like watching the Tour de France. While it means that I don't get a lot of sleep over the month from June 20 (Wimbledon) to July 20 (Tour de France), and I am quick to bore friends with meaningless information about the word 'peloton', I honestly enjoy watching the Tour.

And one of the main reasons I have enjoyed it in past years is Lance Armstrong and his phenomenal ability. He is a freak. I think I heard some commentator say that he can pedal constantly at a rate about 7 times faster than your run of the mill professional cyclist. And he never seems to look like he's in trouble - he just has his head up and pedals through whatever. I'm not sure if I'll watch the race in future years if Lance is not there... well, maybe if they take it off SBS.

.e

Hazoo for Channel Ten

2005-04-19T14:16:00.000+10:00

Has anyone been watching Channel Ten's (in Sydney that is) promos for The O.C.? The plot for this week seems to spruik some kind of lesbian affair between two characters, and Channel Ten have chosen to use music from christian band Switchfoot to underpin the promo. Christian music to promote the immorality of The O.C.? Doesn't anyone think before making these choices? Now, according to Switchfoot, this is nothing new -

from www.switchfoot.com:
Over the course of the past several years, more than 40 Switchfoot songs have been used for several nationally televised shows, including “Dawson’s Creek” (five songs), “Regis and Kelly,” “Felicity,” and many more. “The context in which the songs are used can be pretty funny,” says Foreman. “I remember writing a song about spiritual longing and then seeing it played back during a hot tub scene on some show. The songs can wind up very far from the edge of the bed where they were originally written.”

I don't think it's that funny - I think it's ridiculous. Maybe bands should be asked before their music is used way out of context in a particular show.

e.

Hazar for sport

2005-01-19T23:45:00.000+11:00

I love sport, generally. Not all sports - I can't watch car racing for long - but most sports I will watch for a while. So I'm like a pig in mud at the moment. Not only are we in the middle of a great, if conclusively forgone, tri-nations cricket series, but we also have the Australian Open tennis tournament on, and I'm sure there's plenty of other good sport on at the moment too. Yay.

And while I'm on the topic - hazar for ABC radio and their sporting coverage. Even though most people think listening to tennis on the radio is more boring than watching it, I'm not one of them - I quite like it. Channel 9 could learn a thing or two about cricket commentary from them too. So hazar for sport, hazar for tennis, hazar for cricket and hazar for ABC's Grandstand. Ooh, I'm in a good mood tonight...

..e..

Hazoo for the media

2005-01-13T11:58:00.000+11:00

Why do we watch so much television? Nay, why do I watch so much tv? It's genuinely hazooful on most occasions. Lots of important and interesting things happen in the world each day, and what does the tv news report on - Prince Harry's party costume. I've worn a Nazi outfit to a fancy dress party before, and no one reported on me - they realised it was a fancy dress party. Do they report on numerous kids who dress as wizards and witches for parties? Denouncing them for supporting witchcraft? What about actors who dress as Nazis for performances of The Sound of Music? Obviously I think it is very silly and not worthy of cluttering up my news. Hazoo for stories blowing things like this out of proportion and hazar for stories about rescuing dogs from under houses.

-e-

Hazoo for Channel 9

2005-01-11T23:57:00.000+11:00

Cop a squizz at this - Fish Out Of Water: Where's Latham? - don't worry about the Latham stuff, but Fishboy's take on Channel 9's seeming contempt for Sydney's West Wing viewing public is spot on, and earns them the second, and long awaited hazoo for this blog. Channel 9 can't do cricket well, they can't do news terribly well, and they can't do time terribly well.

I came home tonight at the prescribed time for The West Wing, and found Channel 9 in the middle of Nightline, and I had to wait another 20 mins or so for The Wing. No major problem for nightowls like myself, but for people who enjoy their sleep it's just too late on a school night.

I apologise to people who have no idea what I'm talking about, but I'm sure every city has one TV station which seems to have lost either its clock or its copy of the TV guide, or both. It's a bit silly.

So, hazoo for Channel 9, and hazar for The West Wing. I still have very little idea what people are actually saying, but I don't care - I like the way they say it.

.e

Hazar for binary rating systems

2004-11-16T13:08:00.000+11:00

Yes, I am a bit of a nerd. I have a blog, and glasses. Enough said.

There are some things in this world worth giving a big hazar to, while there are others which aren't so hazarific, and which are probably more deserving of the darker side of hazar - hazoo. Thus a binary ratings system is born - hazar for some things, hazoo for others. And, just quietly, I prefer a binary (that means there are only 2 options, for those without glasses) system over any other, more complex system. What does half a star mean anyway? You never saw gladiators in the Colosseum looking up to the Emperor waiting for two and a half thumbs up, did you? No - it was either thumbs up or thumbs down; green light or red light; hazar or hazoo.

And so we come to the first hazoo of my blog - Hazoo for neck beards.

They're itchy, they're difficult to shave off, and they never look good. I think I've made my point.

Stay tuned for more hazars and hazoos.

-e-

Hazar for Voting

2004-11-04T15:07:00.000+11:00

I don't do this often, but I feel like getting political.

I have just watched a bit of the US Presidential election and I'm happy to see that large numbers of people actually turned up to vote. I live in a country where voting is compulsary and therefore roughly 95% of the population turn up to cast their ballot at an election. In the vaguely-United States, they are happy with a 50% turnout. So, when 60% or so turned up this time (I just made that figure up by the way - I can't back it up) it definitely is good to see people are caring. The fact that a majority voted for George dubya Bush is another issue...

I like the fact that so many people turned up they didn't quite know what to do with them, and so bewildered officials had to hand out "paper ballots" to people in the lines! When push comes to shove, a good ol' fashioned pencil and paper method always wins over time-consuming technology. Hazar for pencils!

.e

Mallam.org

2004-10-28T17:29:00.000+10:00

I remember once finding the 'Last page of the Internet' which I thought was quite humourous. Imagine my mirth therefore, when I visited mallam.org. Enjoy.

Fish Out Of Water

2004-10-27T23:38:00.000+10:00

The blog of one of my good friends - check out Fish Out Of Water. If you've ever wondered about political stuff in Australia, Adam has the ability to make sense of it, especially from a Christian point of view. I commend it to your reading...

Hazar for Everything

2004-10-27T16:39:00.000+10:00

Welcome and hazar for you!

I'm pleased to announce that this will be a happy blog - none of these "the world is one big pile of rubbish" or "all politicians are corrupt" blogs - this is a blog that will be happy about most stuff.

Well, most stuff... I do have a few gripes with the world and I don't naively believe that the world is a completely hazarful place, but I do want to be generally positive, not negative about stuff.

Looking forward to posting more on my happy blog,
mrDween