Jo N Jules with T & H

Hello 2012!

2012-01-22T22:43:00.002+11:00

A new year and one full of new opportunities! 2011 was full of blessings for us. The most obvious one being the arrival of baby H into our family!

Not sure what 2012 has in store for you. We are looking forward to working out life as a family of 4 (and it definitely feels like a "family" now!) We will be working out what it is like to travel as a family of 4 when we head off to Japan in January for Ian Chen's wedding. We will be working out how we work as a family of 4 as I (Jo) will probably go back to work sometime this year. We will also be working out how we live and & play as a family of 4 as T's gross motor skills requires nearly a daily work out and H is still not rolling at 5 months.

2012 is also the year of the London Olympics (can you believe it's been 12 years since Sydney's ones?!), a US election, Christina Eriksson's wedding, the year of Alan Turing as decided by Wikipedia, and Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee (we live in a Commonwealth country after all). Thankfully there is an extra day at the end of February to cope with all this.

Though we are not really ones for new years resolutions, keeping this blog more regularly updated will be one of them.

Looking forward to sharing 2012 with you!

Photo of the month - December 2011

2012-01-22T22:36:00.003+11:00

This time of year is really crazy for the Gambles with birthdays galore! The least of which is not Jesus birthday at Christmas time. And again, it's hard to choose just one photo to sum up the month but this is my (Jo) particular favourite so it has won the title of photo of the month!

The photo is all of us being rather colour co-ordinated for Christmas eve lunch at the Chen family home. This will be the last Christmas to be celebrated their by our family. Trinity, who has "got" birthdays and loves them, is blowing out a candle for Jesus' birthday. It was taken by Leo Chen.

Hope you had a great Christmas and New year!

Photo of the month - November 2011

2012-01-22T22:32:00.004+11:00

It is getting harder and harder to just choose one photo each month. This photo has been chosen as it shows how T & H have started interacting. T is particularly fond of her little brother. There is much joy in seeing their relationship grow.

Baby watch is back in 2011!

2011-11-01T10:59:00.004+11:00

2011 is the year of the Rabbit in the Chinese calendar and (rather amusingly) seems to be living up to it's name!

To date we know approximately 57 babies born this year. 29 girls and 28 boys. The record number of kids is held by the Year 2008 with 66. With still 2 months to go though, 2011 may well become the year of the baby!

For those interested in baby names, here are some of them:
* Scarlett Chloe
* Grace Eve
* Callan Thomas
* Harry Chapman
* Jaden Michah
* Isaiah Matthew
* Benjamin John
* Esther Poppy
* April Hope
* Hamish Charles
* Thomas Campbell
* Liam John
* Melia Callie
* Maggie
* Joel Benjamin
* Finn
* Alexis Mae
* Ella
* John Christopher
* Stephanie Annalise
* Rosemary Elizabeth
* Noah Daniel
* Evan
* Emily Jane
* Elise
* Hamish Challinor
* Aaron
* Abigail
* Leana Ranya

A quote to ponder

2011-11-01T10:56:00.002+11:00

[Regarding children] One is an accessory; Two is a family.

Anon

Sibling sticker fun

2011-10-31T22:36:00.003+11:00

The two kid thing is a recent phenomena in the Gamble household. It brings great joy (and laughter) to see the kids interact. This photo came about during a play date at a friend's house. As I (the not very observant parent) was chatting away with my friend, Little T decided to include H on the sticker fun. Turning around to see this was simply hilarious!

At the Gate of the Year

2011-10-31T22:29:00.003+11:00

A poem I heard at a recent funeral that reminded me of how life is not about accumulating wealth, friends, experiences or "things" but about what you trust in.

At the Gate of the Year

I said to the the man who
stood at the gate of the year
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."

And he replied -
"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way."

(Quoted by His Majesty the King (King George VI) in an Empire Broadcast.

Vale Ruth Thompson.

Food blog #7 High Tea @ Lilies on the Park

2011-10-31T22:02:00.004+11:00

Lilies on the Park, in Bicentennial Park has the unique status of being pretty much the only place to get a coffee in the whole place! It is in a lovely location that is convenient by car (lots of parking), bicycle (if you're having a cycle in the park) or by foot (if you are walking around the park).

It doesn't have much of a setting in regards to view as the Waterview function centre next door takes up the views of the lake. Also, the seating is outside which is good on good weather days and not so great other days. However, Lilies does has a friendly atmosphere with lots of people from all walks of life coming and going and enjoying the public space that was set up to celebrate Australia's 200 years of settlement (or invasion).

On a slightly ordinary Sunday lunch time where the weather was sea-sawing between sun and misty rain, a bunch of girlfriends and I checked out their incredibly affordable high tea. It was good fun sitting around a long bench, with our tea and large servings of sandwiches, sweets and scones. The scones were too heavy and the sweets not that inspiring but the savoury offerings were lovely on the eye and the mouth. We had to ask for more cream and jam (cream, sadly, looked like it came out of an aerosol - the shame!) but thankfully the service was obliging. For the price this was a fun event with none of us wanting more food. However, not sure if it's a GREAT high tea, due to the setting and scone quality.

The good: The smoked salmon sandwiches were generous in their salmon
The bad: Ordinary looking sweets.
The ugly: Cream from a can, no more to say.

Food blog #6 High Tea @ The Art Gallery of NSW

2011-10-31T21:45:00.005+11:00

High Tea @ The Art Gallery of NSW

When I (Jo) saw a photo of this via my Facebook as someone had "check-in" at the gallery, I was excited that the Gallery offered high tea so had to jump onto the internet immediately to check out the details. After finding out the details of this rather impressive and unique high tea menu, reasonably priced, all I needed was to find someone to come with me.

Thank goodness that dear friend KT had a birthday that GL & I could spoil her with!! On a lovely sunny winter Sydney afternoon in July 2010, we headed for the fine establishment of art to check out art of the culinary type!

We were not disappointed. With a unique savoury menu of pumpkin soup and salmon quiche, sandwiches with hommus and sun-dried tomato and sweets of pistachio creme brulee (my favourite!) the high tea was yummy, adventurous and great mix of the variety. Thankfully, all these different flavours were anchored in some date and orange scones, that were, yes, a stray from the traditional, but were warm, dense and delicious with jam & cream. (Cream was also amazing).

The good: The lovely, clean, modern setting in the art gallery looking over Woolloomooloo
The best: The variety in the food
The bad: The minimum selection in the tea (though they did have a rose grey, which is rather noteworthy).

Photo of the month - October 2011

2011-10-31T21:37:00.004+11:00

The photo the month was taken at a family wedding, set in the lovely harbourside suburb of Vauclause. On a surprisingly sunny, humid and beautiful Saturday in Sydney-town. It shows a lovely, funny, cute interaction of T & H with Granma, all dressed up fancy!

Food blog # 5 High Tea @ Gunners Barracks

2011-10-31T21:16:00.007+11:00

The Gunners Barracks High Tea, in a little hidey-hole at the back of Mosman is both great in the food and the setting. On a gorgeous late June weekend, myself and a few girlfriends went here for a quasi-baby shower for Little H. We had all heard lots of amazing things about this place and so were keen to go. Though it was a bit of trek for all of us, the Barracks does please with easy parking and unique views of the gorgeous Sydney Harbour that many of us don't see (thanks George's Headland). A perfect way to spent a sunny Sydney winter weekend!

The Gunners Barracks itself is a cosy restaurant with lovely interiors and an airy, light filled verandah for outdoor dining.

The High Tea itself was a fantastic mix of traditional and exotic. Though I am not a mango pudding fan (at the top of the tier), the mini opera cakes were lovely and the scones were simply fantastic. I was highly impressed with the range of teas available though the service was a little slow in refilling hot water. The sandwiches were really yummy - nice and light. The additional savoury treats of samoas and yoghurt spoons was a good touch.

The Good: Great view, lovely setting.
The Best: The variety in the tea selection
The Bad: The location is hard to get to and one has to use the worst road in Sydney (Military Rd) to get there.

Though there was lots to love about High Tea at the Gunners Barracks I still don't think it beats my favourite High Tea.

New start... new look blog!

2011-10-31T20:57:00.004+11:00

Welcome to the new look, kick-started Jo n Jules blog!!

The new blog comes from lots of new things:
* new team member to the Gamble crew (H)
* the ever changing new face of team member (T)
* the fact that we haven't written ANYTHING for over a year here (sad but true) and;
* the desire to reconnect with the online medium that one can exercise more control over and share opinions, thoughts, images and comments on.

The Gamble family has grown since July 2010, with another member to our clan. Little H is now 2 months and is unique in his chilled out, settled, calm nature. He has not been in the family long enough obviously!

This new kick start to the blog will hopefully provide updates for our friends, family and acquaintances here, there and everywhere. We will aim to share "favourite photo of the month" again, as that seemed quite popular. Plus, there will be more high tea and food reviews, as Jo starts to live out her fantasy as a food blogger. This is our blog after all.

Comments, thoughts and message are all welcome. Hello blog sphere (again!)

Food blog #4 High tea @ The Observatory Hotel

2010-07-30T20:55:00.006+10:00

Well, it has been a while between drinks (so to speak) and though it was a while ago since I had this High Tea (May 2010) it was so memorable and fantastic that it's still worth blogging 2 months on.

I went to the Observatory Hotel for a friend's surprise and luxury 30th birthday treat. The lovely, opulent interiors of the Hotel make it ideal venue for a High Tea - colonial style dark wooden furniture and low lighting. The high back padded chairs added to the atmosphere.

The high tea itself was exactly what a high tea should be - the sandwiches were soft and smooth; the cakes we delicious to the eye as well as the palate and the scones we sweet with lovely thick cream and very fruity jam. The tea selection was incredible and read like a wine menu from a fine dining restaurant. And the service of the tea pots, just like any good high tea should be, was refilled regularly. The whole afternoon tea itself was very filling, with some of my other guests not being able to finish their serves. This is good considering one of the only downsides of this luxury high tea is the luxury price tag.

The highlight was indeed the cakes or should I say "sweets". These sugar goodies ranged from the mini-cocktail-like berry mousses, to mini-creme brulees to gold leafed mini chocolate operas. It was hard to decide what I liked the best. And, as everyone knows, half the enjoyment of the taste is the anticipation of tasting something that looks good. And these all looked good!

I am going to be bold and say that this would be my more favourite and the best high tea I have ever had! There. I've said it. It's out there. Now to be proven wrong....

Photo of the month - July 2010

2010-07-30T20:52:00.001+10:00

This month's photo shows how much Trinity has grown. In less than a month she has worked out how to sit up right and has two teeth showing. The photo is also quite well composed (I think). It makes you want to smile and laugh with Trinity! Sadly, I probably could of done the focus a little better.

Photo of the month - June 2010

2010-07-30T20:48:00.004+10:00

The photo of month is a mix of a few things. It is taken on Trinity's first plane flight - a weekend trip to Wellington, NZ. She is all rugged up and ready for the cold, including the very cute teddy-bear beanie that was given to her by Cathy. This beanie has become a bit of Trinity trademark. She was recently in a local newspaper and though you can't see her face well, because of the hat, lots of people realised it was her!

Plus, it is a very cute picture.

Photo of the month - May 2010

2010-06-08T21:28:00.003+10:00

A little kudos to Jo's photography skills, this photo is definitely the favourite for May. In a set of photos with Trinity in this cute pink outfit (borrowed from Lucinda Cuddy) this photo really shows how Trinity is showing what a happy little girl she is. She is super smiley! When she smiles it makes you smile. She can really light up the room. It is really lovely to see some of her personality starting to come through.

Baby watch #1 for 2010

2010-05-24T20:37:00.005+10:00

Babywatch continues in 2010!! It has been a while since the last babywatch; 2010 is proving to be a less "productive" year than in the past (thank goodness some of you will say). Below are some of the lovely little ones who have entered the world this year:

* Oscar James - Little brother for Hayden
* Nathanel Josiah - Little brother for Simeon
* Ryan Alexander - Little brother for Zackary
* Java-Eve Rosalina Katherine
* Alejandro Hector Robert - Little brother for Caleb
* Gilbert Judah - Little brother for Silvy
* Jillian Anne - Little sister for Ashleigh
* Tyler Say-Yee - Little sister for Madison
* Samuel James Henry - little brother for Miriam and Jessica
* Lachlan Kobe - Little brother for Isabella
* Marlay
* Callum Jude
* Bethany Chi-Yan
* Ingrid Maya - Little sister for Annika
* Lachlan Raymond
* Riley Brynn
* Lucy
* Lucia Racquel
* Alexander Calvin - Little brother for Miss Elizabeth
* Amelie Florence
* Caitlyn

Photo of the month - April 2010

2010-05-03T21:55:00.002+10:00

Skills #1

April has been filled with Trinity trying to move. She is lifting her legs, rolling from side to side (not quite getting the 180 degree ones yet), touching toes, putting everything in her mouth and also talking! Well, using her vocal cords anyways. Trinity also started solids this month. Progress however has been slow. There have been PLENTY of smiles too, which have brought us the greatest joy.

A quote to ponder

2010-05-03T21:53:00.002+10:00

"if you think you can fit deep community into the cracks of an overloaded schedule, think again! Wise people do not try to microwave friendship, parenting or marriage." John Ortberg

(thanks Jen)

Photo of the month - March 2010

2010-04-13T13:21:00.004+10:00

"Interactions #2"

Like most months, there were stacks of photos to choose from for this month's photo. Such great moments in T's life happened this month - moved from a bassinette to a cot; first AFL Sydney Swans game; first visit to great-gran-ma's house; first picnic.

However, the photo chosen, though not great in focus, shows some of T's personality and development - both of which we are enjoying watching. T's cheeky smile coupled with her playing with her toys (something that started this month) makes this pic this month's favourite.

Photo of the month - February 2010

2010-03-03T14:45:00.003+11:00

Fashion #1

This photo has been a favourite of quite a few since I first posted it onto Facebook. Not only does Trinity have a cute smile on but is wearing very cute little Dunlop Volleys thanks to our friend Dorothy from church. Her position on the couch also looks like she is actually posing for the photo. The way she is posing, and the black background, give the illusion she could be kinda flying or floating.

Photo of the month - January 2010

2010-01-30T20:17:00.003+11:00

"Interactions #1"

This month's photo has been chosen as Trinity starts to interact with her parents and other people. It has been amazing how much babies can grow in 8 weeks. Over the last month we have enjoyed smiles, echoing of noises, funny facial expressions and hand grabs. This is picture of Trinity holding Daddy's finger while having a little bit of playtime in Mummy & Daddy's bed one morning - something we all like to do every now and then.

Photo of the month - December 2009

2010-01-22T11:08:00.004+11:00

Due to the fact that T is our first child, there are hundreds of photos of her. However, in an attempt to filter the photos but also share them with the world, thought that I would chose one a month.

For December, her first month in the world, a birth photo is appropriate. This photo was taken by Jules and captures the moment really well. The background shows the harsh realities of the situation and the focus point is the wonderful moment of T entering the world.

The last babywatch for 2009

2010-01-22T10:46:00.002+11:00

For those regular readers, you will know that "Baby watch" is the semi-regular update on newborn babies that we have heard born. 2009 was another bumper year for the world population - 61 babies. 5 less than 2008 but still a mean feat. Unlike 2008 , the ratio of girls to boys was very much towards the girls side. 2009 saw 34 girls and 27 boys!

Since the last blog, the following babies have come into the world:

* Xavier - little brother for Charlotte
* Sean Juno
* Isaac Keith
* Isaac Henry - little brother for Emily
* Emily Tazmin (5 days older than our little girl!)
* Tobin - little brother to Hudson
* Cooper Lee (1 day older than T)
* Trinity Li (our favourite!)
* Lucy Jan - little sister for Julia and 5 days younger than T
* Daniela (born at the same hospital as T)
* Cooper - little brother for Charlize
* Josiah Max
* Chloe Mathilda - little sister for Hugo
* Massimo
* Manoah - little brother for Annimeke & Theodore
* Aurora Beatrice
* Maddison
* Alvin

*

Hello 2010!

2010-01-22T08:08:00.005+11:00

Happy New Year!!

With the coming of a new decade and the need to change the blog title, a new blog layout and colouring was required. Not quite happy with this new layout. I think this may become a work in progress!

It has been a long time since the last post but a lot has been going on. In particular, late 2009, in the late hours of Thursday night, 3 December, we welcomed an addition to our family - Trinity Li Gamble.

At 3.79kg and 51.5cm long, she was instantly a BIG new addition to our family. And life has changed forever!

Wow

2009-12-08T18:03:00.000+11:00

"As an Atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article5400568.ece

Food blog # 3 Supper @ The Victoria Room

2009-10-20T21:17:00.004+11:00

The Victoria Room, named probably due to its location on Victoria St, Darlinghurst, is a popular bar and also high tea location. With its gorgeous 1920s classically themed interior (that is extremely dark in the day time), it is a lovely surprise when the outside is very inconspicuous, with two large wooden doors.

Though it is known for its high tea (which this writer will blog about one day!) one little known treat the Victoria Room offers is some very yummy fondues for Supper. What is supper you might say? Well, its basically the food only offered between 11pm and 2am.

This writer and some very lovely, willing participants braved a cold winter's night to go there at 11pm to try the chocolate and and cheese fondue.

The good
How can dipping yummy fruits into melted chocolate and crunchy, seasoned bread into yummy melted cheese NOT be good??! And this was no exception. For the 8 of us girls at supper we shared one chocolate fondue and one cheese fondue with plenty to spare. It was really fantastic and great value for money at about $10 each!

There are also a variety of desserts, cocktails and appetizers to try.

The best
The cheese fondue. Though the writer is known to have a rather unquenchable sweet tooth, the cheese fondue was the favourite. The mix of different cheeses melted in the cooking pot was salty and creamy but not too salty, with an attractive hint of blue cheese. And the yummy breads, sausages and even vegetables went very well with the mix. Some of the accessories with the chocolate fondue were a little too sweet with the chocolate, particularly the turkish delight and the marshmellows with roasted coconut.

The bad
The only problem with this yummy supper is that its offered only after 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays which means on a few can enjoy it... if they organise a specific time to go (like we did) or if they are in the area after a night out. Not sure what the target market it, though I suspect the trendy locals that do the latter.

But the supper is so good, that when this writer is out in Darlinghurst again late at night (though not in a time too soon), she will definitely stay to try to sneak another fondue in!!

The Victoria Room
Level 1, 235 Victoria St, Darlinghurst
Supper 11pm - 2am Fridays and Saturdays.

Food blog #2 High Tea @ Tea by the Sea

2009-10-20T20:45:00.007+11:00

Due to the "overwhelming" support I got for my last food blog, thought I might try another one! ;-) And since I like high tea thought that I might stick with what I kinda know!

Food blog #2 High Tea @ Tea by the Sea

Tea by the Sea is a very quaint cafe near Stanwell Tops just south of Sydney. Situated near the sea (though not quite waterviews) it looks like one of the beach bungalows that use to dot the southern coast has been converted to a cozy tea room with a few different rooms to sit in, as well as an outdoor patio area. This reviewer went to this place for a friend's baby shower and we were given a long room to the north, all to ourselves, that had plenty of light to enjoy the sunny Sunday afternoon.

The good
The traditional sandwiches, scones and cakes were served with a lovely array of teas. Chocolate Devine was one particularly popular tea with its soft chocolate hints.

The attention by the staff, particularly to cater for the pregnant women at the party was very nice. We were given our own stand of food that didn't have smoked salmon and other things we can't eat. Even the napkins had a baby-shower theme without the hosts even asking. Very thoughtful!

The best

The best part was definitely the food. Very very generous offerings of sandwiches, scones and cakes were available for all. The scones were fluffy and warm. The sandwiches were soft and fresh and the cakes were just yummy and sweet! Thought it was a nice touch to have the fortune cookies in the stand as well. These are always fun to consume when amongst a group of people.

The bad.
There was not a lot to complain about this place though having teapots on another table was a slight hassle for the guests in our long room. However, it was probably an unfortunate logistic necessity considering we were a group of about 15 women. The privacy of our own room made up for this. (oh, and the cuteness of the tea cosies did too!!) :-)

This writer was also amused by the promises some of the teas claimed, particularly the Jade Blush: "Prepare your senses with this exquisite green tea which boasts delicious fruit tones of peach, pineapple and strawberries reminiscent of a summer’s day sipping fresh fruit punch by the pool." Oh where was the pool??!!

Afternoon tea
Tea by the Sea
Lawrence Hargrave Drive
Stanwell Park NSW
Open 10am to 5pm, offering morning and afternoon teas.

More names for the record

2009-10-20T20:30:00.003+11:00

It's been a while since our last post and all that can be said is that the Gambles are all going well. It is roughly 6 weeks til we expect to meet the newest member of the Gamble family. Jo will be finishing work in a week's time and looking forward to the rest. We started our prenatal classes last weekend and will continue them this weekend. Learnt alot about birth!! We are going on a hospital tour next Saturday to see where our little baby will make it's entry to the world, which for those who don't know, is at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick, east Sydney (affectionately known as POW.)

We had a scan at 34 weeks on Monday and the baby is head down and starting to get prepared. Yay!!

Speaking of babies though, thought that it was time to post a list of some of the lovely little ones that we have welcomed into the world:
* Alicia Belle - little sister to Sam
* Hamish
* Joel Benjamin - little brother for Myles
* Jude Alexander - little brother for Charlie
* Mishka Stewart - little brother to Lucinda
* Anika Tulip - little sister to Finn
* Anika Eliot (amazingly both Anikas were born on the same day, on different sides of the planet!)
* Chelsea May - little cousin for Timmy
* Charlotte Rose - little sister for James

Review of Frost/Nixon

2009-09-25T22:55:00.007+10:00

What was that whole Nixon thing about? From before my time, a President with a gravelly voice, a misty crime called Watergate. Still unfamiliar, but strangely so famous every executive political controversy afterward is named after it. And who was Frost? I'd never heard of him. He certainly never got impersonated on the Simpsons.

For this reason I didn't quite get to see the movie in the cinema. It became something we finally got around to watching on DVD. But what a knockout. The plot had me literally on the edge of the couch, glued to the screen. What would do this?

Ultimately its about the meta-narrative. All truly great stories follow one bigger story. These big themes resonate within us. And mainly because that story, is our story.

We see it in Star Wars; a country boy from a insignificant part of the big picture of things, has a dream of something bigger. He finds a mentor and begins his journey, along the way he picks up some friends. Ultimately he comes up against the greatest evil, and everything hangs in the balance, all good things will be lost if he does not succeed. For a moment of sheer agony we ponder the terrible consequences for all, and for just that moment it looks like he will fail. Finally he triumphs, evil is defeated, and he is regarded as the great hero.

We see this in Lord of the Rings. We see it in the life of Jesus Christ. But why does this plot have so much appeal?

Because when we get up and go to work we are that hero. When we fight against the system to make things better we become the protagonist. When we persist against incredible odds and our friends stop believing in us we need a reason, a hope to persist. This movie is about that reason.

[Warning - plot spoiler]

The movie starts in Australia. (Fantastic!) On a TV Set with a show centres around Robert Frost, a British TV Host who is a sort of cross between Darryl Somers and Bert Newton. He is introduced cracking a joke about thieves in Brisbane stealing sausages, and talks expectantly about his next interview with Evonne Goolagong. After the show, from the TV studio he sees Nixon resigning and starts crunching the numbers on the ratings of this event. Away it goes from there.

On the flight from Sydney to LA we see Frost in first class - chat up a beautiful woman over drinks in the plane's bar. (A scene that will sell many a V Australia ticket) She joins his growing team of producers and researchers.

For most of the show, Frost is on the run. Under pressure all the time from creditors, sponsors, TV networks, journalists and even his friends. In the midst of this we see his fear, but he always turns confidently and smiles and says it will all be ok. The movie is about pursuing a dream when everything looks bad.

At the height of the movie - it switches to a kind of dualism. Nixon, in a drunken rage, telephones Frost privately, and turns the narrative around. Nixon, he points out, is the hero who has risen from nothing. A man who has spent his life proving his virtue to the Ivy League snobs who dismissed him at University. Frost, Nixon points out, is the enemy he is struggling against to regain his honor. Nixon acknowledges Frost's struggle, his quest for significance - and points out that only one of them can win.

Towards the end of the movie - the metaphors round out with a Dachshund, and a pair of Italian leather shoes. But to explain those would spoil it, and I'll leave it as an exercise for the viewer.

It's been twenty minutes since I finished watching it, and all I can say is 'wow'. Why is this a great movie? Because within us all we have a dream that things could be better. We might even come home on a Friday night frustrated at how we have to fight just to get a step in that direction. We wish our friends and associates would back us more on our dreams. This is about a guy who stuck at it and won, in style.

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Boring addendum:
I don't care if you think the philosophical idea of a meta-narrative is a communist idea of universal history promulgated by Leopold Van Ranke. That you think the idea of the forces of history being marshalled under a great theoretical doctrine has been disproved by the diversity of human experience at least in part causing the fall of the Soviet Union. Please go and enjoy your post-modernism along with Jean-Francis Leotard. We deal with passionate ideas and people power here.

Additional Boring addendum:
Whilst I enjoy my job, I am fully aware that Corporations design themselves around the idea that you need to feel like Luke Skywalker just to get anything done, and by doing this suck you into their ethos. I can confidently hold these two ideas in tension in my head.

Choosing to Have Kids - The Why - Part IV

2009-09-21T21:22:00.006+10:00

5. A Celebration of Family
"You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family."
There is nothing about the idea of mathematical perfection in people's experiences of family. There word brings to mind memories of odd second-cousins or informally adopted uncles. Just last month Joe Hockey commented "Every family has an uncle who goes a little wild at a family wedding".

It might be nice to think that you're above this. That somehow the good and distinctive things about yourself will be replicated in your children, to the exclusion of all other characteristics. The problem is - you have no control over how those genes will fall out in your children. There is every probability that the attributes of your children will be a mash-up from traits across your family.

"So when are you having kids?"
"When we get over the fear of looking around our gene pool."
The implications of this are enormous. All those things as a child I didn't like about my [insert family member here] could manifest themselves in my offspring. I could be raising all the behavioural attributes that I tried so hard not to be like.

Maybe that means you just need to get over yourself. A family tree drawn with lots of red crossing out and redrawing all over it, is now something to be embraced. Similarities are to be celebrated, wisdom and experience to be learned and shared. (Because even if you don't - it will come and get you in your kids anyway!)

6. The Shaping and Guiding of Another Person
"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Prov 22:6.
There are so many things we love and are passionate about. People in Australia people are passionate about sport, about food. People get excited about table etiquette or types of government. People spend hours pondering their next holiday. We find amazing richness in living God's way. There are so many loves to pass on.

The flip-side of this is providing the guidelines that allow this richness. (I'll phrase this in the positive) Children ask for boundaries every single day in their words and actions. They challenge and push boundaries, they identify your weaknesses and exploit them. You are taking on two decades of challenges to values, operating with incredible tiredness and emotional weightiness, seeking to follow-through on the decision to have kids.

Yet the outcome of this is producing a person of (reasonably) fit judgment and independent ability, able to support themselves in the world. (I'm realising this is a very Western notion - and that Eastern ideas of family and raising children don't have this dichotomy of booting people out at age 21.)

7. The Welcoming of a Stranger
A child ultimately is not you, but is utterly dependent on you. It is its own identity, closely linked to yours but still entirely separate from you. It arrives with plenty of notice but no invitation. It has its own passions and moods.

What do you do with a smelly, wet, tiresome person who foists themselves upon your life and demands your time, money, attention and love? Perhaps a way to think about it is the Good Samaritan. A despised person, from an inferior nation, who seeks to sacrifice his time, money and care to look after his enemy in a time of need. (I don't really have strong views about refugees - but I think there is plenty of room for wisely chosen compassion).

8. The Discipling Motive
"I discovered the answer to life, the universe and everything. I kept it to myself."
So many people have been part of shaping who we are and how we think about the world. So many conversations. To be part of that in another person is an amazing privilege.

Why foist this set of ideas about the world and that nature of existence upon another person? Merely because scientific rationalism leaves a waste of meaninglessness in our relationships? Because egocentric materialism leaves our friends and our own identities behind in an orgy of toy and experience collection? Because head-in-the sand agnosticism doesn't work on your deathbed? Because even the ancient Greeks four thousand years ago worked out we had a spiritual dimension and had to make a decision about it? Because religious pluralism is a construct of avoidance that becomes fuzzy and mushy as soon as you poke it?

Yes, there are real questions about the universe and the nature of existence that we've only found one set of really good answers for.

But more than that we have discovered a passion, an amazing message of hope that can transform peoples lives. Augustine wrote "two cities have been formed by two loves. The earthly by the love of self, and the heavenly by the love of God." In this we have found hope and meaning, rest and truth in a way that nothing else offers.

Is it a scientifically measurable, instant photo, easily commercially marketable kind of thing? No. But how many good things are?

Not to seek to share this with another person would be a waste, and a loss of perspective.

9. The Lack of Recompense
Going back to the original question - why bother? I see in so many parents, producing children that grow into amazing adults - not themselves reaping the reward of blasting out amazing children onto the world. In Western society, ultimately kids rarely, if at all, see fit to thank their parents for their own existence. Where is the contractual consideration in this agreement? Where is the benefit, the reward?

Perhaps not all relationships can be reduced to constructs of economic rationalism. (The Ayn Rand on my shelf shouts disapproval). Perhaps we need to expand our spectrum of relationships to include models of loving sacrifice, of collective and shared identity.

10. Subjective Sense of Timeliness
"You know - at my age [30] - it feels very natural to have kids. It's great to have your family all around."
This can be an internal subjective sense that the timing is right. It may be that we saw people this age having kids when we were growing up. It may be that this is what we aspired to as part of our own life plans.

This also has an external component. Whilst you can easily write off "all our friends are having kids" as mindless crowdfollowing - I think this is the same reasoning as the other comment - just derived from an external viewpoint. There is also some safety and wisdom in numbers, but only after you've considered all the other reasons.

11. Sense that the days ahead are numbered
[Might regret not doing it later]
On turning 30 I think I got my first distant glimpse that the days ahead were numbered - that the number of days behind were starting to approach the number of days ahead. This is quite similar to the point above - but instead of measuring your life from the start you look at the other end.

With this in mind, you start to think about the 'big things', the things that can no longer be put off.

12. And Finally.....
Perhaps just "because we want to."

Addendum - Kids - The Who?
This is quite well answered by our friend Byron. I thank him for inspiring me to write this post.
http://nothing-new-under-the-sun.blogspot.com/2009/08/who-is-child-i.html
http://nothing-new-under-the-sun.blogspot.com/2009/08/who-is-child-ii.html

Choosing to Have Kids - The Why - Part III

2009-09-21T21:19:00.004+10:00

Here goes...

1. The selfish idealistic (The mini-me reason)
In the interest of being balanced, in acknowledging a potential mixed motive, I'll get this out of the way first.

Because you like yourself, you are sufficiently comfortable with your identity (in an Australian kind of way), that you choose to thrust more of yourself upon the world. Your you-ness is sufficiently unique, sufficiently valuable and sufficiently enjoyable that there should be more of it! Even your bad bits, your less-desirable side, are actually kind of cool in a evil-genius kind of way.

I'm not suggesting that this is the reason to have kids, or people's only reason. This is not a thought pattern to model, not an ideal kind of behaviour or thought. I'm merely writing it down because I reckon it is a thought that goes through peoples minds.

2. The selfish/curious aesthetic
"You guys will have the most beautiful kids. They will have fantastic genes - they'll look absolutely gorgeous!"

Again this is not a preeminent reason to have kids. I'm writing this down just because I reckon people think it.

There is something in looking in the mirror, in pondering photos of your spouse as a child, wondering what some combination of their looks and yours would turn out like. Not necessarily replicating your likenesses as some framed portrait, but celebrating your visual appearance as a couple.

This has the potential to backfire. Your kids could turn out with a face that only a mother could love. Jo has a phrase for this that I'm sure she'll tell you if you ask.

3. The sharing of your own parent-child experiences with another
I have a lots of great experiences with parents growing up. (It wasn't all great - but I'm focusing on the bits I'd like to pass on). Of camping and cooking, asking endless questions about why things are, of drawing and debating ideas. Taking the opportunity to partake in those experiences again, on the other side. Imbuing a great love of reading and writing. Struggling through times tables and learning to solder.

The big idea behind this is somewhat flawed. Just because you enjoyed it growing up, there is absolutely no reason that your child should enjoy it. The idea (I am told) is to try lots of things and find things that your child enjoys. (I am told that Roald Dahl is still cool - but there is lots of other stuff - and I am told that the way kids learn times tables has changed)

4. The Restitutionary
I've met several people felt that their life growing up could have been a bit better, and as a result made a big effort to ensure this didn't happen for their kids. This resonates quite deeply for me. For many years one can feel somewhat like things aren't as you would have them, and are powerless to change the situation.

Having kids is your chance to turn that around - a fresh, hopeful opportunity to make things new and create a stable nurturing environment.

There is no reason to assume that one can have the sovereign ability to make all things right. There is every possibility of making your own mistakes. But overwhelmingly the benefits outweigh the risks.

Choosing to Have Kids - The Why - Part II

2009-09-21T21:16:00.003+10:00

There are so many heights to climb during your twenties - so many depths to plumb. The experiences of swimming in water as blue as crystal, being surrounded by fish. Seeing turtles and sharks swim by. Going to places where ideas and inventions that shaped our lives were hammered out, the steam engine, the telephone, the silicon chip, laws of physics and chemistry, the photocopier and penicillin. Pondering what went through the minds of those great men, what drove them to it. Achieving organisational challenges, bringing a group of people on a journey with you as you organise a weekend away, a sporting team, a conference or a project at work. Spending your day (or aspiring to) working in tractable mediums, building castles in the sky out of pure thought-stuff.

Why have kids. Why?...

...

My life now lacks that desperate, anxious uncertainty of thought that pervaded my university years. Turning thirty was a celebration and a great triumph in sporting achievements, in new heights of organisational achievements, in seeing and shaping friends growing and developing, in ability to win people over and set my own path. I am enormously happy (not the go-to-work-on-the-bus mediocre kind of way, but in the satisfaction kind of way) in a way I haven't been before. In this context I felt prepared to weigh the challenges and many unknowns of having children.

There are lots of reasons, (I don't necessarily subscribe to them all) but in the interests of clear thinking I attempt to enumerate them here. A disclaimer - I'm not writing about defenses against not having kids - (ie the world is a terrible place but...) because I think that's a different discussion. Also - I'm not writing about why I'd ask my wife to suspend her career and other aspirations to do this - partially because those reasons are hers and are different to mine, and partially because its just personal.

I'm writing this because I can imagine many moments in the future when I'll go "Why oh Why did we have kids?"

Choosing to Have Kids - The Why - Part I

2009-09-21T21:01:00.006+10:00

I remember asking a friend from church, at the age of 21, who had just got engaged, why she had chosen to do so. [I wasn't trying to be obtuse - just searching for the reasoning]. Was it a sense of relational completion, being ready to move to the next stage? Had they worked a life plan and were now ready to execute it? Had they identified their top 10 risks to marriage success and now felt confident to run the project? Did they have a vision in a dream that brought a new kind of symbolic order to their perspective?

"Because we wanted to," was her reply. What wonderful and perplexing simplicity. A meeting of the minds, an exercise of the freedom of contract, a mutual bargain, a simple wish between two people - with massive implications.

I pondered this at the time. How can you stand in the entrance of such a great building with such nonchalance? How can you balance the scales of such a transaction with so many unknowns?

Yet somehow, four years later, I found myself striding confidently into that building.

...

At 25 and newly married, the world is your oyster. You are free to paint your incoming decades of domestic patterns with whatever brush and colour you choose. Your residence, slap it off the palette. Your holidays - palette again. Your next employer - palette choice again. Feel like some more study - pick again! So why, oh why, would you have kids?

We asked this question to several friends when we were 25 and newly married - nearly all of them older than us.

One guy responded [in a deep German accent] "You know - at my age [30] - it feels very natural to have kids. It's great to have your family all around."

Another couple responded, "Oh I know what you mean! We thought 'Why would you do that?!?' But then we reached a stage where, you know, we thought it could be fun. You know - have some moments."

But still I wondered "why?"

Baby watch - 29 weeks

2009-09-14T13:12:00.003+10:00

Well, Junior Gamble is now 29 weeks old and is kicking along nicely, literately as well.
It has been a while since I blogged and there has been a lot on and also not a lot on. Our minds are constantly thinking about the baby and preparing for becoming parents. It's all a rather daunting task!

The SMH published an interesting opinion piece today about the pressures of parenthood which I think are scarily true. Some of the pressures are from society and some of them are self-induced. It is easy to be lured into the smart marketing of "giving the best" for you baby where in reality, the baby really won't know any different. As we prepare for our little baby, we have thought and felt so many constrasting things!

For me (Jo) the reality that a baby is here in 8 - 11 weeks is actually comforting in that it means I need to get things sorted before it comes. One thing we still haven't worked out are potential names. However, thankfully we have the below babies (born since April 2009) to give us inspiration.

* Charlotte Joyce (Rod's first grand child!)
* Oscar (little brother to Lily)
* Anouk Nouvelle (little sister to Ava)
* Ethan
* Amelia Grace
* Clara
* Jobey (little brother to Pollyanna)
* Rebecca (little sister to Alison)
* Maisy Ellen
* Lucinda Hazel (top contender for the cutest baby in the world)
* Charles
* Halena
* Eva (little sister for Caleb)
* Meredith (little sister for Hayley)
* Isaac Cooper (little brother for Harry)
* Keira Elyse (little sister for Erin)
* Jacob Damien (little brother for Reuben)
* Milla Mai
* Ruby Olive
* Ashley Rose (little sister for Elise)
* Aden Warrigal
* Alice Helen Mary
* James
* Sophie Elizabeth

At this rate, the girls are definitely outnumbering the boys!!

District Nine - Thematic Review

2009-09-06T14:41:00.004+10:00

What did I think of District 9? I have to admit, Peter Jackson's gorilla movie wasn't a stunning success - and so I sort of expected it to be an alien shoot-em up in South Africa with some appartite metaphors - sort of a Predator meets The Power of One. (Gosh I miss Arnie) I was there because people told me it was some awesome special effects, maybe, maybe an epic piece of sci-fi, and something without American cultural overtones.

What turned out was quite different. [Potential plot vibe spoiler warning - don't read on otherwise] I'm not aiming to give away the plot - just the vibe and the themes of the movie.

The first thing that hit me was the themes of an unsaavy corporate lackey innocently getting dumped into the role of agents carrying out vile corporate schemes. All this is cast in the name of promotion and a kind of pathetic Western Middle class achievement (kind of a meat and three vege theme - the movie has a tiny bit of a 50's cultural vibe). The Corporation somehow consuming the life of the individual has the twisted vibe of Terry Gilliam's Brazil. Particularly when the protaganist Wikus is dangerously hurt, and struggles on to keep loyally doing his job.

It turns out the Corporation that employs the Wikus has shady government and shadier military links - and operates with very scant regard for the rule of law. This military/industrial themes with grand conspiracies start to feel like 1984 - particularly when Wikus is estranged from his 'loving' family and lives on the run from the Corporation and the Government.

This theme of being on the run in South Africa, from the Corporation out to harvest resources, from the Nigerian Gangsters trying to increase their power, on a quest to find the philosopher's stone is reminicent of Blood Diamond. Particularly when this key unlocks the future for the refugees, and unlocks the increasingly twisted state of the Wikus.

Genetic research on aliens in order to unlock greater military power is a another theme that rings of Alien III, and this twists further as the research vividly starts going to Nazi proportions. Also like the Sigourney Weaver movie, a number of differences of opinion are resolved with increasingly larger weapons - which begins to feel like Arnie again.

One last, but perhaps most powerful theme was the perseverance of a husband despite enormous and tragic odds. This reminded me a little of When a Man Loves a Woman where Andy Garcia struggles on despite utter rejection, and ends on a bittersweet note.

How do I feel after it? Gosh - it was intense. I'm come home, put on some Michael Buble and lay on the couch. My hands are still shaking a little as I type this.

Biographies

2009-08-20T09:41:00.004+10:00

I (Jo) have started reading Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God, by Noel Piper.

I have read a few biographies but wouldn't call myself a fan. However, this book seems to be timely in its introduction to me and also at my point in life. I found this book on Sunday, at the Ferragosto Street Fair. The Anglican church in Five Dock sold it to me for $1.50 from their 2nd hand book shop. I had seen it advertised at the eQuip bookclub over 12 months ago. Then it didn't register as something interesting. Admittedly it was interesting now, at $1.50 - BARGAIN!

It is more than a bargain.

I've only read two chapters but it has made me appreciate biographies greatly, particularly Christian ones. I found this article by John Piper about reading Christian biographies. He describes the value of biographies much more clearer and eloquently than I ever thought I could do.

In particular, I like Piper's words that biographies help him to see that "it is hard for me to feel self-pity at my few burdens. They inspire me to break out of mediocre plodding." The life of a city worker can feel mediocre. And the life of a mum with a crying baby, sleeplessness, dirty nappies and home-bound-ness looks even more mediocre as I contemplate my pregnancy. But they are not. Life is not mediocre! And it is great that biographies help us to lift our pitiful eyes off ourselves and onto our Maker and Friend Jesus.

In the first two chapters of this book I have met Sarah Edwards and Lilias Trotter. Sarah Edwards, in particular, interest me. With 11 children (eeek!!) and a busy pastor-theologian for a husband, one can only imagine how some of her days may have seemed mediocre (also, she lived in the early 1700s, east coast USA when they were still colonies with no power or electricity - washing and cooking would of been HARD!). But she was so faithful in her love for God and her family and her husband that she received respect, honour and praise from many around her. I think it is easy to desire things in life that are not just frivolous but downright wrong when they start feeling like they are essential. Alain de Botton comments in "The Pleasure and Sorrows of Work" that our western culture has cultivated a ideal (that is probably unrealistic) that work should produce satisfaction, enlightenment and even ultimate fulfillment in the human life.

Yet, as a Christian, I know that THAT space is reserved for God and God alone.

A good weekend, though not a preview of Summer

2009-08-17T10:05:00.003+10:00

It has been a while since I (Jo) have blogged. Time & energy seems to escape me when I get home. Comes with being a "host organ" now, I suppose.

But last weekend was such a lovely weekend that I thought it was worth posting. The weather was fantastically warm for winter. On Sunday we hit 28 degrees C (or 82F for overseas friends). We are technically still in winter yet experiencing lovely summertime weather. Spring can definitely be felt in the air as the cherry blossoms have started to bloom and there is a scent of jasmin in the air.

(I have to admit though that winter here at the moment is seeing minimum temperatures of 13 degrees C - 55.4F so I can't complain of any cold!)

On Friday night, Hubby and I did the normal "crash and burn" that comes with Fridays... takeaway dinner and DVD. For some strange reason I have a craving for dirty chinese food and thankfully our local fitted the bill perfectly. I normally never do chinese takeaway unless (a) its the only option, which is the usual case when one needs late night food in an Australian country town or (b) I am with a lot of other non-Chinese people. But I really felt like hokkien noodles. And I am pregnant.

Saturday morning, was up early to start a load of washing and also do my first pre-natal exercise class with fellow pregnany friend Petra. The class is a mix of yoga and pilates with a lot of stretching. We played with those exercise balls a lot which was fun. At first I didn't think it was much exercise as I am use to high cardio-vascular workouts that come with soccer and badminton. Yet, sure enough, Sunday morning I was feeling a little bit sore. Very glad did some exercise.

Saturday spent the day being a domestic goddess, cleaning the bathroom, cleaning & mopping the lounge room, dusting, cooking meals for friends, tending to plants and taking advantage of the sunshine by doing two loads of washing. Very productive day! It was also nice that Hubby was home and we were working around each other.

Christie dropped by on Saturday afternoon and had a lovely catch up with her before heading into Newtown with Christina and Hubby for Thai (what else would you have to eat in Newtown?) before the Credo Mission Launch night. A great night of fellowship and praying for God's work at UTS.

Sunday morning was up early and, being a good "help-meet", helped Hubby with his kids church lesson before seeing him off to church. Then did a 20 minute leisurely walk to Five Dock for the local italian festival Ferragosto, to meet Liz. Ferragosto is a street festival held every year in Five Dock and celebrates all things italian, reflecting the national holiday that is held in Italy on August 15. It was fun! The weather was absolutely brilliant as it headed towards its 28 degrees max - full sunshine, bright blue skies. Liz and I enjoyed eating panines and fresh cannelonis (with ricotta, chocolate and lemon)and grabbing some bargains at the markets. There were a lot of people there.

Liz dropped me off around lunch time and had lunch with Hubby. I then headed to a Mission committee at church before meeting up with Yoon Hi and Glorya for drinks at Rozelle. We pulled up some lovely couches at Rosebud and enjoyed the sun setting over this inner west hub as we watched the Rozelle markets close and chatted.

Back home to pick up Hubby and other things before church. Enjoyed a great dramatic presentation of Jonah by the Backyard Bard and also a Skype conversation with Deb Chen in Thailand. Dinner with the gang at the Saigon Express ended the weekend, with the Gambles very much ready for bed when we got home.

With such warm weather, I am excited that summer is coming. However, I realise my summer will not be like this weekend as the new Gamble member will probably make summer a little more home bound though probably equally as tiring. Thank goodness there will be cricket to watch on TV! :D

Baby watch of a new kind

2009-07-16T00:17:00.006+10:00

For those long term readers you will know that "Baby watch" is a regular segment where I update you with the many babies that have been born to our friends and family. Some have said that its actually a good list of popular babies names as well. ;)

But for all those who have been wondering when the Gambles would actually do some of their own baby making, your wait has ended. As of the end of November 2009, the Gambles will be expecting a 3rd Gamble, a mini Gamble or a Junior Gamble (JG) to be joining our family. The baby is now 20 weeks. Half way point! Praise God for such a blessing and pray that He will keep the child safe and sound.

Below are some photos for those who like to see inside pregnant women's stomachs.

Spooky 3-D picture of baby's face

A tiny baby foot

A tiny baby hand

A more typical profile picture.

Food blog #1 High Tea Stamford Grand

2009-07-15T23:27:00.006+10:00

Now, this writer is a bit of a fan of food blogs. Some of my favourites are Grab your fork, Not quite Nigella and Chocolate Suze. These, and other food blogs have given me some great insights and previews to Sydney's restaurants and eateries that have helped me decide if I want to go to a restaurant or not.

And not that I don't think they do a sufficient job, nor do I think I am as good as them, but more because I am inspired by their work, I though I might try a bit of food blogging of my own. Particularly on a subject that I have great interest - high tea! And what better place than to start with one that I went to twice in a period of a month and it brought out some REALLY strong opinions in me.

Food blog #1 High Tea Stamford Grand.

High tea at the Stamford Grand is in a lovely, open air of the classily named Parrots Brassiere. But the name doesn't take away from the abundant natural light, the gentle background sound of a piano and a fountain, creating a quiet, peaceful atmosphere in which (majority women) patrons of the High tea can clink tea cups and have good conversation. This writer went twice to the Stamford Grand in May 09, once as a guest for a birthday party and once as an organiser of a girlie get together. Both times the group was less than 8. Both times the company was much better than the food.

The Good:
The inexpensive cost, at $18 a head, makes this high tea by far the cheapest in Sydney this writer has seen. The parking at the Stamford Grand is easy and the location near the M2 makes it ideal for a group of people traveling from various parts of Sydney (though Macquarie Fields was still a hike!). The atmosphere is nice and that allows for intimacy. The tea is unlimited, as it is a buffet style which allows you to try from a variety of Tetley's tea. Also coffee is an option for those who need that extra kick.

The Bad:
No cucumber sandwiches. Admittedly the sandwiches on both accounts tasted slightly stale (writer has a theory on this, read on). Tea not in pots is a little not high tea-ish really but it does depend how fussy one is on their tea. There is a strong argument that loose leaf if better. But the unlimited quality of this, plus the choice of having coffee, I think, covers this.

The first time the writer went to the Stamford's high tea, she received the below as her cake selection:

As one will observe, this looks more like Sara-lee cake cubes than cakes like these: Stamford Grand High Tea. One the second visit, however, the cakes had improved in their aesthetic appeal as well as taste.

The writer thinks that its important that the cakes at high tea are aesthetically pleasing as you want to eat something you like to look at and it is part of the "class" and the "style" of high tea.

The Ugly:
As previously mentioned, the writer has has dined twice at Stamford Grand's high tea. Both times, at the last minute, one of the guests could not attend due to ill health. Both times the Stamford Grand refused to reduce the servings, even when, on one of the occasions, over 4 hours notice was provided to the hotel. The excuse was that "all the food is already ordered" 24 hours beforehand. With the state of the sandwiches and some of the scones, the writer actually believes that some of the food is PREPARED 24 hours beforehand. This does mean that everyone needed to pay for an extra sitting, even though, one serving per person is plenty (ie. we didn't eat the extra serving). What makes this worse is that there are NO WARNINGS about this 24 hour notice requirement at the time of booking or on the website. And, to add to the injury, there is no feedback mechanism on the Stamford website for one to even voice their opinion.

Thank goodness for blogs!!

Traditional High Tea
Stamford Grand, North Ryde
Cnr of Epping Road and Herring Road, North Ryde
High tea served Mon - Sat 11am - 2pm; Sun 2pm.

Baby watch

2009-04-02T16:43:00.005+11:00

It has been a month since the last post! A new post is very much overdue! Hopefully we will write about our Tasmanian adventures in February soon. Just need some time on the home computer!

One thing that is overdue is the "Baby watch". Though 2009 is not as profilic as 2008, we know of 10 new people who have entered the world:
* Ivy Lucinda (7/1)
* Harry Isaac (10/1)
* Bede Eamon (28/1)
* Holly Leila (25/1)
* Markey (26/1)
* Molly Isabel (23/2)
* Tess Rosa (1/3)
* Sienna Elizabeth (10/3)
* Aston John (21/3), and
* Rory (26/3)

So from January to March there were an equal number of boys and girls! A good indication that the possibility of having a girl or a boy is really 50 - 50!

Summer ends with an awesome weekend

2009-03-02T08:51:00.006+11:00

It's Monday morning and usually at this time I (Jo) maybe feeling a little tired from doing too much and annoyed that I didn't get certain things done.

But last weekend was a near perfect weekend! It had everything! Entertainment, fun, friends, food, shopping, productive domestic goddess time and exercise.

It started Friday night, with the Gambles enjoying a date night. We watched the movie "Australia" (great storyline, full of action; beautiful movie) at the cinema and had yummy ice creams.

Saturday morning was an early-ish start with a row on the harbour - dragon boat rowing!! As part of the corporate games, I am rowing in my company's team, learning as I go. It's a good source of exercise, a chance to get out in this beautiful city plus have fun with some people from work.

The weather in Sydney was awesome for the weekend. For the last days of summer it was sunny and warm, not too hot or humid.

After this, I went to Kirribilli markets and met Ms K to check out the curios and eclectic items that can be found in the treasure troves of market style shopping. I bought quite a few nice prizes to take home and Ms K and I enjoyed eating golzemes (so greasy but so good) and then ice chocolates and fruit frappes.

I was home around 4pm to chill out with Jules and have dinner together before going out to party with some friends - Geoff, Ros, Stew & Clayts. We went to see the Cat Empire at the Enmore and danced the night away with this funky Melbourne bands unusual mix of brass, drums, dj-mixing, bass, piano, percussion and song. On this Monday morning, their cheerful tunes are still bouncing in my head.

Sunday morning was an early rise to ride my bike and play badminton with the badminton girls. This has proven to be a good time of fellowship and fitness, even if the early rise is a little hard at times.

Got home and then frocked up for high tea at the QVB for Felicity's hen's day. Was served by the gracious Mayke who gave me a lift (and we scored $5 parking in the city!!) Had a lovely time sipping tea, eating sandwiches, cakes and scones, with cream and jam of course. Also meeting Felicity's other friends and embarrassing the poor girl and learning more about her fiancé - all the fun that comes with a hen's.

Got home at 2pm which gave me 3 fantastic hours of spending time with Jules at home and getting all that stuff that I get angry on Monday morning for not having done - reply to those emails, get food organised for the week, hand washing, general clothes washing, sweeping the floor, cleaning out the drawers. Had a very productive afternoon!

Hubby and I went to church and had a great time with our church family, eating fantastic hamburgers made by Mr Malone (meat man extraordinaire) and introducing our friend Jaime to a few new people. After dropping Jaime off in Glebe (and trying to fix her phone) we were driving along Bridge Road and saw some old, long lost friends, walking in the dark. After a rather amusing string of actions - Jo honking at friends, then quickly pulling over, Julian jumping up and running up the street to friends, Jo doing a U-turn and driving back - we were happily chatting to the Maddens for over half hour. Neither us nor the Maddens frequent Glebe, let alone at 8:30pm at night, and so had happy conversation in the absurd and humorous situation we were in. Conversations with friend are always good, even in the dark, on the side of a busy street in the belly of Sydney's inner west.

After this, we performed a proper "drop in" on the Malones at their town house in Leichhardt. The "drop in" requires NO warning or pre-visit phone call. It literately means rocking up to their house unannounced. The ability to perform the "drop in" requires a good relationship between those who drop in and the residents of the house, of which we are very fortunate to have the with Malones. The excuse was to "give Mrs Malone a present" but it also involved being shown the new renovations of their house, drinking a cup of tea and chatting about all those things that we haven't got around to chatting about because our lives can be busy. In the lovely lemon coloured walls of that Leichhardt residence, the Gambles enjoyed much warmth from friendship that as we headed home, we praised ourselves for the idea of "dropping in" and knew we had ended an awesome weekend very well.

Chinese whispers in the adult world

2009-02-27T12:19:00.005+11:00

Yesterday my (Jo's) employer announced its half yearly financial results, like all listed companies on the Australia Stock Exchange. This announcement said what everyone thought it would say - that we would meet our profit predictions (which we had to tell the market 6 months ago), that the market was getting tougher (due to the financial crisis) and that we still have lots of cash (thanks to our cashed up and loyal institutional investors who took an exclusive share offer only 2 weeks ago). I sometimes wonder why we bother to announce things when people already know what is going to happen.

The announcement also saw the handover of the old CEO to the new CEO. We even had a goodbye function for the old CEO on the same day. Making the profit announcement seemed like his last task before packing his bags and heading out the door. Hopefully to a holiday, I would think. It was all going to plan.....

However, the new CEO mentioned something about the workforce numbers. I think CEOs do this every year. Every company reports on this. Its an indicator if things are getting busier or not. More people, more work. And sadly, the number that the CEO mentioned was LOWER than the number 6 months ago. It was actually a fair bit lower. About 1,700 lower. 10% lower.

Now I am sure that this was just one of the many facts that a company includes when they make their half yearly results announcement. There are profits, all different kinds. There is depreciation, all different kinds. But, in the times of a sensitive economy, some bright spark in a newspaper somewhere realised that the workforce number in June 2008 and June 2009 was about 1,700 lower. That is a job slashing. That is job losses, axings, sidelining, cutting or purge!!!

I first read about the job "slashing" in this article, after briefly discussing the issue with a financial friend. I then went and read the announcement on the company's internal internet. It didn't sound great. However, i knew I was busy and that we had lots of work happening where I am. But then the google alerts started coming in. I have google alerts for my company to just keep my finger on the pulse. The news about the job slashes was going everywhere! From each australian newspaper in each state, to overseas newspapers, to construction news forums, to property news... it was going everywhere!!! It seemed that the various media sources on the internet were taking news from each other and just spreading it like wild fire.

The most amusing observation though is that the number kept changing. It varied between 300 and 2000. The cause was the profit loss (even though we still posted the profit we said we would 6 months ago) and the economic downturn was the real enemy.

In the office there was a bit of grumblings.
"Is it true?"
"Probably overseas, they don't have much work."
"They should come here. We have heaps of work."
"I gotta get back to my work."

There was, at best, a mild panic.

But a panic that required the CEO to issued an internal email to all of us in the afternoon, clarifying his workforce number. It appears the workforce number will be lower. But not from a systematic head count cutting/slahsing/purging procedure but from the fact that there is less work in the market due to the economic downturn. Doing a quick search on the internet, it appears property markets around the world have shrunk between 10 - 60%. If our clients have less money, we have less work which means we need less people. And since most people in our company are on projects, when projects end, unless we don't have any work, they can't continued. This has ALWAYS been the case with the construction industry!!

And interestingly enough, no one seemed to mention the actual profit numbers. The dividends that the company had still achieved for its shareholders. They didn't talk about the profit numbers or the cash numbers or the fact that there was lots of potential projects in the future from government stimulus packages. It seemed those details were not as significant as the workforce numbers. It made me sad to think of my financial friend and all those other finance people who have spent 3 months trying to get those numbers right, when in the end, HR should of just been called to tell us their numbers to announce. One also must remember that its 1,700 people WORLDWIDE! The world is a big place.

I was very amused that this clarification had been issued by the CEO. Obviously the wildfire had gotten so hot something needed to be put out to quench it a little. It was very helpful for me as it helped me explain the situation when I received emails friends, som from overseas, phone calls from others. Though I was taken back by the attention, it was lovely that my friends cared so much.

But it seems to me that the whole thing is a case of global, technological, adult Chinese whispers.

Funny how there are some things we don't grow out of. :)

Building credibility

2009-01-27T10:12:00.005+11:00

I (Jo) work in an industry that has had its fair share of cynics, criticising the merits of trying to live sustainably. Such terms that are used like "green wash" or "guilt money" (for buying carbon credits) along with "tree-hugging, veggie, tofu-lover" or generally "sustainability sh*t". Building credibility is sometimes a daily uphill struggle.

(Apologises for the language, but I also work within the construction industry, which is renown for its straight-talking.)

Working in an industry such as sustainability that is not easily defined, WITHIN an industry like construction that is much more tangible, makes for an interesting marriage of ideas. So when I heard there was a book titled (appropriately) "Sustainability in Construction" by Uly Ma, I was particularly attentive. "with help" as the advertising material claims, by someone within my own organisation, made me think is was going to be very credible.

It appears the book is due to be published in 2009. In a lead up to the book launch a "Sustainability Buzz word generator".

Now I realise this is a humorous way of drawing attention to the book. And I have laughed at the word combinations that have come up like "triple bottom line responsible assurance" and "ethical readiness network" and particularly "future cradle to grave programme". However, I am also a little unsure if this is aiding me in my upward struggle to build credibility for sustainable practises in the construction industry. Making fun of some really important concepts is making too light of real issues that are at hand.

However, I also see that if its makes people laugh, at least they might do a double-take and wonder what "cradle to grave" really means. And if they start googling sustainability concepts they will realise that there is more than just buzz words behind it all.

Michael Jensen's "You: an Introduction" - a review by Julian Gamble

2009-01-26T19:46:00.004+11:00

Michael Jensen’s “You: an introduction” – a review by Julian Gamble

“Who am I? Well, let me show you my 500 friends on facebook, my great job, my impressive University degrees, my successful relationships, my achievements, my home, my car, my TV.”

How hollow those words sound! It’s easy to write each of them off as meaningless symbols, merely bound into our culture at a point in time; irrelevant to our great-grandchildren.

What if you had something deeper – timeless categories that describe who you are, how to think about yourself?

This is what this book offers – fifteen crystal-clear windows into your experience of life – including anxiousness, body, stuff, boy/girl, dreams and the real you.

“Who cares about these categories? They’re just a bunch of paradigms, ideas floating along in the jetsam of my mind. “

Because what you do with your life matters! How you choose to think, the relationships that you have, have consequences beyond the span of your life, for you.

“Brothers, what we do in life...echoes in eternity.” Maximus – Gladiator

Even more so, what you treasure, the ideas that you hold true – these change the way you make decisions – these are seen in what you say and do.

This book will clarify how you think about your own behaviour.

“But if my life is an evolutionary accident – my being equivalent to an animal – and my end an inevitable waste in the ground – why does my identity matter?”

This book takes a Biblical worldview. That you were loved before time existed, that your daily existence has purpose and meaning to a Creator unconstrained by space and time; and that your existence after this is already prepared.

“What is man that you are mindful of him?” Psalm 8:4

This perhaps is the strength and weakness of the book. We are casually introduced to the Bible in three paragraphs. It is described as an old book that tells us about our identity. It exists not as a rulebook but as a narrative of a loving Creator’s interaction with His creation. From then on it becomes the primary textual reference, apart from movie quotes.

“So who is this book for?”

The spoken style of the book is deliberate.

“…We can imagine not being. Does a dog contemplate its death? (Well, the ones I interviewed for this book didn’t…)”p.27

It is intended to be in an internet blog writing style. Because of that, it is an easy read, something you could knock off on a lazy Sunday afternoon on the couch.

I’m reluctant to commend this book as an evangelistic tool – it is not an alternative to John Dickson’s ‘A Sneaking Suspicion’.

Nor is it a modern masterpiece of secular philosophy, like Alain De Botton’s ‘Status Anxiety’. (In that book the author, using almost entirely non-Biblical texts, concludes that Christianity is the answer to the angst of Western middle class existence.)

Ultimately, this is a book for Christians and those in their care. It is for bible-studies, for youth groups, for Sunday school teachers, for school scripture teachers and for Biblical studies teachers.

You should read this book because it will equip you to explain to others who they are in God’s sight.

“Which bit was your favourite?”

My favourite was chapter fourteen – “What’s Next”. It talks about our resurrected bodies in heaven – a place where evil is excluded and we are free to dream the creator’s dream.

My second favourite bit was the comments. How often do you get to the end of a chapter and see people sharing their thoughts, or asking questions of the author, and him answering them? Several characters crop up regularly, including a strange person named Byron and another named Mandy.

“So why read this book?”

Because the book speaks Gen Y. The book came from online dialogue. How many other books have you heard of that were written on a blog site?

The author, Michael Jensen stands as part of a new generation of Sydney Theologians[1]. They are starting to make their mark on the world, influence our thinking and answer our questions. By reading this book, you can be part of that.

[1] “On Rowan Williams: Critical Essays” Cascade Books 2009 - Russell, Matheson; Michael Jensen; Byron Smith; Greg Clarke et al.

Baby watch

2009-01-01T21:00:00.007+11:00

Happy New Year from Jo 'n' Jules!

We hope you had a great Christmas and celebrated the birth of 2009!

To start the year off, we thought it would be appropriate to announce the babies that we know who have entered the world since our last blog post on babies. New Year is usually represented by a baby so to start 2009 thought we would end 2008 - the year of babies!

Babies born since last blog:
* Abigail (little sister to Zara)
* Jared (cousin to Madame M)
* Marcus
* Joshua
* Mary
* Finn (spitting image of his dad Sean)
* Maia
* Kaesha Louise
* Jaydon Luke (little brother to Christopher)
* Aleksander Stephen
* Peach Scarlett
* Kaylee Michelle
* Silvy
* Anabella Madeliene (gorgeous daughter to Aussies in Portugal)
* Timothy Immanuel (See picture below)
* Madeline (little sister to Ethan)
* Denali
* Melanie
* Michelle Zhu-Rong
* Zoe Grace
* Jonah (little cousin to Anabella, as above mentioned)

All these babies are special, though for the Gambles, Timothy has a unique place in our hearts, being the son of our dear friends Bec and Rod. We were excited to visit them in the hospital on Christmas Eve and share in the joy of a first born, a son! Praise God!

That brings the total number of babies for 2008, that the Gambles know, to the grand sum of SIXTY SIX (66)!!! That is a lot of children! There were 3 sets of twins in the year, one set of twin boys, one set of twin girls and a set with a boy & a girl. Actually the boy/girl ratio is right on 50-50. Incredible! 33 girls and 33 boys.

Double ups on names (first and second names included when known) are Grace, William, Joshua, Madeline, John, James, Michael and the female equivalent Michelle.

Babywatch doesn't end though. For 2009 the list already includes some 10 children already. Not as much as this year but its still very exciting/scary/amazing!!

Times are changing

2008-12-22T12:21:00.004+11:00

(is the storm coming in or going out?)

As we enter 2009, see in a new American President, watch as K.Rudd enters the 2nd year of his leadership of Australia and hope in desperation that NSW will get good government sooner rather than later, there is a lot of talk about how the future will be tough. Due to the "Financial crisis" (because if we call it a recession then we have definitely hit rock bottom) the outlook written by many, said by many and suggested by many is that it will be hard for all of us to live lives that we have been experiencing for probably the last 10 years.

(Lots could be said about the fact that maybe the last 10 years have been really living in a consumerist paradise and the reality of its was lives of over-consumption... but this will have to be saved for later)

12 months ago most people were very positive about work. There were lots of opportunities, lots of money to be made, the future was bright. We had just elected a new government in Australia who promised to listen to the people. At work, the talk was about lucrative bonuses for attracting the best people from the industry. There was talk about being "stretched" for resources because there was lots of work - maybe too much work.

But then, in the middle of 2008 the mood change - rather suddenly. The sub-prime market crashed and, lo and behold, we realised (AGAIN) how inter-connected financial markets and countries of the world were. Dodgy deals in the US affected the financing of building works in Australia, the factories in China and the banks in Europe.

Part of me wants to ridicule all those financiers who were surprised that dodgy lending deals wouldn't end up in such a mess. Part of me also wants to ridicule governments for being surprised how inter-connected we are. "Free" trade and "globalisation" has been taught since I was in first year business (which was over 10 years ago).

And when I say it happened suddenly, it felt to me it was sudden. The mood swing between the beginning of 2008 and the end is quite intense. The futures forecast went from optimistic, sunny and bright to pessimistic, dark and stormy. Now, maybe a year for me is starting to feel like a smaller measure of time. The rule of percentages (something I made up but will explain) is that as we get older, one year because a smaller percentage of our life. When we are 4, 1 year is a quarter of our life, or 25%. Now that I am 30, 1 year is now only 1/30th of my life or 3.4%. Maybe the year that was 2008 appears such a short space of time so therefore the change of mood towards the future of the general populous seems so dramatic.

But, as 1 year feels like a smaller and smaller measure of time, it also means that one, like myself, feels that as things changed so quickly over one year, they will change again. Maybe as dramatically, maybe a little slower. But, even though all the reporters, government spokesman and writers tell me the future is going to be tough, I feel that it will be temporary. At the moment, I haven't felt the tightening of purse strings by myself or others. My work has laid off a few people, but is this just an opportunity to get rid of dead wood or give to start something new? Is the financial crisis REALLY that bad? Or is it just talk?

Or, is it that I am cocooned by the hardships of the financial crisis because I live in a D.I.N.K bubble, where sensible financial choices have meant that we haven't borrowed up to our eye-balls, that we don't live beyond our means, that we face no pressures other than time to do all-the-many-leisure-activities that we can dream about instead of the dependency of children, invalid parents or others? Is it because I have a pro-active government who is looking after me? (thanks K.Rudd! No thanks though about that baby bonus or spend all my tax dollars for the last 10 years!!!) Or is it because I live in the luxurious 1st world, middle income paradise where the reality of not spending all my day gathering/hunting/begging for food means that I don't really understand what hardship is?

Maybe it is all of the above, but as we enter 2009, don't be surprised if things change. And change quickly. I, being optimistic, thing they will change for the better.

Sayonara 2008!!

2008-12-18T23:10:00.012+11:00

As 2008 draws to a close, we thought it would be good to recount some of the things that happened this year. We have felt it's been a busy year and by looking over all the things that have happened, we are justified in our feeling!!

In January, we felt that we just survived getting off a plane after our 2nd teaching stint in Thailand, stumbling into the new year, bumping into Christmas 2007 on the way. There was quite a bit of work in January 2008 as Jo started a new role and became an accredited Greenstar professional sustainability co-ordinator. Grace's wedding, catch up with OS friends (Kate, Christina and the Georges) and a girlie weekend away for Jo was in there too. We did manage a great camping trip to Turon Gates with the Malones over the Australia Day long weekend.

February was the sign of things to come. Busy with work, teaching Kids church, conferences, bible study and other activities starting up. Jo sneaked in a trip to Canberra to see Lizzie at the end of the month.

March was Schmill's wedding, Thomas' wedding and Bec's wedding (over Easter). We went to QLD over Easter to see Bec & Soren wedding and caught up with Sally, Justin, The Fooks and Leonie while in Brissy. Some of our Thai friends came over to visit (see photo). Also we had our church weekend away and Jo started playing soccer for Inter-lions Concord.

April was autumn as all weekly activities were in full swing - bible study, Scripture teaching, committee of management, work. We went away with friends to the Kangaroo Valley and made some more friends, which was rather nice. Julian also went away camping with some boys. AFL season started as well where the beloved Swans smashed West Coast. :)

May saw us catch up with a whole heap of friends one-on-one or at eQuip conference. There was Baby Neill's baby shower plus Dawn's engagement party.

The start of winter and June brought lots of work for both of us. To escape the cold we sneaked in a long weekend to Mackay, north Queensland. We enjoyed checking out the sugar cane country and looking for Phoenician relics. We also did a trip to Melbourne, where Julian attended a conference. Jo got to tag along and meet with her friend Gabby, who she went to an AFL game at the MCG with and saw the muscial Wicked (fantastic by the way!)

July was cold and hard work. Julian went to escape the cold, but not the work, in Seattle for 2 weeks. Jo escaped the work but not the cold by going away for the weekend with our home group to Katoomba. Enjoyed more of the soccer season, AFL season and said good bye to Ian Chen, Jo's brother, who headed off to Japan. In July we also found out that we FINALLY got the approval for the renovations for our flat. So good!!

So August brought the renovations to our house. We put in a new ceiling, timber floorboard and repainted the entire flat. We lived on the hospitality of two dear families, the Sampsons and the Chens. Enjoyed the AFL, caught up with lots of different Credo buddies, Jo MC'ed a women's event at church and celebrated Mum Chen's birthday. With the highs, there was the lows, as we said goodbye to Henry Gamble, Julian's grand-dad, who had a good innings at 96 years old.

With September came Spring and our new home. We enjoyed moving back in and, still, setting up our place. We did Kids church and Jo conferenced TWICE this month; once in Manly, once in Melbourne. Julian worked hard on a big project that didn't end til the end of October.

Speaking of October, by now we felt the cogs really turning in regards to workload. Julian found relief in two camping trips with the boys; one with church mates and one with some others. Jo found relief in the fact that she was going to Japan for two weeks, flying out 26 October. We had Sonja's wedding and a few small housewarming drop-ins and hellos. That was all we could really squeeze in.

November was Jo in Japan, Julian in Dubbo. By now we could feel the year starting to unwind. It was wedding central, with Amy & Jono's plus Dawn & Matt's wedding. Jo passed the 3-0 milestone with 3 fantastic events such as a BBQ party, high tea & a romantic dinner with Jules.

Now, December, it has been pretty much full steam ahead to the new year. It's the first December in 3 years that we have been in Sydney, so it feels actually quite strange. Why isn't the year over yet? :) We celebrated Julian's 3-0 milestone with a relaxed day at home, followed by Gold class movie entertainment and a dinner with a Queensland feel. We are both looking forward to Christmas and seeing family and relaxing a little more.

Bring on 2009!!

In the last days

2008-12-18T22:26:00.006+11:00

I spent my last two days in Japan in Kyoto and Tokyo.

On my last day, in Tokyo, I went to the Tsukiji Fish Markets to have a sushi breakfast. Leo, Yumi and I waited in a line for over 1 hour to sit in a small sushi bar while the chef placed freshly made sushi on our place - about 12 pieces over 30 minutes. I ate some things I have NO IDEA what they were. I know one of them was a sea anemone. For a cool $35 it was definitely an experience. Some Japanese in the room were totally orgasmic while they were eating! My tummy was doing its own turns afterwards. ;)

We then explored the fish markets, which were just that, a massive fish market. We then headed over to Daiba, an island in Tokyo Bay. A new development, the train system is not driven by a driver but computerised. So it feels like a huge rollercoaster! And the buildings are pretty out there. We went to the Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. And it was awesome!! Saw ASIMO the robot that seriously was quite human. It weighted about 55kg which is pretty close to my height. The demonstration of this was great. Played with the Sony dog too.

The museum had some great exhibits about superconductors and deep sea exploration, genetics, climate change and space. I know my hubby would of loved it!!

We spent way too much time in the museum! We had lunch in Daibu, at buffet place in a shopping centre before heading back home. I had to run to the train station in order to get to the airport in time. I was pretty safe but I still find it unbelievable that the Tokyo airport is in the equivalent of Richmond - middle of nowhere, 2 hours away. But on the plane it was sayonara japan! thanks for a good time!!

Hiroshima - a little bit late but not never.

2008-12-17T14:42:00.008+11:00

Hiroshima, I admit, was a rushed trip and I didn't give it even a quarter of the time it deserved.

Went straight from Miyajima to Hiroshima (as that was the way to get home) and arrived aroudn 3pm. Under a grey sky, Hiroshima still looked really beauitful. Located between the coast and a river, the riverside and the streetcar public transport system, make the city feel quite European.

I headed for the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, to see the A-Dome building, Children's Peace memorial, the Centopah and the Flame of Peace. The A-dome is the remains of a building, or what was left of a building after the nuclear bomb was dropped. On the grey afternoon I was there, it seemed rather fitting. Being next to the river, i found the Memorial park appropriately sober and contemplative.

I got to go into the Memorial Museum. Since it was only 1 hour before closing I got in for a really reduced price. Sweet! The Museum was quite mind-blowing. The commentary was really level I thought, ie not bias. The Japanese didn't pretend to be an innocent party. There were many photos and descriptions of Hiroshima before the bombing. I think the thing that blew we away the most was the model of "before" the bombing and "after" the bombing. There were also testimonies of survivors and the horrific after-affects of nuclear weapons. It is sad that the hibakusha or "bomb survivors" in Japan are getting older (the youngest is 55). As they get older, the memory of the devastation that nuclear weapons can do, is forgotten. Hiroshima seeks to disarm all nuclear weapons in the world. An exhibition with the location of nuclear weapons on a globe was particularly poignant.

BEFORE

AFTER

When the sun went down, i got kicked out of the museum and slowly walked back through the park. As japanese commuted home, I enjoyed seeing the city lights turn on. It was a long train trip back and so it was straight to bed after that.

Itsukushima Shrine - the infamous floating torii.

2008-12-17T14:03:00.009+11:00

Rising early on Thursday morning I took two trains to catch the ferry to Miyajima Island, the home of the Itsukushima Shrine, famous for its large red floating torii at its entrance. The island claims to be a mini-version of all of Japan. With mountains and its own rare flora and fauna it does live up to that claim somewhat.

Coming over on the ferry, the driver is gracious in driving the ferry in such a way as to ensure all sides of the ferry get a good look at the floating torii in the 15 minute voyage before it docks. On arrival, the natives, deer, are actually a little scary in their confidence they follow you around for food.

A short walk, past lot of tourists shops, you come to the entrance of the Itsukushima Shrine. The walk here is nice, with the street on one side and the ocean on the other. Good vantage points for the torii too, for that elusive photo on oneself with the gate (again, lots of people, even when you are early!)

I didn't go into the shrine straight away but headed up to catch the cable car to the highest peak of Miyajima Island, Mt Mizen. Walking through Momijidani Park garden to the cable car, I really loved the gorgeous autumn leaves in their different colours (I defintiely turned Japanese in regards to being attracted to this natural phenomeum). I stumbled on a group of about 6 artists, easles set up, drawing or painting the beautiful trees.

The cable car is really good. It is actually two cable cars. The first one is up the steep mountain range and the second is across a deep valley to Mt Mizen, with amazing views west to the ocean. The cable cars are fantastic! The views are worth so much more than the $10 you pay to get up the mountain. I was fortunate to have a cable car all to myself for the first stage. The second stage, they tend to group people together.

On arrive to the top of the cable car it is a 1hr, 1km walk UPHILL to Mt Mizen, via a temple complex. There are supposedly monkeys around here but I didn't see any. I was slightly scared that they might jump out at me as I walked through the bush, but thankfully that didn't happen.

The view at the top of Mt Mizen was definitely worth the uphill hike. Even after climbing some of the large boulders near the top and dodging the really hungry goats. I ate lunch here and enjoyed the 360 degree views.

To get back, I decided I would walk down the mountain, a hike that is recommended to take 3 hours. I did it in about 1.5! But it was tough on the knees going downhill. The walk was fantastic though, through the bush. I got a little lost and accidentally found the Miyajima shrine, the much much much older and unloved sister shrine of Itsukushima I assume. But with amazing views of the mountains, one could really feel a sense of peace to meditate here.

Walking back down Mt Mizen leads you straight back into the town at Itsukushima. I went into the shrine and fought off the other tourists to get my postcard picture of me with the torii gate. There was an exhibition being erected of drawings by the local school children of the Itsukushima Shrine and the torii gate. Lots of red! But it was really cool. Sadly, I was at the shrine when it was low tide, so not much water about. Kinda looks like red timber boards on mud without water.

The story continues.... Kyoto

2008-12-05T13:20:00.013+11:00

I (Jo) am very conscious that I left my last Japan blog while still in Shirakawa and have missed a whole second week's adventures. Apologises for the 3 week delay. However, I shall continue the story:

While being "Lost in translation' in Tokyo, i was very fortunate to get to spend the whole day with Leo (who didn't have to work the public holiday Monday). We spent the day at the Science Museum, a kid's museum about science. The highlight for me where the robots that were there plus an exhibit called "Construction World" that I feel all first year site engineers need to visit. It has great information about concrete and structures, different types of machinery and even has a crane and an earthquake machine. The museum was a little hard for us though we couldn't read Japanese (and most of the signs were in Japanese)

Leo and I also checked out Harajuku and Shijuku, checking out the Tokyo night lights. I also sorted out my rail pass. Yay!

On Tuesday, early, I caught a train to Kyoto - 3 hours. Train travel is so nice! And in Japan fantastic as they are ALWAYS on time! One can really relax, read, sleep, think, rest in comfort while you are still going somewhere. The train trip from Tokyo to Kyoto goes via Yokohama and after this city you get a good 15 minutes of seeing Mt Fuji - even if its through a haze.

Kyoto, just like the guide book warns, does look unremarkable when you step out of the train station. I dumped my bag at my hostel and hired a bike to hit the street. Did a massive 30 km ride out to Arashiyama, the western edge of Kyoto at the base of the mountains. It is famous for Autumn leaves. It is a pretty place. Sadly, i arrived at lunch time and hit the swams of tourists (mainly Japanese) who go to Arashiyama for the leaves and enjoy time next to the river as well.

Here in Arashiyama, next to the Tenryu-ji is the infamous bamboo grove which is rather impressive. Massive bamboo sticks that are so dense that it's actually rather dark walking up the street. be warned. Even though it looks like a narrow walking street, its a public road. So cars are driving up and down all the time. I thought i had to go into Tenryu-ji to see the bamboo groves, but I was wrong. Tenryu-ji is ok but....

Rode to Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Temple which was rather amusing as temple complexes go. It is literately - buy ticket, walk about 5 steps, around a corner and BANG there the pavilion is in that postcard view. So after fighting many other tourists with cameras and trying to clear space so you can have your own exclusive picture with the temple, there is nothing else left to see. Walk along a loop road (near a pictureque lake) and you are out. Kikaku-ji DONE in about 15 minutes! I met a group of other aussie Australians who were marvelled at my existence when i asked to take their photo. It would of been interesting what Kyoto would be like travelling with someone else or in a group. I think my experience would of been really different. I doubt I would of been able to ride my bike.

I rode back into town along the river - Kamogowa. It was really great to see all the Kyotoites heading home from work, some playing by the river and night lights coming on. I spent a bit of time hanging around the river until I had to return my bike at 7pm. After grabbing some dinner I gave my body a well-earnt rest in bed, chilling out before in the hostel.

Wednesday I got up early and headed on the train to Himeiji-jo, the anicent Japanese castle that was made famous by the Tom Cruise movie Samurai. The town Himeiji is pretty much a tourist down centred on the castle. Its a castle town and the main drag runs from the train station to the castle as a very wide boulevarde. The caste itself is awesome. Huge structure! The grounds are extensive with really lovely gardens. I was very fortunate to have reached the top of the castle and enjoy the views for 10 minutes before the hordes of school children came. School children are everywhere in Japan. Doesn't matter what day of the week, school kids will be around. I think its a plague.

after a nice morning in Himeji I headed back to Kyoto to check out some of the temples in the eastern side of the city. Kyoto has (what feels like) hundreds of temples! So one needs to be exclusive. I caught a bus to Ginkaku-ji and as I read the sign that said it was closed for renovations recalled overhearing a conversation amongst some of the other backpackers at the hostel the night before. Dang!! Oh well.

I then went to enjoy the Philospher's walk - Tetsugaku-no-michi, a beautiful tree-lined path along the canal that was simply beautiful with the afternoon sun coming in at that warm sunny angle. There were not many people around which did help one "think" (as you are to do on this Philospher's walk). And quaint shops along the way to tempt you to distraction.

After walking along here i walked down in town to try and catch Kiyomizu-dera before it closes to avoid the crowds (as the LP guide advised me to). I don't think it is ever possible to avoid the crowds in Kyoto. There are so many people!! Particularly school kids. Kids on school excursions are given day passes in Kyoto and allowed to run riot in this town. Everyone comes here! I wonder if its really just an antique version of Canberra. More interesting though! :)

Kiyomiza-dera is rather pretty. There are actually two buildings that provide different views over Kyoto. Despite the people, I enjoyed watching the sunset over Kyoto and seeing the sun painting the sky those lovely pink and purple hues. It was good to watch the lights on the city and in the temple complex turn on, and walk out as the shops started closing. I grabbed some dinner in the infamous Ginza area, walking through some of the narrow and antique streets of the heritage areas. after grabbing some yummy gyoza I headed back to the hostel to download all my experiences into my notebook and give the body a rest.

Joy of tea

2008-12-05T13:06:00.004+11:00

An insightful and interesting quote that I want to be share:
"It is very strange, this domination of our intellect by our digestive organs. We cannot work, we cannot think, unless our stomach wills so. It dictates to us our emotions, our passions. After eggs and bacon it says, "Work!" After beefsteak and porter, it says, "Sleep!" After a cup of tea (two spoonfuls for each cup, and don't let it stand for more than three minutes), it says to the brain, "Now rise, and show your strength. Be eloquent, and deep, and tender; see, with a clear eye, into Nature, and into life: spread your white wings of quivering thought, and soar, a god-like spirit, over the whirling world beneath you, up through long lanes of flaming stars to the gates of eternity!" - Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat

Springtime in Russell Lea

2008-11-30T15:17:00.003+11:00

Changing tiger stripes

2008-11-26T15:39:00.004+11:00

This is a copy from another friend's very good blog (unlike this one). It's got important stuff of which I (Jo) spend much of my working time trying to make a corporation tiger change their stripes on.

Sometimes if all seems too hard, but in the end, it will be too hard not to change.

Friday Funny

2008-11-21T21:17:00.008+11:00

This cracked me up (Jules)

All things J-style

2008-11-03T11:26:00.004+11:00

Since I am in another country and can really only see it through my Australian-culture glasses, I thought I might share some observations with you in regards to how I am finding Japan.

* Japan is more asian than I thought. Yes, that seems like an ignorant statement but the stereotype of Japan was this futuristic oasis where a group of rather homogous people had already worked out how we would all be living in 10+ years time. Yet, Japan as the amazing constrast just like other asian countries. I saw Smart cars right next to women cycling with two kids on their bikes. Lots of things are still done manually. The great thing is that its not at all dirty (in air and streets) than other asian countries I have been in.

* English seems to be semi-understood which makes its quite easy to get around. (though maybe also my understanding of Japanese is better than other asian languages - thanks Mrs Melville!)

* Smoking is everywhere!! They even have machines on the side of the road for cigarette butts. Cigarettes are really cheap here too and served out of vending machines. There is also smoking in restaurants and other public places. Ewww.

* There are lots of people! I was hanging out in Ueno Park, on a beautiful sunny day and thought "This would be much better if there were not so many people." But the reality is that there will always be lots of people because of the population density here.

* Subway is AWESOME! So cool to have a public transport system that runs ON TIME!! So wish the NSW Government could just import some Japanese people to run our system for us.

* With the subway they have a Suica card, which is a charge card to use on the subway and some above ground train lines. You just swipe it when you go in and then swipe when you go out and it calculates where you got in and where you got out and then deducts the ticket price. BRILLIANT!! WHY HAVEN'T WE GOT THAT IN SYDNEY YET!!!!

* Its not very green here. In Ginza there were signs that being clean = being green but really, there is so much plastic and packaging on everything EVERYWHERE!! However, household rubbish is high segregated and each household has a quota. If you exceed the quota you get fined. Interesting...

* It's totally normal, nearly expected to be sleeping on public transport

* Bicycles here are a very accepted mode of transport, and the squeeker the brakes the better!

* Fashion for men is quite formal. Most guys where a suit jacket most of the time. Though they also have a thing for uniforms here.

* There are school kids everywhere ALL THE TIME. Even on weekends! My brother Ian was telling me that most kids don't get home til 9pm because usually after school they have clubs then cram school. Weekends are sports clubs and more cram school. It would be interesting to know how this affects family life in Japan.

* Reading comic books - everyone does it! I see 40 yr old business men reading comic-like books on the trains.

* Tokyo is very green in regards to trees. There are lots of parks and trees line the streets of Shinjuku and Harajuku and even in Ueno. The parks though don't have lawns it would seem. Lots of walled gardens so one can't lie on a lawn so to speak. You would just have to find one of the very few park benches I have seen in the town.

* No one squats just to sit in Japan (as some asian countries do). They do squat for other things though....

* Toilets are hi tech! I have seen the ones that come with music and 2 types of bum spray!! :) They are very common. What is extremely common is motion sensored taps in all public bathrooms that work really well. Why doesn't Australia have this? One cool thing about some toilets here, particularly in people's homes, is that there is a mini sink on top of the cistern. When you flush the toilet, the water refill can be used to wash your hands BEFORE it goes into the cistern. BRILLANT space and water saver!

Week ichi

2008-11-03T10:57:00.005+11:00

So I need to summarise what has been happening the last week.

For those who are interested, click here for some photos in Facebook.
Day 4 Thursday 30 Oct

I did a day trip out of Tokyo south, to the lovely area of Kumakura. A lovely hill-side temple district that has views to the ocean it is a series of towns of Kita-Kumakura, Kumakura and Hase. I got off the train at Kita-Kumakura and then did the Daibutsu Hiking Course to Hase.

The main attraction is the big Buddha called Daibustu, the 2nd largest Buddha in Japan. It is a rather lonely figure and kinda reminded me of the Big Pineapple as you can go inside the thing.

I went to do the Hiking Trail, which was really lovely and see the Hase-Dera, a shrine that has amazing views east to the mouth of Tokyo Bay.

That night, Leo and Yumi took me to have Monjiyaji and Ekonimiyaji which was savoury pancake like things cooked on a hot plate.

Day 5, Friday 31 Oct

I spent the day in Tokyo before heading to see Ian in Shirakawa, about 71 minutes north of Tokyo. I went to Harajuku and checked out the cos-play action there. I then enjoyed the tranquil surround of the Meiji shrine before heading to the busyness of Ginza and checking out the Sony Building and all the new gadgets there. I tried to scale the Imperial Palace but the grounds were too extensive for my sore feet.

Met Ian in Shin-Shirakawa station where we dumped our stuff and caught a train 40 minutes to Koriyama to do kareoke with drinks and ice cream with some of the other JET people, Dan, Heather and Marie.

Day 6: Saturday 1 November

A chilled out day in Shirakawa where Ian and I checked out the castle in the town called Komenijo, shopped in Off House, mucked around in Sega World and made puekuras (sticker photos) and ate at Gustos. We watched Futurama back at Ian's place.

Day 7, Sunday 2 November

After I chilled out in the morning while Ian played frisbee we went to lunch at Yukiko's house (a student of Ian's) to have a sweet potato party! Yukiko let me try on one of her many kimonos which was really really nice. Then I caught the train back to Tokyo (see below blogpost)

Sad to say good bye to Ian! Thanks for a great time!!

Lost in Translation

2008-11-03T10:49:00.004+11:00

Well, I found myself STUCK IN TOKYO as I have totally stuffed my rail pass!

The full story:

JR Rail pass need to be validated or exchanged and then used within their timeframe (7 or 14 days or a month). I thought I could validated this anywhere but this is not the case. I wanted to valiadate it and use in Shin-Shirakawa when I was staying with Ian, so I could use the rest over the long weekend.

THIS IS NOT SO!!

So I stayed in Shirakawa 2 days and then headed back to Tokyo last night to validate it to head West today and check out the cool places like Nagoya and hopefully Tusmago and Magome.

All tourist services were CLOSED on Sunday (unlike what the website says) and will be closed for the public holiday Monday. ARGH!

So I am stuck in Tokyo but thankfully my brother Leo lives here so I can chill out at his place. It is actually a blessing in disguise as I haven't spent that much time with him really since last week he was working all week.

Kyoto tomorrow though!

Tokyo Tokyo Tokyo

2008-10-30T01:08:00.005+11:00

Hello all from Tokyo

I (Jo) have had a good time so far. It has been really nice to see Leo, meet his girlfriend Yumi and stay at their lovely abode in NE Tokyo. As I write it is the end of Day 3. Lots to talk about but there is a summary

Day 1:

arrive in Tokyo. Hang out at the Airport til Leo found me. Go back to his place and after a quick shower hit the streets to check out this town. Went to Shinjuku and saw the high rise buildings of Tokyo Metro Government Building plus the Coccoon building and the Shinjuku NS building. Then from there I went west to Mitaka and the infamous Ghibli Museum to check out the home of some Japanese animation. This was a really fantastic museum and comes highly recommended. Coming back to Leo's place was to challenge the Tokyo Subway system - but a challenge a met with victory!! Got back in time for yummy home made pizza at Leo's place.

Day 2:

Hit the streets to Tokyo again, this time on Leo's bicycle. I went to check out nearby Ueno Park, Ueno itself and then Asakusa. Ueno Park was beautiful - so nice to get out to nature. And Ueno's infamous Ameyoko Arcade was very busy and much like a market place. But Asakusa was amazing! So much tourist kitschy stuff EVERYWHERE! I also tried a very old school Onsen here that was even pre-retro in decor. Leo and I went out to dinner at Coco curry house (classy establishment - not) and then ate ice creams from Baskin Robbins with Yumi in a cool take away container that came with dry ice (fun!). Some of the flavours was Ghost World, Dolce Vampire, Witches Cocktail party, Winter White Christmas and, my favourite, Popping Shower!

Day 3:

Spent the day hanging out with my mate Dave Sampson, Qantast pilot and therefore Narita extraordinare as he has to hang out in this country town quite often for work. Narita is like if Sydney put their international aiport out at Richmond. Seriously. Rice paddies all around! Narita is a lovely quaint town that lives of international airlines and a large buddhist temple that attracts something scary like 10,000,000 people a year. Particularly at festival time its scary. We had a good day, eating ramen, gyoza and hitting baseballs at a baseball hitting range.

(me eating strawberry skewers in Ameyoko with vending machines)

Sayonara Sydney!!

2008-10-26T16:38:00.005+11:00

Tonight, the Gambles will be separate temporally for 2 weeks while Jo goes and visits her brothers in the Land of the Rising Sun - Japan! Jo will be spending a large amount of time in Tokyo with Leo and then hopefully a few days (maybe just one day and night) with Ian in Shirakawa, the northern Blue Mountains of Tokyo.

In this trip, the first she has taken by herself for about 7 years, she is looking forward to living out the dreams of her high school days, stimulated by Mrs Melville's Japanese Language classes from year 8 - 10. (Note: However since Jo & Freya were both in this class, not sure how much learning was done!) Jo will be hanging onto every single memory of those language classes in hope that she will get by in this exotic and unique country.

At the moment the itinerary is extremely ambitious and probably unrealistic if it even rains one day while she is there. The basics is Tokyo for 1 week, then Kyoto and the surrounds (including Hiroshima in a massive day trip). She will be flying into and out of Tokyo on the good ol Aussie Qantas, which will be interesting considering this is her first time flying with them (other than for work)

To keep up with her travels, stay tuned to this blog. There maybe photos on Facebook, however, if there are, they will be linked here.

Sayonara everyone! Hello Japan!!

Frustrated by the State

2008-10-07T16:23:00.002+11:00

As I write this, I (Jo) am frustrated by my state government and was trying to work out where to vent the anger. I think my husband will appreciate that I don't vent on him, so i will vent on this blog.

An article in the paper today showed how the NSW Government has taken the North West Metro off its infrastructure priorities list, in favour of 4 big projects - ALL ROAD projects - M4 extension, M5 extension etc etc etc.

If the Federal Government and the State Government are really committed to climate change then why are we financing road projects over public transport projects?!! Why are we increasing out reliance on the car and not looking at investing to other transport alternatives? Its hypocritical and ludicrous for NSW, when petrol prices are soaring, to consider pandering our transport system to the car!! The North West Metro will encourage less cars on the road, reducing the demand on the M4 and subsequent other road extensions. The money can be then used for this public transport system and other.

I went to a conference in Melbourne 2 weeks ago, showcasing "green" buildings and progress in sustainable development. The Victorian government were trumpeting their many initiatives to encourage Victorians to make change. I was really impressed by the Black Balloon Campaign, raising awareness of greenhouse gas emissions from the residential home.

It made me think "What is NSW doing?"

Answer: NOTHING

I realise I should really be venting this to my state member, but I am worried that she is only concerned about keeping residents quiet as she gets bulldozed by the incompetent State to add another lane to the tiny Iron Cove Bridge - another example of how we are pandering to cars once again.

End of September

2008-09-29T18:58:00.006+10:00

The end of September means a number of things:
* End of the football season (sad, always next year Swannies!)
* End of cool weather
* Start of flowers with lots of lovely jasmine around
* Start of warm weather
* Being on the verge of Day light savings

The Gambles have been quiet mainly due to the fact we have had a lot of work on. Jo's work has taken her to conferences in Manly and Melbourne, Julian's work just keeps him in the office.

Jo also had a surprise hospital visit with a bad case of gastro but hopefully getting out of that one now.

Our renovations are pretty much complete. We celebrated with our home group having a BBQ dinner at our place. The one thing that is missing still is a couch. It is running 2 weeks late but when October comes, supposedly our couch will come too.

Also, there are lots babies to celebrate. Here are a list of some new people to welcome into the world!

* Michael Joshua
* Tobias (Toby) Edward
* Liam Andrew (photo on right)
* Tristan Spencer
* Ryder
* Madeline Rose
* Lucy Elizabeth
* Sarah Lan
* Hudson
* Oscar James Everrit
* Hannah
* Madeline
* Elianna Nicole

Renos Day 22

2008-09-08T20:11:00.004+10:00

Hilights
- Electician put in new light fittings

Renos Day 20

2008-09-08T20:03:00.004+10:00

Hilights
- New bed
- Moved other furniture off the balcony back in

Renos Day 19

2008-09-03T23:36:00.004+10:00

Hilights
* NEW FLOOR!
* Start of moving in furniture
* New bed arriving tommorrow

Fondue at the Chens

2008-09-03T23:29:00.003+10:00

To enjoy a final night at the luxurious Chen residence - strawberry fondue!

Renos Day 16

2008-08-31T22:50:00.003+10:00

Hilights

Tidied up after ceiling contractor completed
Painting completed
Floors about to start
Calm before the storm

Farewell to Mr Gamble

2008-08-28T17:06:00.011+10:00

Yesterday, Wednesday 27 August, we said farewell to Mr Henry Gamble, Julian's "Poppa". He was born in 1912 and died last Thursday, aged 96.

We remembered him in a simple celebration at the Magnolia Chapel, Macquarie Park in Ryde. Most of the Gamble family were there plus a few friends. It started with a greeting by Julian, some words by Peter Gamble, Henry's eldest son and then some words from various grand children. Craig Tucker (our minister) gave a few words from Psalm 23 and then prayed, followed by a moment of reflection with music and a DVD of photos. Godfrey Gamble (Julian's dad) gave the last few words before flowers were laid on the coffin and then we all left the chapel.

Katrina (Julian's mum) organised a lovely morning tea in the nearby cafe where the family gathered to catch up and share memories. It was particularly nice to see family from Melbourne and also meet some old friends from country ACT/NSW.

Farewell Poppa! We are sad to see you go but very happy to know you are at peace now.

Renos Day 12

2008-08-27T23:18:00.004+10:00

Hilights
* Ceilings painted
* Cornices installed
* Wall painting started

Renos Day 10

2008-08-25T21:15:00.004+10:00

Hilights
* Finished plastering ceiling in hall and kitchen
* Lot of sanding (not very significant photographically).

Renos Day 7

2008-08-24T15:52:00.009+10:00

Hilights from Day 7
* Gaps in boards plastered over up in both bedrooms and living room
* Time at Sampson Manor

Renos Day 6

2008-08-21T23:02:00.005+10:00

Day 6 Hilights

Boards on the ceiling in hall, kitchen and second bedroom
Plaster on ceiling of master bedroom

Renos Day 5

2008-08-20T20:00:00.005+10:00

Day 5 Hilights
* Plaster on the ceiling!
* Cables hanging out

Day 4

2008-08-19T20:36:00.006+10:00

Highlights

Batons afixed to the ceiling in the lounge room

More protection laid on carpet???

Colour of walls confirmed with builder (Chalk White USA)

Taking the Sampson kids to school!

Batons on ceiling

Looking more like a construction site

Front door (compare with Day 3 pic below)

Spare bedroom (compare with Day 3 pic below)

View through the fly screen of our bedroom at the Sampson Inn. (note city skyline - sweet!)

Renos Day 3

2008-08-18T21:38:00.004+10:00

Hilights:

Day 1 commute from the Sampson Manor
Builder has laid two pieces of orange plastic
Concluded builder still has another job going ;)

Renos Day 2

2008-08-17T23:59:00.003+10:00

Hilights
* Move furniture onto balcony covered with tarp
* Move rest into car for storage at Chen's garage
* Dinner with famous Chef Mrs Chen
* Sleep in double bed for first time in six months in luxury of Sampson Manor (What a crazy day!)
* Everything ready for builders moving in with plaster tommorrow

Renos Day 1

2008-08-17T23:42:00.005+10:00

Day 1 Stuff

Greg and Luke Dawson ripping out light fittings, new powerpoints and new cabling
More packing madness

A SYDNEY EVANGELICAL AT MARK DRISCOLL'S CHURCH

2008-07-25T15:59:00.005+10:00

These are the observations of a Sydney Evangelical during a visit to a Mars Hill Plant Church - of Mark Driscoll's church in Seattle.

SOME CONTEXT - WHERE I'M COMING FROM

What do I mean by Evangelical?
This is the best summary I've seen so far:
"...the Evangelical message, "good news" by definition, is overwhelmingly positive, and always positive before it is negative. There is an enormous theological and cultural importance to the power of No, especially in a day when Everything is permitted and It is forbidden to forbid. Just as Jesus did, Evangelicals sometimes have to make strong judgments about what is false, unjust, and evil. But first and foremost we Evangelicals are for Someone and for something rather than against anyone or anything. The Gospel of Jesus is the Good News of welcome, forgiveness, grace, and liberation from law and legalism. It is a colossal Yes to life and human aspirations, and an emphatic No only to what contradicts our true destiny as human beings made in the image of God. "
http://www.anevangelicalmanifesto.com/

What do I mean by Sydney Evangelical?
Put simply:
Biblical Authority > Culture
(We use the bible to shape our interpretation of culture - not the other way around.)
On this issue we hold ourselves out as thought leaders in the First World.

MORE CONTEXT - WHERE MARS HILL IS COMING FROM
Seattle is culturally distinctive. You can understand it by the individuals it has produced. Take the cerebral humour of Frasier, and mix it with the grunginess of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain - and you've got Seattle.

Seattle is both an artistic and an entrepreurial hub. The mixture of the ecclectic and the capitalist can be seen in Starbucks - another company that was started here.

On the people side - the individuals themselves are a mixture of the Californian enthusiastic, easygoing personality, and the West-Coast-Canadian, earthy outdoorsy personality.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS - MARS HILL DOWNTOWN
From the outside - the building looks like a renovated office - recently repainted in rusty orange.

On coming in the entrance you enter a lobby - with table set up for membership - and self-service iced coffee from a cannister. No handout is offered.

From there you enter another large room - darkened with spotlights focused on the stage and two sets of seminar seats with an aisle down the middle. A band dressed in jeans, t-shirts and sneakers plays warm up music with a grunge style as people are seated. The walls are painted beige green, the floor is polished concrete.

The background behind the band is a white surface - with a large projected image covering the entire wall - so that various themed backgrounds can be displayed.

No bibles are offered in the seats - people are bringing in their own. A quick glance indicates that most are ESV's.

A chairperson (Pastor Ben) came up on stage and welcomed us, "Welcome to Mars Hill Church - let's spend some time singing to our God." [Quite precise language - W word is absent.]

The songs were grungy versions of some fairly safe lyrics. 'Psalm 115'; 'On Christ the Solid Rock I stand'.

Then Pastor Ben came up, carrying only a bible. He spent some time giving some updates on some events that were running. Some were training. Some were just social.

Then a projector screen came down behind him - and an image of Mark Driscoll standing in front of a TV showing a finance report appeared. Pastor Ben stepped down. Mark walked through the finances giving a rough outline of cash position and cash flow. He thanked everyone who'd helped them get out of their red position towards the end of the last year end. The stage and the position of the screen made the whole thing feel like a weather report.

THE SERMON
Podcast Church
When you hear the word 'tele-evangelism' - repugnant connotations of corrupt American religious figures come to mind. I have to admit - going to church and watching a screen (even if live, even if all the rest isn't TV) is just a little bit disconcerting. The positive spin on this - is that you're getting the same as what you would in a video download of the sermon. Welcome to Podcast Church.

I won't comment too much on the sermon - just give some hilights. If you want to see what I saw - you can watch it here:
http://www.marshillchurch.org/sermonseries/pray_like_jesus/
http://download.marshillchurch.org/media/2008/07/20/20080720_pray-like-jesus_vodcast_video.m4v

Style
This series, "Pray Like Jesus Did", is topical. Mark makes no attempt attempt at an expositional style - and is quite happy to leap to application in his first 3 minutes. His whole style is to make and point and apply it then start again - in about a four minute loop. Now you may contend that his points arise from a high level summary of a whole load of systematic theology. You may also contend that he's just grabbing points at random.

Unlike most preachers who have done this - Mark didn't lose my respect. I think the reason for this is that his examples involve explicit modelling of Christian behaviour in some scenarios. "You can say this". "You can do that"

Notable Quotes
"Prayer is an invitation to the intimacy of the trinitarian communion."

"It's ok to pray for little things. I pray for parking spaces."

"You can pray for people at work: 'I don't mean to be religious - but would you mind if I prayed for you.'"

"You can put prayer requests on your online social network."

"Take your lunch a couple of times a week and walk to a park - pray for your workmates, your clients and your attitude."

"Put your mobile earpiece in when you pray in public places - that way you won't wierd people out when you pray passionately in public."

Cool Stuff - Mark's Heroes include Spurgeon and JI Packer
- During the time reflecting for Communion - the background music was a slow, subtle, high-pitched, echoing guitar solo. It was eery, haunting and very cool.

Welcoming At the end of church - one of the closing announcements was an invitation to new people to join them for dinner at a bar across the road.

I chatted to some people in the pews - and deliberately went and stood up the back of the church, standing alone - to see what would happen. After five minutes of utter silence, it would appear that this church doesn't suffer from the fear of not welcoming new people. Passive new people are comfortably outside their self-set boundary.

I went up to the membership desk and chatted to some people there - and they realised I was new and introduced me to Pastor Ben. He was polite and wanted to know how long I was in Town and whether I was coming to dinner.

People I Met Nearly all the people I chatted to seemed to work in the retail service industry.

Final Reflections * The cussing pastor doesn't. But he is definitely the type of guy who would give it a go to break out of his existing audience.

* The sermon style was free from a lot of the academic defensibility that characterises a lot of (evangelical) sermons in Sydney - and very focused on the application value-add. (Which might just be an American influence)

* My understanding is that Mark Driscoll is coming to Sydney at the request of the KCC committee, including Bayfield Warberton, Luke Woodhouse and Jon Mak. I do wonder if he is square-on with the cross-section of the typical KCC attendees. (I think if they wanted to stick to their existing Market - then they'd get someone like Tim Keller from Redeemer Presbyterian from NY - who is well thought-out and well published.) If their purpose is to break out of this - then they've made the right choice.

STARBUCKS...

2008-07-25T08:31:00.004+10:00

Ever tempted to think that Starbucks is a recent capitalist incursion on our otherwise happy and untainted society? Want to get away from corporate evil back to the good old days? Consider this:

Caffeine has been the business of multinational corporations for 400 years. In fact the first limited liability company - the East India Company - created in 1600 by Elizabeth I - was in the business
of caffeine.

So as much as you might think that Starbucks is the McDonalds of Coffee - its merely a new face on what is probably the oldest Western style business. (Good thing they changed the logo.)

SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS...

2008-07-21T17:52:00.004+10:00

is the title of a book set in post WWII USA (and also an HSC text - although banned in parts of the US for its violent and explicit sexual themes). Set on the fictional San Piedro Island in the northern Puget Sound region of the state of Washington coast in 1954, the plot revolves around the murder case of Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American accused of killing Carl Heine, a respected fisherman in the close-knit community. (Now made into a 1999 film starring Ethan Hawke).

Now it turns out that the author actually lives on Bainbridge Island - the Seattle Island and subject of this blog post. Whilst the author David Gutterson claims that the book is not about this Island...well yeah - and Tokien claimed that Lord of the Rings was not about WWII - despite being written around the same time.

(Disclaimer - I accept Tolkien's premise that the forces and causes behind the major wars have remained the constant throughout the centuries - but to specifically claim that the book is not about WWII - and merely a 'constructed mythical history' [which happens to repeat itself] - sounds pretty thin. )

Like the Novel - this Island had a number of pre-WWII Japanese residents, who were relocated to camps during the War. The history was quite interesting.

Apart from that - it's a fairly charming community. Reminds me of Kangaroo Valley.

THE FISH JOHN WEST REJECTS....

2008-07-21T17:30:00.003+10:00

You know you’ve achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away.
--Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

It's the fish John West rejects that make John West the best.
-- John West - Dog Salmon commerical
(Incidentally - it would appear that lots of John West Salmon get brought in here in Seattle.)

I quite like writing - but it takes a lot of time to process your thoughts - and throw out all those really crappy ideas (leaving only the mediocre ones ;)

The following photo is a wonderful symbol of marital compromise.

On the right you see an outdoor market - filled with exciting opportunity - and bargains to be had.

On the left you see a tranquil harbour of philosophical clarity - a place for the expression and rejection of thought.

(Can't wait to get home to Jo...)

A BOAT OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS

2008-07-21T01:51:00.006+10:00

Here in Seattle the smallest coffee you can order is still large enough to float Noah's Ark. As you ponder what to do with your personal deluge of sweet, beige coloured liquid, consider taking a ride on the Bainbridge Ferry. Just like the caffeinated rush of inspiration as the thoughts pour through your mind, so too does the rush of wind in your face pour in the sights and experiences.

Just how big is it? Take the Manly Ferry - the really big one. Quadruple it. Add a car deck and a side-to-side sun deck, and wireless internet. The animals would have no problems on this one.

"That's not a big deal Julian. I've seen bigger boats elsewhere." I hear you say.

Oh well. It's probably just a storm in a teacup.

Company Names

2008-07-21T01:34:00.005+10:00

Over the last 10 years a trend emerged to make the names of companies more marketable. Here are my ratings:

Old Name	New Name	Rating
National Biscuit Company	Nabisco	Good
Telecom Australia	Telstra	Pass
Washington Mutual	WaMu	Fail

SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE

2008-07-21T01:26:00.003+10:00

What is cool about Seattle?
- Frasier
- Twin Peaks
- Sleepless in Seattle
- Matt Groening
- Kurt Cobain
- Jimmi Hendrix
- The following companies originated here:
+ Amazon
+ Starbucks
+ UPS
+ Boeing
- The following companies have their headquarters here:
+ Microsoft
+ Valve

Why am I here?
- I'm taking my company's database to Microsoft to hot it up.

Why do I like it?
- Partially the IT Angle - if you want to work on software that everyone in the [business] world will use - this is the place
- Partially the entrepreneurial angle - So many successful companies have originated from here
- Partly the Artsy Grungy angle - the music and the attitude

What is the Vibe like?
Short answer:
- partially management/technicalish - think Frasier
- partially grungy - think Nirvana

Longer answer:
The lonely planet puts it this way
...I find that Seattle can be particularly resistant to reality - the city, especially recently, seems to operate within a bubble of Caucasian-quasi-liberal-privileged-monied professionalism. That the town in engulfed on all fronts by spectacular beauty seems to only reinforce this homogenous, head-in-the-clouds/up-the-ass sensibility.

This was my experience:
As I got on the plane in LA for Seattle - 150 pairs of eyes snapped up and fixed on me for a moment. Their gaze was analytical, cerebral and detatched - but still measuring up. Which company is he with? Is he a suit or an engineer? Is he higher on the social strata than me? (Major status anxiety issues - but pleasantly cerebral.) Then their eyes all focused elsewhere.

Why sleepless?
1. 36 hours of travel with 3 hours sleep
2. A local ration of 3 Starbucks per 4 blocks.
3. A 17 hour time difference.

Post Political Correctness

2008-07-12T18:24:00.003+10:00

(An except from the diary of Julian Gamble)
Simpsons Episode: Lisa vs Malibu Stacy
Lisa: "It's awful being a kid. No one listens to ya."
Grampa: "It's rotten being old. No one listens to ya."
Homer: I'm a white male, age 18 to 49. Everyone listens to me no matter how dumb my suggestions are."

We live in an age of political correctness. No longer are bombastic individuals free to vent their mind every time some one gets them off side. Sexist comments are out. Xenophobic comments are out (unless they're about terrorists). Ageist comments are out. Now instead of living in fear of our enemies, or even our own ineffectiveness - our greatest fear has become the possibility that we might offend someone - however inadvertently.

In such an environment, the Thinking Male is left with no where to go. His innate need to radiate out his own effectiveness has no sink. His ability to broadcast the iron strength of his will through his entire being has no outlet. What shall the Thinking Male do when he is boxed into a corner?

Box his way out again.

Enter Chess Boxing. The new outlet for thinking males with an iron will.

Someone offends you? Smack 'em! Sock them right in the talker.

Then get back to wiping them off the table at chess.

Isn't this fantastic? That our society can adapt and progress to this new level. We as a nation, as a Western World have the cultural adaptability to tackle any challenge. This signifies a New Enlightenment - in which we can solve all of society's problems - if we can just find the right answer. Isn't exciting to be living in such a great point in history?

"No Julian, " I hear you reply, "It's just that the Internet brings all the crackpots together."

Fair enough.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing

How to Start Your Own Country...

2008-07-09T20:44:00.007+10:00

(An excerpt from the diary of Julian Gamble)

Sick of all the existing nations? Wondering why some new exciting ones haven't popped up lately? The answer is - like all things - because you haven't gotten around to it yet.

"But remember Guns or Butter Julian! The only nations that exist (still) are those with the resources to defend their own identity! It's completely impractical!"

"It doesn't have to be a complete nation - how about just a principality? Would you like to be Prince for a day? A man's home is his Castle you know. "

"I don't know Julian - none of my friends are doing it. "

"Well about about going to visit one then? It's a great excuse for a holiday to see something that no one else is doing. "

"What? Never heard of it."

"You see - there's this guy in Western Australia - who chose to secede from the State of Western Australia. "

"Secede? But didn't they just blow him up?"

"Well His Royal Highness, Prince Leonard of the Hutt River Province is still minting coins and stamping passports to this day. Apparently there was a gap in the Australian Constitution that allowed this."

"That's just our fault for having a silly Constitution. "

"There's an even more famous one in the UK."

"What?"

"This guy took over an old navy base and started Broadcasting Pirate radio. Read this"

The Principality of Sealand is a micronation located on HM Fort Roughs, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea 10 km (six miles) off the coast of Suffolk, England, United Kingdom.

Since 1967, the facility has been occupied by former radio broadcaster British Army Major Paddy Roy Bates; his associates and family claim that it is an independent sovereign state.
...
In 1978, while Bates was away, the Prime Minister of Sealand, Professor Alexander G. Achenbach, and several German and Dutch citizens, staged a forcible takeover of Roughs Tower, holding Bates' son Michael captive, before releasing him several days later in the Netherlands. Bates thereupon enlisted armed assistance and, in a helicopter assault, retook the fortress. He then held the invaders captive, claiming them as prisoners of war. Most participants in the invasion were repatriated at the cessation of the "war", but Achenbach, a German lawyer who held a Sealand passport, was charged with treason against Sealand, and was held unless he paid DM 75,000 (more than US$ 35,000). The governments of the Netherlands and Germany petitioned the British government for his release, but the United Kingdom disavowed all responsibility, citing the 1968 court decision. Germany then sent a diplomat from its London embassy to Roughs Tower to negotiate for Achenbach's release. Roy Bates relented after several weeks of negotiations and subsequently claimed that the diplomat's visit constituted de facto recognition of Sealand by Germany.

Following his repatriation, Achenbach established a "government in exile" in Germany, in opposition to Roy Bates, assuming the name "Chairman of the Privy Council". He handed the position to Johannes Seiger in 1989 due to illness. Seiger continues to claim — via his website — that he is Sealand's legitimate ruling authority.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand#Forcible_takeover

"So are you convinced? Isn't a fantastic thing that you can just start your own country - or at least go and visit one?"

"No Julian - it's just that the Internet brings all the crackpots together."

"Oh well - keep in mind - don't start your new country in Fiji or Italy:"

The Republic of Rose Island was a 400 m² platform built in 1968 in Italian national waters in the Adriatic Sea, 7 miles off the Italian town of Rimini. It is known to have issued stamps, and to have declared Esperanto to be its official language. Shortly after completion, however, it was seized and destroyed by the Italian Navy for failing to pay state taxes.
...
The Republic of Minerva was set up in 1972 as a libertarian new-country project by Nevada businessman Michael Oliver. Oliver's group conducted dredging operations at the Minerva Reefs, a shoal located in the Pacific Ocean south of Fiji. They succeeded in creating a small artificial island, but their efforts at securing international recognition met with little success, and near-neighbour Tonga sent a military force to the area and annexed it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronation#History_during_1960_to_1980

Babies babies and more babies!

2008-07-08T08:20:00.005+10:00

Since the last baby update (March 31) there have been a few significant little people born into the world, other than lovely Sophie Neill.

At the rate we are going, there has been now over 30 children born to friends around us since the start of 2008. What a blessing! Lots of joy for everyone!

We apologise that we haven't seen all these new people but we look forward to meeting you in the future.

We celebrate the births of:

* Logan Kobe & Reily Kai (twin boys to Aussies marooned in Hawaii)

* James (who now has some very proud Aunties in Felicity and Kim)

* Corren Jasper (little brother to Shasta and sons to our favourite Novacastrians!)

* Jesse

* Otto

* Theodore Elijah Aslan

* Jessica (little sister to Miriam)

* William (little brother for cheeky Rose)

* Rory Andrew (adding to the proud line of Wenden men)

* Charlotte (little sister to Madeline)

* Miriam Grace (little sister to Hannah)

* Laura Anne & William John (twins to the Russes!)

* Isabelle

* Phillip John (little brother for Benjamin and joy for our friends in Colorado!)

Melbourne Musings

2008-07-06T22:27:00.010+10:00

In the last weekend of June, the Gambles headed down on Friday night to CITON conference in Melbourne.

We arrived at Avalon at around 7pm and didn't realised it would be a $20/1hr bus ride into the city! Very thankful when we arrived into the Jasper Hotel, the site of our accommodation and conference, Julian registered for conference (a little late) and Jo got to make herself at home in her lovely clean, funky hotel room.

After settling in we decided to hit the town and check out what Melbourne had to offer on a Friday night. We were pleasantly surprised to find that it had a lot to offer. With its quite international style grid-patterned CBD, we found it compact and easy to walk around. Stacks of people were out, even though it was a cold night. We initially jumped on a tram and headed down to Flinders St Station. Watched AFL with other visitors at Federation Square before walking all the way up to Chinatown via Russell St.

We really liked the cafes and bars around Bourke St but finally settled on having some Shanghai dumplings in Chinatown at the very funky, though also chinese tacky and very pink Shanghai Village. The dumplings were not as good as Shanghai Nights in Ashfield, but we were hungry!!

We walked from there down to the river and headed to the Crown Casino to watch the fire balls. By this stage its around midnight but we are still very surprised by the many people that are out and about. It made us feel safe though. Late night, Friday night was.

Saturday we had to up early for breakfast at a Cafe Scaletti, next door to the hotel. A rather homely and interesting cafe with nice music and food. Julian then spent the day at the conference.

Jo had the whole morning to enjoy Melbourne! Her morning included checking out the Queen Victoria Markets (which reminded her of Paddys but less asian - and also had obviously most of Melbourne's inner-city yuppies in it doing their fresh-food gourmet shopping). She then went to check out some of Melbourne's art deco gems.

Melbourne glory days of the gold rush in the 1800s and early 1900s saw many beautiful art deco buildings. The ones Jo went to see were "The Block Arcade" home of Haigh's chocolate, "The Royal Arcade" and The Manchester Unity Building. She thinks the last one was the first building to have escalators in it. She also checked out some of the chocolate places around like Haigh's and Koko Black.

After a morning of sight-seeing, Jo went back to the hotel to freshen up then headed to the MCG to meet gorgeous friend Gabby. Gabby and Jo were going to watch the Richmond Tigers play the Carlton Blues in the Tigers' Centenary Match. This include attending the Presidental lunch, great seats at the MCG and going down to the change rooms to watch the players do their warm up drills. We were fortunate to meet Dicko from Australian Idol fame here, whom Jo got to share some words about how much they both like the Sydney Swans better!

The MCG is an amazing sporting arena. Home of summer cricket's pinnacle event the Boxing Day Test, and the holy grail of AFL, the AFL Grand Final. Great atmosphere, great arena. Sadly the Tigers lost the game that day but we didn't feel like losers. It was really good match.

The girls then strolled back into Melbourne city (as the traffic was pretty terrible). We managed to do a little bit of shopping before heading back to our respective hotels to get ready for the night's main event - seeing a preview of the musical Wicked.

Wicked, is a musical based on the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz. Its a prequel to that story. After strong recommendations from Christina, Jo was very fortunate to book two tickets for her and Gabby to attend. The musical was in the Regent Theatre, another example of art deco. Its a really beautiful theatre with an extremely ornate interior. We were feeling pretty pumped going in with lots of fans and some cool green cocktails with souvenir glasses that changed colour! The musical itself was excellent - lived up to the expectations. The sets were great, the story line was engaging, the music was fantastic and the actors voices were awesome. Best songs were "For Good" and"Wondeful" in Jo's opinion!

Due to being too full from the MCG lunch, Gabby and Jo hadn't had dinner prior to the musical. We met up with Julian and decide to hit Southbank to grab something to eat. We ended up at the Crown Casino (where everyone seems to be in Melbourne) and enjoyed food and talk there before wandering back, in cold conditions, though Melbourne, to our hotels; enjoying the sights of Melbourne at night was we went. Saturday night an even later night that Friday!

Early flights for all parties saw an early Sunday breakfast and trip to the airport. The Gambles actually spent less than 48hrs in Melbourne but - man - did we fit a lot in!! So much fun!

For more photos of our fun, click here

Living in cities

2008-07-02T22:57:00.002+10:00

The Gambles spent last weekend in Melbourne - Sydney's arch-rival! A fantastically compact city, European in feel due to the river that runs through it and international, with its grid-pattern set out. We spent less than 48 hours there, flying in on Friday night 8pm, flying home Sunday 10am, but we had a good time, walking around the streets, mostly at night, and experiencing a new place.

After reading this article on what messages cities send us, and doing the natural comparisons between Melbourne and my beloved Sydney, what messages do they send?

Sydney has the gorgeous blue harbour that provides an openess that Melbourne does have. It is very sunny and the weather is temperate. It is also sprawling and can come across disorganised. Martin Place can be intimidating. I would think that Sydney tells you "you should be richer". Richer not just in monetary but in life-style terms, fitter, prettier, and have 'life-together' as even though on the surface its not organised, its working and got it all-together!

Melbourne is very organised and trendy. It has beautiful art-deco buildings, fairy-lit trees, wide streets, numerous shops, trams, lots of little bars and clubs and the river that commands the visitors to cross via one of its many ornate bridges. Melbourne is saying "you should be more cultured"; understand art/fashion/architecture/fine dining/classics. If you don't know about these things then obviously you shouldn't be here.

One thing that Melbourne contrastingly or ironically has though is a massive emphasis on sports, particularly AFL, cricket and tennis. The latter two fits with the "refined" nature of the city. These are imports from mother England. AFL however just blows all I've said out of the water! It's a bastardisation (for want of a better word) of european football, modified so it allows for all types of behaviour that are just under physical violence. (BTW the writer actually loves the game because of this) But, since it is played in winter, the intense, icy cold, reinforced by the southerly winds, calms down any uncultured behaviour, and limits it to a few cheers.

Melbourne or Sydney? I still choose Sydney. Not because of its message, because it is still called home.

(more detailed blog to follow)

Sophie Neill is born...

2008-06-26T22:13:00.005+10:00

(An excerpt from the diary of Julian Gamble)

Despite knowing of 28 babies born this year - and counting another 30 to be born before the end of December - this one seemed more moving.

Geoff was our best man - we had both known him since first year Uni - and now we all live in the inner West and go to church together - I go running with Geoff on Sunday mornings - there was a sense in which this was someone in our exact station in life experiencing something that was part of life but completely new and amazing - almost like when you first go a wedding for a close friend.

You can see more photos here.

Geoff and Amanda - even a day later (even after nine months) - both still seemed like they felt the whole situation was surreal. Like they'd had their breath knocked out of them. I felt it a bit too.

Someone said, "She'll be calling you Daddy now Geoff" - and we all paused to reflect on it. It didn't seem quite right - like it would take some getting used to.

(I am well aware that subsequent to this one can expect two decades of sleeplessness, worry, stubborn insubordinate attitudes, challenges to values and just plain drudgery - but I thought I'd capture the feelings of the moment. The sense of breathlessness.)

Mackay - Top things....

2008-06-14T23:03:00.007+10:00

(Another except from the diary of Julian Gamble...)

And if the blue sky mining company won't come to my rescue
If the sugar refining company won't save me
Who's gonna save me?
(With due respect to those impacted by the tragic incidents that occurred in Wittenoom, WA)
http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=116207

Welcome to Mackay - this is Midnight Oil Territory.

---

----

Given that our other reasons for coming had been exhausted. What do you do in Mackay/Sarina?
1. Sing Midnight oil songs
2. Look at Sugar Refineries
3. Go to the local 'Sugar Shed' and see the process of making Sugar
4. Sing Midnight Oil songs
5. Eat local home-made meat pies
6. Drive past sugar cane fields
7. Sing Midnight Oil songs
8. Swim in rainforest waterfalls

This is at the Sugar Shed in Sarina.

They crush sugar cane in front of you.

And give the resulting liquid in cups to you to drink.

The green liquid, tastes like sweet lawn clippings! (hence the need for sugar refineries)

Technically this is a 'Sugar Mill' - but the song is just too good!

Some blue sky over the coal port.

This is the place to buy home-made meat pies. The Pinnacle Hotel.

This is the rainforest pool.

When it's not quite cool you can swim in this.

Time for some more Midnight Oil....

Mackay: Quest for the Holy Grail...

2008-06-14T21:37:00.006+10:00

(Another except from the diary of Julian Gamble)

Indiana Jones: Archaeology is the search for fact... not truth. If it's truth you're looking for, Dr. Tyree's philosophy class is right down the hall.

Of all the possible discount virgin blue destinations - why go to Mackay?

A year or so ago I read Gavin Menzie's book - 1421 - the Year China discovered the world (American cover shown). I found it entertaining and it aroused my curiosity. (Conventional historians have slammed his hypothesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1421_hypothesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1421:_The_Year_China_Discovered_the_World).

I noted with interest that some of the sites mentioning evidence for this idea included Australia, in Bingatambee Bay, Jarvis Bay, Gympie and Mackay.

Having done some initial research on the web - there was too much not to capture my interest - if only in closing the matter off:
On the other hand, Gympie is not far from Sarina, where the somewhat more scholarly but eccentric Val Osborn claims to have found a Phoenician port. We may yet hear more of the ancient seafarers who supposedly reached Australian shores long before the seventeenth-century Dutch or even the dreaded sixteenth-century Portuguese (if these ever did reach the Big Brown Land).
http://www.csicop.org/sb/2004-09/tales.html

CAPTAIN Cook discovered Australia alright - for himself But the Phoenicians got there first. The evidence is presented by Val Osborn in a report upon his searchings on Sarina Site, backed by a brief video (available frorn Val Osborn, Lot 8, Armstrong Beach Road, Sarina Queensland 4737, Australia).

He first discovered the complex in 1990 and has established it had all the signs of a typical Phoenician colony settlement of the ancient sea kings dating from around B.C. 1060. There are similar sites around the North African coasts including Carthage and Tyre and Sidon as Mediterranean capitals from around B.C. 1500. The sea king trading era began with the Minos Kings out of Crete and Libya, ending at Carthage approximately B.C. 2000 to B.C. 400.

http://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/australia1.html

Val Osborn: The one at Sarina is some 800 metres long, the harbour wall, and the boulders are polished granite and they're set in iron slag cement and copper slag cement. And it's a monstrous thing. You could put three 200-foot vessels end to end in there and it's as calm as a milk pond and beautifully engineered. (ABC Radio National News 19/7/00)

http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s155664.htm

Freshwater Point Rocks Tour / 26 May, 9am. A tour of the rocks by Val Osborn. Discover the mysteries of this
fascinating area with local Val Osborn. The tour will start around 9am at low tide. A documentary will be shown at
Dragon Rocks Phone 4943 1963.
http://mackay.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/18576/Creative_Mackay_ebulletin_9_-_23_May_2008.pdf

The Sarina inlet covers some 3 kilometers of coastline with a shipyard, complete with slip; revelments, walls and gigantic stone fish traps. The cemetery was actually for cremation, bones being interred in ampora...
http://www.celticnz.co.nz/hot_mail2.htm

A wrecked Phoenician ship has been found on the West Australian coast. And other Phoenician evidence is found around the country. Near Sarina, Queensland, Val Osborne has discovered remains of a Phoenician port and mine from 900 BC.
http://www.beforeus.com/

The evidence being unearthed suggests the whole Sydney area had been explored, settled and farmed by thousands of colonists throughout the Bronze Age [2000-1400 BC]. My wife Heather and I are lately rapidly turning up find after find, often involving this mixed script. We have found it at the Cooktown pyramid/colony site; at Cairns, Sarina, Gympie, on the Logan River south of Brisbane; throughout the New England district and in Central Western New South Wales, at various places in Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory, and across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand.
http://www.mysteriousaustralia.com/egyptians_australia_mainpage.html

The complex was first discovered by Val Osborn in 1990. Almost a decade of research has indicated it to be a typical Phoenician Colony settlement of the ancient sea kings of around 1000BC. Such sites exist the World over and presently generate enormous controversy among historians and other academics.
http://www.awarenessquest.com/osborn.htm

http://www.awarenessquest.com/osborn.htm

So what do you think so far? Is it worth going to Sarina/Mackay to take a closer look? ("No Julian" I hear you respond, "It's actually that the internet brings all the crackpots together.").

Fair enough. How about "Any excuse for a holiday - and Mackay is as good as any other."

We stayed the night at the Sarina Beach Motel. The Motel Owner told us the following story:
"A local - a self-styled archaeologist - claimed to have discovered some relics a while back. There was quite a hoo-hah in the press about it at the time. Sydney Uni sent an archaeologist and a geologist up straight away - they stayed here in fact. They quickly dismissed everything they saw as natural formations and insignificant pieces. I told them I'd found some ancient coins in my backyard. When they asked me what they looked like - I told them they said 'Phoenecia - minus 2000 BC. There is nothing to see - it's sad really"

Bummer. Oh well - let's take a look around and see what we can see.

The local tourist infomation place has the following brochure:

It reads "There is considerable mystery surrounding the various cultural sites on Freshwater Point. There are remains of Aboriginal stone fish traps, as well as some other sites which are clearly non-Aboriginal. Some people think these may have been relics of the ancient Chinese voyages which set out in site of minerals, and which may have led to outposts on this part of the Australian coast. Others think that there may be even older links to Mediterrean cultures. "

Hmmmm. Don't know what to think. Let's take a look at the site.

Geologically - this place is off the chart. Pick any square metre of ground - and you will find a great mixture of rocks, sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic. You could teach my whole year 9 geology class with just a randomly gathered armful of rocks.

But this geological diversity is distracting and deceptive. In my hand I hold a piece of coral I found on the beach here - which just happens to look reminicent of a human hip-bone or knee-cap.

Here the algae on the rocks looks like ancient writing.

Here is is again - natural formations that look like ancient human activity.

Our conclusion:
* There is no dock - just naturally occurring rock formations
* There are no relics - just colonial keepsakes and deceptive geological formations
* Maybe the Chinese did come to Australia - but I doubt the Phonecians bothered
* The Gen 10 reference to Ophir is probably Zimbabwe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophir) not Australia
* Everybody wants their five minutes of fame

The Sydney Uni guys were right - geologically significant - but not historically.

Mackay - first impressions

2008-06-14T21:14:00.006+10:00

(From the diary of Julian Gamble...)

out on the patio - we sit
and the humidity - we breathe
we watched the lightning - break over cane fields
and laugh and think - this is Australia

The humidity hit us as we stepped off the plane - even in June. The airport carpark was bordered by a sugarcane field. This is Midnight Oil and Gangajang Territory.

The colours and the people here are more raw, more real. I think I can see why people feel moved to write poetry about this stuff.

As we drove down ashalt roads surrounded by sugar cane - the constant 'splat', 'splat' on our windscreen was not rain, but small bugs.

As I sit down to dinner a tacky touristy postcard I found and sent to my Mum last time I was on holiday in Queensland comes to mind. (If you were here - we'd have prawns and beer. But as you're not - I'll have the lot!) An expression of cheeky Australianism - and the joys of holidaying in Australia.

No female president

2008-06-04T22:49:00.003+10:00

I (Jo) admit that I have expressed these sentiments earlier today, but I have to say that I actually felt very sad to hear that Hillary had lost the Democrats nomination. I was really looking forward to a woman going for US President.

It made me think though that maybe the male-female gap or perceived imbalance is actually much wider than I realise. That a male, MINORITY leader would outdo a white FEMALE leader. It seems to be that race is not perceived as a barrier to leadership or perceived public opinion of competence but that sex is. Amazing!!

Of course, feminists have been saying this for ages and I have been very deaf to their cries. A product of the feminist movement - a female engineer, no forced to have children before 30, can get 3 months PAID maternity leave and enjoys salaries similar to my male peers - I really should of been more sensitive to this. However it has taken me by surprise.

But I am still keen to see how the US elections pan out, even without the potential first female president. Particularly as this link will say, the parallels between Obama and the amazing Matthew Santos from the West Wing are very clear. Can Obama complete the Santos script? West Wing is a great TV series and it would be pretty cool (if not spooky) that life would imitate art that way. West Wing carries (some say too) idealistic visions of the Whitehouse administration but, with the power and the responsibility they hold, I wouldn't mind at least hoping for some of that idealistic goodness in the new president.

Catching up with May

2008-06-04T22:28:00.007+10:00

Just like a lot of things in life, May seemed to rush right past the Gambles. Amongst the normal routine of working, ministry and social it felt like there wasn't much time left for anything else.

May had the following:
* Mother's day dinner in a Japanese restaurant
* Dinner with Will & Kay
* Jo playing lots of soccer for Interlions Concord - new club with sexy black and blue uniforms.
* Seeing "The Chaser" boys live at the Enmore
* eQuip women's conference
* Hanging out with the Birts, babysitting their 4 kids
* PTC exams for Jo on Ephesians
* Catching up with the Bradshaws, Sandra, Tracey and a whole lot more.
* Dawn's engagement party
* Amanda's baby shower
* The birth of Corren Jasper Ingersole
* Night time road trip to Newcastle to see Christie-Lee's Malawi information night

Here is a cute picture of Corren that Jo took on a visit up to Newcastle.

One particularly cool moment in May is where Jo took Ms Kaylene out to High Tea at the Sofitel Wentworth for her birthday. The Sofitel's twist on the traditional high tea is to add a tower of desserts. The towers starts with sandwiches and scones,

then moves a coffee cake, lemon meringue tarts and a berry cake and berry macaroons

to a chocolate cake and the summit of the tower - chocolate cones with strawberries and cream. Sugary heaven!

Us at tea

Long weekends

2008-06-04T21:44:00.007+10:00

Before the June long weekend comes, there needs to be an update on our previous long weekend, the ANZAC Day long weekend at the end of April.

The Gambles decided to take a gamble and hangout with the "Back to the Bush" group that consists of some of the Julian's old house mates and other acquaintances. It was basically a whole group of 20 random people who were all mildly connected to a certain A. Boorman hanging out in a stable in the Kangaroo Valley. Crazy idea in a gorgeous part of the world!

After a sleep in we headed down to Kangaroo Valley on Friday afternoon, enjoying the beautiful drive down into the valley and seeing all the autumn leaves. We dropped our gear at the ranch and sat around waiting for others to drop by. We we fortunate enough to share a small unit with another couple, the Beveridges, who had a 14 month old daughter Liz. Very cute kid who cried when she woke up but thankfully we could just go back to sleep.

(Fitzroy Falls)

Before the sun went down we went for a walk around Fitzroy Falls. Dinner that night was a BBQ and some good old retro dance music. it was good doing cooking and eating a large benches outside in an uncover area. It was nice meeting a whole stack of new people. One of the girls in the group had not actually met Mr Boorman but had met his parents and found out about the trip that way. This girl not only came for the weekend with random people but also somehow talked a friend from work, who lived in Brisbane, to fly down for the weekend. Crazy! But it was crazy fun. That night was spent telling ghost stories, eating and dancing.

(these photos are thanks to Lauren!)

Saturday, about half the group went for a 4 hour horse ride in the mountains around the ranch. This was an interesting experience as the area was slippery from rain. But we had great horses and it was challenging riding in near bush-bashing conditions. After we got back from horse riding, the other half had already headed out for a bushwalk so most of us headed to a local pie shop to have *seriously* the best pies in the world. The red wine and beef pies are awesome! Then we went into the main town of Kangaroo Valley to check out the shops and found some of the other people from the bush walk. Most people ended up at the pub whereas Julian and I ended up going back to the ranch for a nanna nap. That night, after our communal dinner of apricot chicken, rice and apple pie plus Dermot's birthday cake, about 10 of us went night driving to look for wombats. We drove to a local camping place that has *seriously* so many wombats there is actually a 24 hour security guard, hanging out in a little marquee to question all cars that come in. For about 30 minutes we drove around checking out the wombats that were just roaming around. It was quite amazing.

(Down town Kangaroo Valley)

Sunday was pack up day. About a quarter of the group left for a horse-ride where the rest of us packed up and just sat around and chilled. Though Saturday was nice and sunny, it rained quite a bit on Sunday. The Gambles headed back after lunch so that we could get back to Sydney for church. It was sad driving away from Kangaroo Valley - a truly beautiful spot. It would be nice to come back again and actually to some canoeing (something we missed due to rain) and maybe also to relax a little more. But a fun weekend all around. Thanks to Mr. Andrew for organising it!

Getting older - before the end of May

2008-05-29T11:13:00.002+10:00

A whole month has past and I realised that there has been nothing posted. I will use the normal excuse that things have been busy, but I won't go into the whys quite yet. That will have to wait until I have access to photos to decorate that entry.

What I will write about is that fact that I am feeling older. Still 6 months shy of the big 3-0, over the past few months of 2008 I have significantly felt age coming. The symptons include:
* Lack of memory - it's taking more effort to remember things
* Lack of energy - this could be from busyness that the reality is that I can't do as much as I use to.
* Lack of strength - my body takes a lot longer to warm up and warm down after sport. If I don't warm down I feel very sore the next day when previously warming up and down never actually crossed my mind.

But, in those obvious realities of age there are some real joys of getting old. These include:
* Confidence - A confidence in opinions and ideas that come from actually nearly 3 decades of experience of life.
* Wisdom - can actually understand that some things really do happen in cycles, patterns or have just happened before. This means I can be more patient, tolerant and objective, particularly when things are tough
* Skills - I have professional and personal skills that can help others that have come from experience (and nearly 10 years of professional work - on and off of course!)

It is interesting, the "getting old" experience. It actually comes as a little bit of a shock. At 25, the initial shock is "Wow, I'm 25, shouldn't I be an adult" and you realise you had these mis-conceptions of what "adult" was. After this you realise that being adult doesn't mean knowing everything. And you realise there is a lot you don't know and some of it you don't have to know. The thing with turning 30 is that I think some of the age is starting to feel in the muscles and joints. And that at 30 you actually do have a lot of experience to be able to confront, challenge, support and encourage others. Before hand it felt maybe a little too made up?

Anyways, love to know your thoughts.

Will post something that is more in the vein of previous blogs soon. Lots has been happening (and they include babies - but not ours!) :)

Only Sydney weekend

2008-04-20T21:26:00.009+10:00

On the weekend of Friday 11 April - Sunday 13 April, I (Jo) had a fantastic weekend that one could only do in Sydney.

It started on Friday night, when Julian took me, very spontaneously, for dinner in Balmain. We parked up near Rozelle and strolled down Darling St. It was a fairly warm night in April and enjoyed watching the sky turn night-black; looking at various shops and restaurants on the way and talking about the week and having a good download and exchange of thoughts. We were in no rush and didn't make up our minds for dinner until we were down the Balmain end of Darling St where we decided on Trojans.

Ate a great seafood meal - good Australiana type of food with asian and european mix - and then strolled back up to Rozelle to order a DVD from the infamous Red Room. Had a casual night watching "Good nigh and good luck." Good film.

Saturday, I started out early, with a 9am meeting at a local park. I spent the morning taking part in a local council initiative that included a photo safari of the local area before some major redevelopment works happen. We were accompanied by a professional photographer who gave us tips and advice when needed. And the photos will go up in the local area as part of an exhibition - a BEFORE and AFTER type of exhibit. It was great taking photos of the local area. It reminds me of what I like about going on holidays - have an excuse to take pictures! I think, if I took more pictures of where I am, I would feel more like on holidays! :)

After my photo safari, my friend Kay came over and we went op-shopping. Stacks of fun! Not only did we pick up some great bargains we also got to laugh at some ridiculously ugly clothes. We also picked up some baklava to have for dessert that night and also canifi - an arabic sweet similar to a cheese cake. We had this for afternoon tea. It was yummy (though way too much cream!)

Then, Kay and I did the superman transformation into our Red & White gear. We ate dinner at the local thai restaurant before hopping a bus to Olympic Stadium to watch the AFL game where Sydney Swans smashed the West Coast eagles (and also Barry Hall smashed something else!) It is so cool being in a sea of red & white, shouting cheers and boos, and singing the team song "Cheer cheer the red and the white" when the Sydney Swans had won. It's an awesome feeling! Extra awesome to beat our long time rivals by a massive margin. Also great just watching live AFL. Great sport!

On the way home (if you didn't think we had enough football) we stopped by the local pub to pick up our husbands who were watching the rugby union at the big screen there. We had a drink here before heading home for the sweet baklava that was awaiting us.

Sunday was the exercise day with 1 hour of badminton in the morning with girl friends before a soccer game with only 8 players (which meant I just had to work a lot harder). The weather was very Sydney, with a sunny morning, building to a very humid to hot lunch time before a cold front brought rain bucketing down in the afternoon. I was fortunate that I just got home with the thunderstorm cracked. I had watched the lightning as I drove home. Love the way the weather breaks like that! And love watching it from my balcony in my flat. After a relaxing afternoon had church at night. Then dinner at Bar Italia with the compulsory gelato for dessert. (note gelato picture is from Travotinos not Bar Italia but needed gelato shot)

Now where in the world can you enjoy the trendiness of Balmain & Liechhardt, eat a fantastic mix of fresh seafood, arabic sweets, thai, pub drinks and italian gelato, op shop, catch live AFL and rugby, play soccer and go to great church like Drummoyne Prebysterian all in a weekend?! Only in Sydney!! Love this city!

Crazy Weekend (what else is new?)

2008-04-05T19:15:00.012+11:00

March is over and in Sydney, the weather has turned from a late summer to mid-Autumn - it's cold now! Still sunny but there is a chill in the air. Winter is coming!

The Gambles ended a busy March with a BANG! Our church weekend away in Richmond plus a friend's wedding in Panania - all in one massive weekend!

The Church weekend away was awesome. Back at Merroo Conference Centre, one of the highlights, apart from seeing heaps of our church family and learning about how to encourage each other better, was the presence of our Thai friends. In particularly, Dong & Dim, two youth leaders from Khorat who we worked with in Dec 2006 & 2007. It was so nice to see their faces again and also to spend some time with them. We got to have dinner with them as well on the Monday after the weekend away. Below is a photo of them with people from church who went to Thailand in either 2006 or 2007 or both.

(thanks to Angela F for this photo)

On the Saturday, from 12 noon until 10:30pm at night, the Gambles were absent from the weekend away attending the wedding of Thomas and Bronwyn. Thomas is a brother in Christ who we went to uni with and also works with Julian. A wedding of cultures, not Indian and Aussie but Western Suburbs and the Shire, we particularly enjoyed hanging out with Dan & Angela Seidel, who we haven't seen in a long time. We went to the wedding in Panania, had an afternoon tea at Gloria Jeans Panania before a reception in Bankstown. We left the reception early (after the speeches but before the Bollywood dancing) in time to play some late night games back at Merroo.

(The amazing wedding cake - honey nougat and flourless chocolate!)

The bride and groom

Hanging out with Dan & Angela

Julian with the man of the moment, Thomas.

More photos of wedding click here

Wooh! Big weekend! Has taken us a week to recover! But then again, its been a big month. Goodbye March.... bring on April!