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But if you click on the link, it will take you to my new blog over at www.shapingthespace.net

Enjoy :)

I did it ! ...but not what you might think...

...yes, the "Great Blog Transfer Project of February 2009" continues, but tonight I needed something not involving CSS/HTML/whatever.

So why, dear readers, did I choose to succumb the the Facebook 25 Random Things meme?

Well partly because I was kinda-sorta-indirectly challenged by Jenni to turn it into a song after her highly entertaining video version.

And partly, as a fun way to start Valentine's Day, Diane and I decided we'd better respond to the tagging together (though Diane did hers in the more conventional manner).

The MP3 is a bit long, a bit "midnight-recording-whispery", a bit crap really, but I think fitting it all into a 4 minute "song" (I use the word loosely) is somewhat impressive. Though not near as impressive as the one take vocals the whole way through...there's clearly no mistakes in there...oh no...

I'm also fairly sure I don't want to use this as my February entry for Our Creative Community...but let's see how the month pans out :)



And since the likelihood you can hear what I'm singing is small, here's the things :

1. I’ve only ever broken bones doing wimpy things, like playing handball.
2. One of my front teeth is fake.
3. It’s fake because it got smashed out by a flying metal ruler.
4. Toilet paper must be over, not under. I will fix it if it’s not.
5. The consequences of my nut allergy are a refreshing change to choking to death.
6. Depending what theatre production I’m in, I’m either God, Satan or Fagin.
7. The first time I used a non-electric razor and shaving cream to shave was when I was 24.
8. The first word I knew how to read was ‘Niacin’. Thank you Cornflakes.
9. I’m only 72% of the man I used to be.
10. I never bothered crawling.
11. The first song I ever wrote was called ‘Rock-a-Bye-Bra’ when I was 4.
12. It was full of nonsense words.
13. It shall never be spoken of again.
14. I usually change my hairstyle at least every two years.
15. The fact my dad says ‘prorably’ for ‘probably’ only stopped annoying me when I was 27.
16. I dance in the car.
17. I wrote an album of songs about being jilted. And called it ‘Catharsis’.
18. None of my real life friends Twitter.
19. None of my real life friends blog.
20. I once played Dead Or Alive’s ‘Brand New Lover’ fifty times in one day. I still love that song.
21. The sourer the sweet/candy/lolly, the better.
22. The most fun thing we ever did in Barbershop Quartet was sing Motley Crue’s ‘Kickstart My Heart’ or 'Dr Feelgood'
23. The second most fun thing we ever did in Barbershop Quartet was hide from our bass, usually in cupboards. Sometimes for up to an hour. In one cupboard.
24. I was upgraded to business class on my first international flight, but I was 15 and too young to appreciate it.
25. I think ‘inconsiderate interlocutor’ is the best phrase I’ve heard all day.

A New (Personal) Record

Earlier today, I tweeted about the number of meetings I was having with staff.

Most were brief and of the "hey, howyadoin'?" variety, some a bit longer, all vital for me keeping my finger on the pulse of this company and its' most precious resource - the people.

After nearly 10 hours, I'm a little spaced, but I've managed to fit in 15 meetings - that's nearly half the permanents, and I saw a couple of the casuals too.

In retrospect, this might be a bit much in one day (especially since I'll likely be doing the other half tomorrow), but most of my staff don't work onsite for the vast majority of the time and I'm taking the opportunity while it's there.

In more exciting news (probably), my "long-awaited" blog transfer to the competition is getting closer...

Warbbler

Some days just need a little bit of light relief.

With all that's been happening with freaky weather down here this week, today is one of those days.

Thanks to @kmesiab who Twittered this and made me laugh.
Lots.
I still am.

Fire and Flood and Thankfulness

This past week, it has been really bizarre to be complaining about the heat in Sydney, because:

- Up north, 60% of Queensland was underwater with floods (that's like France and Spain, btw...Qld is Australia's second largest state, and 60% being underwater means a really big area)

- Down south, the worst bushfires in Australian history are blazing. As I write this, 108 people are confirmed dead, 750 homes have been lost, and it's far from over.

What on earth do I have to complain about here in my cushy life? Nothing at all. Sure my situation isn't perfect - whose is? - but what I don't have pales in comparison to the tragedy unfolding around me everyday, and I mean everyday, not just in the midst of these epic tragedies.

So I weep with those who are weeping, rejoice at how the nation is pulling together in support of those who have lost, and express my thankfulness - for life & Life.

Shake the Disease

This week I've had the privilege of helping one of my staff make some positive steps to get out of a rut he's been in. There's been a few tears along the way for both of us, and that's OK.

He doesn't know Jesus as his Lord, but he knows of Him. So in my search for a third-party counsellor who could help out and be completely unbiased, I was amazed and thrilled at how easy it was to find people who were both business-focussed and Christian.

So I'm praying for the seeds sown to be watered and tended over these next few months as we rearrange a few areas to enable this young man, who has never worked anywhere else in his life, to "shake the disease" of disinterest, regain the professional respect of this colleagues, and shine.

Acknowledging its existence is half the battle; there's still a long way to go until victory can be claimed. But he (we) will.

Meanwhile, some vintage Depeche Mode. I have no idea whether he knew this song would come flooding to my mind as soon as he used the title phrase - he knows I'm a Depche fan - but it did nonetheless.

Your love is like a heatwave (heatwave!)

I'm not really sure how to start this. The title doesn't give a good idea of the content really. Great song though

Maybe it should just be a fluff post, we all need those from time to time (I took all of 3 days to get to my first one I think) and it's been a while since a pure fluff post here, hasn't it?

Well...cute as these pics are, it's also a sad reminder that our wildlife is fragile, and with all the bad weather events happening at the moment around the world (we've got floods and heatwaves while the upper hemisphere freezes), these pics are a bit poignant as well, for me anyway.

So here we have an adorable young koala who has clearly become so heatstressed in the extreme conditions (days and days of +40C or +105F temps) that it was forced...
(a) out of its eucalypt tree, which is bizarre enough behaviour,
(b) into the shade of a house,
(c) to allow the inhabitants of said house to look after it, and
(d) to actually drink some water!
All totally irregular behaviour for a wild koala - or any koala when it comes to drinking; they usually get all their requirements from eucalypt leaves.

So, everyone together now...awwwwwwww.

Now, I'm sure I need to credit someone with giving me these photos, but as I've received the email from nearly everyone in Australia (perhaps a slight exaggeration), consider this my thanks :)