Refrigerator-rader

Today is fridge day. This means that the large fridge we were given as a gift is finally being fixed. Now this fridge was not given to us broken. It was given to us used, (read dying). and while we love it dearly, we can not store things in a fridge that does not stay cool.

Today the refrigerator man comes to help us out. (actually, he's here right now and just about to leave) and he took one look at it and said, "it doesn't look good". He sounded like a doctor delivering the news that the baby your expecting is likely to be dead-on-arrival. I thought it was a bit over dramatic. So far he's spent the last hour finding leaks. Yes, thats right not one leak, but lots of leaks.

Finally he called me into the kitchen to give the final diagnosis. "it's not good. Your valve, here (here here here and HERE) all leak. It will cost $$$$$$$$$$ to fix. What i can do for now is fill it up with gas and it will run for a bit, but it will all leak out and you'll be left with a bad fridge again".

"oh" i said.

He must really love fridges because he looked really upset that the fridge was on a quick path to the junk yard.

FAMEous

I think i've always wanted to be famous. I love the idea of having my name in print. Maybe seeing news reports about my daily activities would be kind of fun too.

"kristin went shopping today at her local mall WITHOUT makeup!"

Maybe not. I would have to work out strategies to deal with the media. Maybe constantly tell the media falsehoods and back them up with facts that don't fit.

Media: have you ever had sexual relations with this man?
Me: i have never seen that man in my life. But i have 10 pairs of his knickers in my
bed.

Somehow fame allude me still. No matter what i do i can never catch it. There is always some one who can do what i do better than me. Someone even does my own name better than me! I googled my name and i don't rank on the top 5! Turns out there is a woman who does art who ranks higher. and if i google my maiden name there is a skier who hold my name better than i!

Shakespear onces asked the question, "What is in a name?" He asked the question and then suggested that a name has no power over the being. Terry Pratchet says that words have enormous power. The name of an object changes it. What do i think? i think i should spend less time worrying where my name ranks on the world counter and pay more attention to stuff that really matters. Maybe like sweatshop nike....

Please Please PLEASE get a life foundation

Some times i can get carried away with the details. I love how the animaniacs poke fun at it:)

To Do List #22

Things to do on your wedding day

1. Get married
2. Get drunk (but not too drunk)
3. Smash into a undercover police van
4. Get shot
5. Die tragically but suspicously

VIDEO!

Okay, so i found the music video to everybody's gone to war.

Thought you might like to see it.

The feast of LOVE

In high school my bestest friend Jenne and i put on a production we entitled "The Agape Feast". This was no ordinary sort of feasty thing though. we went all out. We brought in people to play all the disciples, a few extra female disciples, servants, and occastionally even market people. We did it three years in a row. Now i can't speak for Jenne, but i had a lot of fun putting it all together. So i decided to do it again. Unfortunately, do to lack of funds, i can't hire Jenne to help me with this one.

At the end of high school i decided i wanted to put on another performance some time in the furture. So i carefully put all my scripts and paperwork into a folder and promptly lost it. So now i'm starting to put together another script and more information on the disciples. I know its a lot of work, but i'm really starting to have a lot of fun with it again!

Now its time for another SONG LYRIC!

I really like the sound of Nickelback. I have mixed feelings about most of their lyrics though. The song Animal is definitely one of my favourite being played at moment. Sadly the lyrics are not "wholesome" therefore I'll refrain from posting it. (but you can find them here if your interested)

Instead here are the lyrics to Nerina Pallot's song Everybody's Gone to War. As can been seen from the NeoEarth there are many American readers. If these lyrics offend, I'm sorry, but chances are the Animal lyrics would have been more provocative.

He says he's waited his whole damn life for this,
I knew him well when he was seventeen,
Now he's a man; he'll be dead by Christmas.

And so...
Everybody's going to war,
But we don't know what we're fighting for,
Don't tell me it's a worthy cause,
No cause could be so worthy.

If love is a drug, then I guess we're all sober,
If hope is a song then I guess it's all over,
How to have faith, when faith is a crime?
I don't want to die...
If God's on our side, then God is a joker,
Asleep on the job, his children fall over,
Running out through the door and straight to the sky,
I don't want to die...

For every man who wants to rule the world,
There'll be a man who just wants to be free,
[ these lyrics found on www.completealbumlyrics.com ]
What do we learn but what should not be learnt?
Too late to find a cure for this disease.

And so...
Everybody's going to war,
But we don't know what we're fighting for,
Don't tell me it's a worthy cause,
No cause could be so worthy.

If love is a drug, I guess we're all sober,
If hope is a song, I guess it's all over,
How to have faith, when faith is a crime?
I don't want to die...
If God's on our side, then God is a joker,
Asleep on the job, his children fall over,
Running out through the door, and straight to the sky,
I don't want to die...
I-I-I-I don't want to die,
I-I don't want to die...

I've got a friend, he's a pure-bred killing machine,
I think he might be dead by Christmas...

Defeat

After hearing that the only way to get my hair blond was to bleach it, I bought bleach. Mum figured that I had too much red in my hair and it would just turn orange. HA! I wanted to say, "little do you understand modern home bleaching!"

So I screwed up my courage and bleached my hair. But not all my courage was in for such a drastic action, especially with mother's warning still ringing in my ears, so I only bleached the lower half of my hair.

as I waited the full 40 minutes for it to take effect I noticed that the hair was definitely looking lighter! After the 40 minutes was up, I washed my hair and then quickly blow dried it to see its full effect.

Orange.

I hate it when my mother's right.

the Christmas Beetle

The name sounds festive and friendly. It sounds like it should be a special creature to be called the christmas beetle. But alas, its name, like so many others, is completely decieving.

Over the past few weeks i've noticed more and more beetles upside down (both dead and dying) in my house. i have no problem if these little guys want to frolick around the backyard but it is just not okay for them to choose my house to come and DIE in!

Just yesterday i found three beetles dead on my kitchen floor. I found another two in the dining room and finaly another two in the laundry. Last night a disoriented beetle flew in my EYE while i was falling asleep. This was the last straw. While i might find their name enduring, these little suckers are not welcome in my home! To quote Looney Toons, "You realise of course that, This means WAR!"

The Left over chocolate

I get this feeling after most parties. The people have left and most of the food is gone. All that remains is the few bits of chocolate, the mess that used to be considered a kitchen, and an empty house. It feels so good to celebrate and yet so good to stop.

Thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate my first steps to naturalisation!


*more photos from the party can be seen by clicking on the Flickr Badge.

Assassination and media frenzy

Stories of secret murders are usually found in the movies or in good history books. Rarely does a story of modern politics involve murder. Today happens to be one of those rare days when a political critic has had a near death experience and the media jumps to the conclusion of political assassination.

Of course, it is a political assassination that the Russians are being critised of so I'm not sure that the media has come all that far in the last fifty years. I mean, when was the last time the USA was involved in a political assassination? If the media is to be believed than..well...never. (history books might tell something different, but the media is smarter than historians)

But I'm starting to ramble....

The attempted assassination of Alexander Litvinenko, a former colonel in the Russian secret service and a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was carried out when Mr. Litvinenko met with a journalist at a restaurant to discuss the murder of another Putin critic earlier this year. A poison was slipped into his food or drink and he was admitted into hospital the next day.

It is still being investigated but the media is wondering what kind of journalist, after her interviewee has been hiding for six years would be so stupid as to poison him!

*pictured Alexander Litvinenko

BIG NEWS!

The news that i have waited four months to hear has finally arrived. I have been approved a visa to stay in the country! To celebrate this event we are having a party at our house from 2 pm Saturday (18 Nov) All are welcome!

AAARRRG!

I got another one. Those horrible forwards that just piss me off. It was posted as a myspace bulletin. I'll avoid pointing the finger at who sent this to me but this time, I saved it for you.

Why do we sleep in church, but when the ceremony is over we suddenly wake up?
Why is it so hard to talk about God, but so easy to talk about sex?
Why are we so bored when we look at a Christian magazine, but find it easy to read Playboy?
Why is it so easy to ignore a Godly myspace message, Yet we repost the nasty ones?
Why are churches getting smaller, But bars and clubs are growing?
Think about it, are you going to repost this?
Are you going to ignore it, cause you think you'll get laughed at?
Just remember God is always watching you.

Repost this as "Don't read if you're under 15."

80 % of you wont repost this.

The Lord said:
"If you deny me in front of your friends, I will deny you in front of my father"

Now lets look at this for a moment, shall we? The thing that JUMPS out at me is what to repost this as. "don't read if you're under 15". Sounds like your actually trying to trick people into reading. It is human nature to want to read something when it says you shouldn't. Plus it has that sort of I'm-a-sexual-bulletin sort of quality. Hmm, neither one of those sounds very 'truthful' and isn't that what real Christianity is about? I mean, Christ did say, "I am the TRUTH". (note lack of chapter and verse)

The other thing that got me was the quote from "the Lord". I love how it is unsupported with chapter and verse yet it gives a wonderful little guilt trip to the reader. You know, I don't think ANYTHING Jesus ever said was motivated by guilt tripping people into following Him. Maybe we should try to avoid guilt tripping people into Heaven.


"80 % of you wont repost this." hmmm, probably I'll get this sent to me another 50 times because people just can't stand the idea that they would be part of the majority. I mean, lets face it, we like to think we're unique and individual. We can't be part of everyone else!

Now it is an interesting idea that sex is more sociable acceptable to talk about than Christianity, but that is only in certain circles and in this generation. 50 years ago, our way of talking about sex was to avoid it at all costs. I mean, Lucy and Ricki didn't even sleep in the same bed for most of I Love Lucy.

So what is my point in ranting against another 'Christian' post. My point is that we don't have to be tricked into being a Christian. We don't have to trick others into it either. Christianity needs to be a real force in our lives that uses both our hearts and our heads. If it doesn't, it is nothing but leaking sewage.

[Repost this within 5 minutes or Jesus won't love you anymore.]

A great disappointment

After years of careful hair maintenance I finally decided to do something really crazy. I decided to die my hair. Not just any colour though, I decided I'd go blond! I had visions of bleached blond hair combed back and looking very chic. (think Gena Davis from Long Kiss Goodnight, pictured to the right) I imagined the blond would be starkly contrasted by my dark brown eyes.

What ended up happening was anything but startling. It turned out to be rather a pathetic sort of lighter-shade-of-brown. Hardly noticeable at all.

Le sigh.

U play WHAT?

You've played it, I'm sure. The infamous AIR GUITAR. Both musically gifted and musically challenged people play it. It is the one instrument we could be sure of not mucking up...Until now that is.

CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) has developed a t-shirt that reads the arm movements of the person wearing it and then sends the signals to a computer which interprets it as music.

While I will step back in awe at the creativity of these people, I still have an overwhelming urge to say, "WTF?!"

Word-ology

Redeploy. In grade school I was taught that the prefix 're' means again. 'deploy' means to arrange in a position of readiness, or to move strategically or appropriately. So "redeploy' means to arrange in a position of readiness again. WRONG! Apparently it means to move or allocate to a different position.

I learned this fact when I was reading the article about the democrats in the USA wanting to 'redeploy' troops from Iraq. Its interesting to me that the republicans are so viciously 'staying the course' of refusing to give a timeline for pulling troops out. Now personally, I can understand the strategic reasons for not giving a timeline. (1), it keeps the 'enemy' from the belief that they have won and (2) it allows the government to do whatever they want for however long they want.

Now I would love to go on about what could be so bad about letting the rest of the world solve thier own problems. I could say how the CIA is responsible for most of the instabilities in countries that have oil (like the middle east) and how the US president was the sort of man who is happy for middle eastern children to die if it upped his stalks in his oil company but i won't. I'm just too tied today to find all the links again to prove it.

Dead Like Me

Finding a TV series that both my husband and I enjoy is very difficult. Mostly because I enjoy crime and he enjoys sci-fi. Very rarely do these two meet. But we've found a series that we both can enjoy for the moment. Its called, Dead Like Me. We both enjoy it for the raw humour and the occasional mythologies about death. Its so nice to have a TV series that has a refreshing and interesting script. Koodos to the script writers!

my kingdom for a lawn mower

Our lawn is in a need of a mow...in a BAD way. the grass is so tall that i'm wondering if children have been lost in it. (the neightbour children, not ours!)

so i started looking into mowers. I already knew i wanted an electric (enviromentally friendly, for the most part) but i didn't realise there were so many types. check this out:


Electric – mains-powered
This lawn mower plugs straight into a normal wall socket and trails a cord behind it while you mow.

Pros No need to keep buying and storing petrol Light Less cumbersome than a petrol model More reliable Many mowers have as much power as petrol models Much better for then environment than petrol models

Cons Electric cord can be unsafe – you must install a safety switch Extension cord may be needed to mow whole garden Narrower cutting area than petrol models – longer mowing time Height adjustment may be cumbersome, or have less settings

Electric - battery
This lawn mower has all the advantages of electric power but is charged before use.

Pros Doesn’t have the safety problem of power cords Unrestricted movement

Cons Need to remember to charge before use, anywhere from half to one day.

Electric – hover (pictured)
This entry-level electric mower creates a cushion as the motor spins, allowing it to hover the ground.

Pros Cheap Very light

Cons Ineffective height adjustment Difficult to cut long grass properly

DID ANYONE ELSE KNOW THERE WAS SUCH A THING AS A HOVER MOWER???!!!!

Call Me When You're Sober- Evanescence

Don't cry to me
If you loved me
You would be here with me
You want me
Come find me
Make up your mind

Should I let you fall?
Lose it all?
So maybe you can remember yourself
Can't keep believing
We're only deceiving ourselves
And I'm sick of the lie
And you're too late

Don't cry to me
If you loved me
You would be here with me
You want me
Come find me
Make up your mind

Couldn't take the blame
Sick with shame
Must be exhausting to lose your own game
Selfishly hated
No wonder you're jaded
You can't play the victim this time
And you're too late

So don't cry to me
If you loved me
You would be here with me
You want me
Come find me
Make up your mind

You never call me when you're sober
You only want it cause it's over
It's over

How could I have burned paradise?
How could I - you were never mine

So don't cry to me
If you loved me
You would be here with me
Don't lie to me
Just get your things
I've made up your mind

The Very Secret Diaries

I love Lord of the Rings. The books made me cry and the movie, well, it made me cry too but for different reasons.

Anyway, my point is not to talk about the books or movies, but to tell you about the VERY SECRET DIARIES. Apparently the members of the fellowship of the ring all kept secret diaries of their trip. You can find these diaries here.

However, before you click on the link, let me just say, ONLY OPEN IT IF YOU HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOUR! Very important because if you love these characters and can not even imagine any one warping their characters, DO NOT OPEN! (Clansi, this will probably apply to you)

But to other people who have no soul and enjoy a good laugh at literature's expense, ENJOY.

Have u heard?

Our culture can be a wonderful thing. It can be a great way of expressing ourselves. It influences us in ways we don't even realise. I suppose that can be a problem. Culture seems like a babbling brook the way it transforms and changes, carrying us with it over time. The problem is when we try to move against it, we will find it is a raging rapid that is flowing in the opposite direction.

I'm not going to say that we should all try to fight our culture. I think there are aspects of each culture that should be cherished, but I do think it is a wise idea to step back and try and see our own culture for what it is really telling us.

Humour is often the best way to see ourselves. I love Adbusters. They work at helping society see its culture and weed out some of the stuff we really don't want in there. They specifically deal with the media culture, but its definitely worth a look.

Mystery Solved

We regularly get a newspaper at our house. It isn't one that we particularly want, it just shows up. Now the mystery isn't how the paper gets there, I know that one, the paper girl brings it. The real mystery is why the edges are all ragged. It's like some tiny monster has taken it upon itself to hack the edges with a blunt sword! I was pondering why these small monsters would do such a thing while walking around the neighbourhood today. As I walked past a neighbour's house, I noticed that they had two large birds in their front yard. They were eating whatever they could find there. It suddenly made perfect sense! The birds were eating my paper not some small monster! A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I realised that I didn't have to start considering poison for small monsters. I mean after all, it's only a matter of time before the birds get ink poisoning.

My addiction for the week

I'm not a gamer. I think anyone who as ever seen me try and win at pac-man would agree. Still, I do enjoy a good game every now and again. Mind you, my idea of a good game is Commander Keen or Bejeweled. So in the gaming world, I'm a putz.

Thus, it was a big surprise that I took over Chris' massively-multiplayer game, MapleStory. Its kind of a cheesy sort of game but I love it. Can't stop playing. In fact, I played for most of today. (Hence, no blog post til late)

Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know that I hadn't forgotten all my faithful readers. I just went on a quick holiday. But don't fret, I really will break the addiction and be back soon...tomorrow in fact. (I should be able to make it to level 20 by then)

Stand up?

Yesterday we received our first visit from the Jehovah's Witnesses. We were not home (fortunately) so they left us a pamphlet. As I read over some of the headings I was surprised at how closely their views tie with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. But what I was MORE interested in was how strongly worded the pamphlet was! They called all religions who ordain homosexual clergy 'false' religions. They said any church who protected child molesters was 'evil'. I was shocked! I have seen these sorts of pamphlets before, for my own denomination even! but not ones that were published in my lifetime!

Its interesting how a religion or a denomination that begins with such fire soon cools to a moderately warm church. The official stand for many of the churches is not to get involved in current events. They don't want to pass judgment on anything that happens. In the end, the members feel as if they have nothing to say to the world around them. They are not involved.

While I may not agree with everything our church used to say it stood for, it sure would be nice to know where they currently stand.

Video Hits

I've always hated Axel Whitehead. (what sort of an idiot has a name, "axel whitehead"??? Either his mother didn't love him or he's an idiot...well, the latter is always true.) If you don't know the name, its probably cause you don't subject yourself to Video Hits every Saturday or Sunday morning. He's the host. Or at least he was until he pretended to masturbate over an ARIA Award.

Now I'll admit I like to watch a bit of Video Hits. I enjoy how film makers choose to use the length of a song to tell a story. Some do it better than others and I enjoy critiquing them. What I don't like is the host. He may have a half way decent personality, but he is a terrible interviewer! Not just that, he has no onscreen charm! The only 'charm' you ever saw emanated from the people he was interviewing!

anyway, he's gone now. I just hope the new person has a bit more onscreen personality!

Technologically Impaired

Please don't think I'd ever illegally take a movie, television series, or music off the net. (especially if you're part of the entertainment industry) But I was thinking today about how the torrent downloads were changing our way of life.

In the western world we are often shaped, not only by our friends and family, but by the entertainment we are subjected to. I can not tell the kind of mental anguish I was forced to endure every Christmas as my family sat down to watch Scrooge, the musical. But it wasn't only the Christmas season that brought on old movies and strange traditions. My mother regularly encouraged us to watch things like, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. As crazy as it may seem, I began to enjoy the old movies. They showed a light into the past, where values were different. Watching a movie made in the 1950s is almost like watching a foreign film. So much of the language, culture and style are so unique!

With the torrent craze, it almost ensures that young people never learn anything about the old culture. They may hear stories but they will not have the personal contact that movies allow. While I appreciate the concept of the torrent, I just wish that there was a place to download all the great classics and few of the great independent films!

Colour!

Okay, i found an advertisement that i thought was beautiful. Not in the romantic walks on the beach, beautiful but in the 70,000 liters of paint exploding sort of beautiful. Go watch the clip then come back and appreciate the stats.

70,000 litres of paint
358 single bottle bombs
33 sextuple air cluster bombs
22 Triple hung cluster bombs
268 mortars
33 Triple Mortars
22 Double mortars
358 meters of weld
330 meters of steel pipe

57 km of copper wire

thanks to ChumpStyle for this.

Just a thought

I have been reading a lot of blogs this week. Mostly in a shameless attempt to promote my movie clip. But as i randomly surfed the blogging world, i came accross this Professor Leeper's site. I found myself really engaging in his reviews of films. I admit that Brazil was never one of my favourite films, but i now have a new desire to watch it. He raised some interesting ideas about whether you could classify this film as christian or not...

In short, i found Prof Leeper's site to be as engaging as many of the classes by Daniel Reynaud.

Good news is hard to find. It seems that with every bit of good news that comes out, there is a glaring possibility that it will suddenly become sinister. This doesnt' mean i'm not interesting in continuing to try for good news, in fact, recently i found (blog) RED. I really enjoyed it. Hurray for a bit of good news now and again!