Welcome to LivingRoom! Pull up a bean bag, grab a coffee and chat with us for a while about Emerging Church, Blogging, Faith and other General Silliness from South of the Equator.
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Thanks to the many generous readers from this blog who were very supportive on Thursday during my Blogathon. After the 24 hours it looks like we raised just under $1000 USD which was almost double last year. I'm looking forward to passing the money donated onto Oak Tree Foundation for their Tsunami Appeal in the next week or so. I've also enjoyed a couple of days since it all finished early in the morning on Friday without too much blogging!
This is just a short note to let readers of this blog know about our efforts to make a difference in the lives of children impacted by the Tsunami. We've all seen the footage and images of those waves of destruction and have heard the many appeals for donations. We have been impacted by what we've seen and heard and want to do what we can to make a difference.
As a result - Darren Rowse, the owner and editor of this blog, will be conducting a special 24 hour Blogathon appeal to raise money for the cause. By Blogathon we simply mean that he will be writing one post every 15 minutes on this site for 24 hours. We would ask that you drop by the site and consider making a donation to the cause via credit card through the button you'll see there in the right hand menu. All money raised through donations and sponsorships (you can buy an ad or text link) on that site or any other site in our network over the 24 hours will be donated to a local charity - the Oak Tree Foundation. The blogathon will start at 3am on Thursday (20th Jan 05) - Melbourne Australia time.
Please consider taking a moment to consider a donation today. In the mean time there will be a short break in blogging on this site whilst the appeal takes place. We'll be back with all the normal news and reviews here shortly.
Just a reminder that next Thursday I'm blogging for 24 hours in my annual blogathon to raise money for victims of the Tsunami.
Last year the main reason I got through the 112 posts that I completed was that I had a whole heap of reader questions to answer. People asked about LivingRoom, about life in Australia, about my personal life or story, about my experience as a blogger etc.
I'm taking questions again here in comments below. You can ask anything and I'll do my best to answer anything unless it goes against one of the boundaries that I set myself in my blogging - pretty much anything will go.
I'm also taking your suggested links, articles, blogs, sites that I can blog about during the 24 hours - if you have any funny, interesting, insightful or bizarre links for me feel free to leave them below.
Otherwise - tune into my blogathon blog on Thursday for all the fun and shenanigans. I'll try to limit the toilet humor this year to under 4% of the posts - unless of course I get desperate because you don't help me out with some links below!
PS: I'm still looking for a sponsor/s for the site I'm open to offers on text links, banner links editorial space. Will sell virtually any space on the site in return for your donations to the cause - let me know if you're interested.
I believe that Blogging can make a difference not only to those doing the blogging but the wider community. This is your chance to join me in such a project.
On Thursday 20 January I will be blogging for 24 hours straight with at least one post every 15 minutes to raise money for victims of the Tsunami. I'll be doing all the blogging on the day over at this blogathon site and would like to invite you to be a part of the project.
You can support the project in a number of ways - either by a direct donation, sponsoring the site (I'll leave your ads up forever!), by helping promote the project or by helping me out with content or proof reading.
I'm particularly seeking some marketing savy bloggers to help get the word out through the blogosphere about the project as the more who hear about it and visit the site the more we'll be able to raise through donation or via sponsorship.
I'd also love someone with some design skills to design me a little button to promote the blogathon that I can give to other bloggers to put on their sites. Doesn't have to be anything too amazing - if it could just say something like 'Tsunami Blogathon' or something similar. Any takers?
I'm attempting to make the project as transparent and accountable as possible so that 100% of all money raised goes through to our chosen charity who are doing some great work in the Tsunami affected areas.
Please don't hesitate to contact me as soon as possible if you have any ideas or would like to lend a hand to the project.
Last January I decided to raise a little money for a cause that I was passionate about by doing a 24 hour Blogathon. I started the process at 3.52am on 21 January and ended at 3.51am on 22 January.
We ended up raising $540US to go towards buying Filipino families 'pedicabs' to give them a way of earning an ongoing income for their family. We reached our goal of buying two pedicabs and I'm happy to report that the first two families have received and are paying off their pedicabs (the project we donated to loans money to families to set themselves up in business which they pay back over 12 months - the money is then used to repeat the process every year with a new family).
Anyway - this year I've decided to do the blogathon again at a similar time to last year (mid January). I'm yet to settle on an actual date but have decided to that the money raised this time around will go to a charity who is working in countries affected by the Boxing Day Tsunami.
I'll write more about it as it gets closer but thought I'd let people know in advance. As with last time I'd love to get your involvement in as many ways as possible. You can obviously help by making a donation on the day - but other ways of helping out would include:
- ask me a question/s in comments below for me to answer on the day (last time I posted 112 or so posts over the 24 hours - it is hard to come up with topics for them all)
- spread the word about the event to try to get people to the project (I'll be running it on a purpose built blog this year)
- keep my company on the day and proof read my postings (last year a number of other bloggers read through a lot of my posts and pointed out some of the bigger mistakes that I made in my sleep deprived state)
If you'd like to be involved just let me know in comments below or shoot me an email.
Here are the nominated Underbloggers starting with letters U to Z
Wow - what a response we've had to the Celebrating the Underblogger 2004 project. For those of you who don't know about it yet, last night I invited blog readers and owners to nominate quality blogs that deserved more attention than they get. 12 hours later over 260 blog have already been nominated - eclipsing last year's 100 Underbloggers. This was largely due to one big link up and the ensuing generous links from many other bloggers. Thanks to all who have nominated and linked up so far - it is not too late to participate - nominate your favorite under bloggers here.
(If you are an underblogger you might be interested in these Blog Tips)
Due to the large response I will be breaking down the nominated Underbloggers into alphabetical sections - here are Underbloggers starting with the letters U to Z.
Undercaffeinated | Underneath the Dogwood | Unlearning College | The Unmentionables | Uptown Girl | Venezuela News and Views | The View from the Foothills | View from the Pew | Vindication | Voice of a Veteran | Waistdog | Walter In Denver | Warblogging | War Liberal | Watersea's Ocean Bloggie | Where the Dolphins Play | where the hell was i | whichwayup.org | Whomping Willow | Who Tends the Fires | Why Are We Back In Iraq? | Wolves | Write Lightning | A Welsh View | WildfireJo | Winning Arguement | wired article | Words for My Enjoyment | The World According to Nick | The World Around You | The World Wide Rant | X-entertainment | X-Republic | XX | You Bitch | Yumatech | zealous.org | Zenpundit | Zone:38 | Zero Intelligence.Net | Zuky
See the Complete Collection of Underbloggers: A - C | D - H | I - L | M - Q | R - T | U - Z
The key now is to do some surfing of some of these quality blogs. This project is useless unless we check out some of these bloggers and link up to them ourselves. Lets help some of these underbloggers to get the attention they deserve.
All care has been given to getting above details correct, however due to large numbers of bloggers nominated I have not been able to quality control links yet and have relied on the code submitted by nominators. I'm doing my best to get it right but feel free to email me with corrections.
Just logged on to find that Nester, my friend from Manila who heads up International Needs there dropped by the blog today. The IN staff in Melbourne must have let him know what I was doing. Nester left this message in comments.
'Thanks Darren. We have just done our review and evaluation on the development of pedicab project and we found out that there is an increase of 200% income in each family who owned a pedicab thru this project. 8 families were already benefited on this. Nestor'
Did you hear that? - I wish I had that stat when I started. The provision of a pedicab to a family increases their earning capacity by 200%! And a new family benefits every year from a one off gift. I'm excited that with just a bit of effort we've had a significant impact.
Please forgive me for not posting today - I think I needed a break. I slept in til 1pm this afternoon and have been feeling pretty dodgy today, but will be fine after another sleep tonight.
Thanks again for your support yesterday. It was quite an interesting day. I 'met' some new blog readers for the first time - quite a few people popped by for a chat on messenger which was great.
All up I ended posting 112 time (I left one out of the count previously). Those posts had a total of 17895 words (how many would I need for a book? I drank almost 2 liters of diet coke, 1 family sized block of chocolate and numerous coffees.
The easiest part was the first 8 hours - the hardest was the last 5. I didn't mind sitting at the computer all day - physically it was fine - the hard part was the concentration it too to be constantly thinking of things to write and of getting my html and formatting correct (thanks to my proof readers who kept me up to date with my numerous mistakes).
There have been a couple more donations since I finished - I don't have the total at hand yet but we are still short of a second pedicab. I will post an updated figure soon. Donations can still be made via the Paypal buttons on this page.
I'm out all day tomorrow at the Australian Open Tennis (watch for me on TV) - but blogging will resume with some normalcy over the weekend.
Peace.
Blogathon - Entry 111 - Last Post
Well the time has come for sleep as 3.50am approaches.
Thankyou to all who have participated in the last 24 hours in a huge variety of ways. To those who have contributed financially — I appreciate your generosity greatly.
Thanks to V for her patience and understanding during the last day.
Thanks also to those who have emailed, commented and chatted to me off and on throughout the day on messenger. Your encouragement has kept me going.
Thanks to those who provided me with questions to blog about and sent me links to post — without you I'd have only got through 12 hours.
Thanks to Rachel who provided me with the 'Blogathon' button.
Lastly to those who have linked to me during and leading up to the past 24 hour hours. I appreciate your efforts to get readers over here.
The donation tally is currently at $375US. So we've raised enough for one and a half pedicabs. If you'd like to help us get it up to two pedicabs there is still time to donate using the following button.
I will leave it open to donate for the next day or two before sending the money off to International Needs.
Thanks for the huge effort friends. Its been fun.
Blogathon - Entry 110
It is pretty easy to feel sorry for yourself about your financial position in the world we live in. The bills pile up, the boss doesn't give you that raise and you can't update your latest gadget. Honestly sometimes money gets me down.
Can I suggest you head over to the
Blogathon - Entry 109
Andy asks — 'Quiet times is something I think every Christian struggles with at some stage, but keeping close to God is one of the most important part of being a Christian...
When do you make the time? What do you do? How long for? How do you keep it fresh? What if any materials do you use? Where do you get them from? How do you keep yourself disciplined? Do you ever have lapse's?
I always struggled with having quiet times, that was until I decided to stop having them. Let me explain...
I know I've just said the unthinkable for many Christians but I just found that after years of guilt building up after committing to have them and then failing to do so was too much. I got to a point where I realised that a relationship with Jesus was so much more than setting aside a few minutes to spend with him a day. So I stopped having them.
Having said that — I do pray and I do read Scripture. In fact I do it most days in some form or another. I try to mix things up. I don't respond to routine too well. Rather some days I pray while I go for a walk. Other days I write my prayers or even write out Scripture. Sometimes I try to memorise verses.
I find some of the ancient methods of prayer helpful but also like to find and design new ways also.
I also like to read books from time to time. Not just to get information but to pray through them. I reflect upon them as I read.
From time to time I set aside half a day or even a full day to go meditate. The beach is good for this.
I don't have the magical answer as to how to bring it alive. Having said all of the above I find that there are periods where it all seems to 'click' and come together — yet there are other times when I struggle to connect at all.
I'm interested in others experiences — what have you found helpful?
Blogathon Entry 108
Here's an interesting article on a Scientist who tries to explain the parting of the Red Sea using Physics.
'The study, published in the Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences and reported upon today in The Moscow Times, concluded that a reef running to the north side of the Red Sea could have been the "dry land" upon which the Jews crossed the sea, provided that a 30-meter-per-second wind blew across the sea all night. The cessation of the wind would then lead to the drowning of the pursuing Egyptian forces, trapped on the reef as the waters returned, as recorded in the Bible.' Source
Blogathon - Entry 105
I can't remember where I found this link - but its quite amusing.
Blogathon - Entry 103
Pholph's Scrabble Generator        My Scrabble© Score is: 16. What is your score? Get it here. |
Blogathon - Entry 102
I wonder if you're allowed to wear one of these on planes or would it get picked up at airport security?
I bet high school kids everywhere are driving their teachers crazy with this one! I wish I'd had one when I was 13.
Blogathon - Entry 100
Wow - 100 posts in 22.5 hours.
I feel like we've covered so many topics - I could write a book if any of it made some sense.
So which one go the most attention? Wad or Fold - Over or Under of course, as if anything else could compete!
1.5 hours to go. It is time for a posting frenzy!
Blogathon - Entry 98
Got a question that you need answered but don't know where to find one?
Blogathon - Entry 97
It seems comments may have gone down. Not sure how that happens on MT - might be a temporary thing. Will try to rectify it in the morning. Til then - contact me through email or msn messenger.
update - I just fixed the problem, it was my spam filter.
Don't forget the reason for this blogathon - would love to raise a bit more money for the pedicab project in Manila. You can give through the above paypal link.
Blogathon - Entry 95
The Journey is suggesting that Steve Irwin, Dame Edna or Rolf Harris should present the Australian version of Alpha course.
I'd like to see them share the responsibility. Maybe Eddie Macquire could join in too - he's in everything else.
Sorry overseas friends - this may not relate so well. Some of those might not be known.
Blogathon - Entry 94
Is late night television the same all over the world? Its very bad here.
Blogathon - Entry 93
Written before the Christmas rush Consumption Manifesto is a fascinating article about 'How to streamline your life and still enjoy the heck out of it '. I wish I'd seen it earlier. Here is the intro:
Consumption is one of life's great pleasures. Buying things we crave, traveling to beautiful places, eating delectable food, owning every Stevie Wonder album: icing on the cake of life. But too often the effects of our blissful consumption make for a sad story. Giant cars exhaling dangerous exhaust, hog farms pumping out noxious pollutants, toxic trash heaps nudging into poor neighborhoods -- none of this if there weren't something to sell.
But there's no need to swap pleasure for guilt. With thoughtfulness and commitment, consumption can be a force for good. Too long have we consumers played the part of a blushing bride overwhelmed by business suitors. It's time for the bride to assert herself. We've got the dowry; we have the purchasing power. We can require our suitors to comply with our vision of environmental stewardship -- or we can close the door behind them on their way out. Through buying what we need, produced the way we want, we can create the world we'd like to live in.
Blogathon - Entry 91
Diddle asks — 'What are the difference(s) between an Emerging Church, and a well-run small group? I'm currently half way through a short course on small groups, and we're learning that small groups are basically like a mini-church: worship, pastoral care, discipleship, etc etc.... Just interested in your thoughts!'
Great question mate. In many ways I would say that a small group can be a church. There is a lot of overlap. A lot of it depends upon the attitude of the group and the church.
At Living Room each member sees what we do as their Church. They are committed to it and it is their primary place of gathering for worship, teaching, prayer etc with other Christians.
Most small groups I've been a part of see the small group as an extra or as something they go to but 'real church' happens on the Sunday morning or night. If you don't go on Sunday its often seen as not going to church even if you are a dynamic part of the smaller group.
Not sure if I've answered that very clearly — these serious questions are probably not best answered when you've been writing for hours on end! J
Anyone else got anything to add to the difference between an Emerging Church and a well run small group?
Blogathon - Entry 90
Ever wondered what the world's biggest flower is? Ok, neither have I. But when I saw the link I was.
It can have a diameter up to one meter and can weigh up to 10 kilograms. That's some flower!
Check it out at
Blogathon - Entry 88 - Joint post with Why digital cameras = better photographers, argues that Digital photography is not only a cheaper option, but also one that improves the skills of those that use them.
'Digital cameras don't only eliminate the cost and hassle of film processing, they should help do away with bad holiday snaps and see us all become better photographers.'
It goes on to give 5 ways this is the case:
1. SHOOT AT WILL
2. EXPERIMENT
3. FORGET FILM
4. COMPOSE FROM A DISTANCE
5. PHOTO-EDITING SOFTWARE
Blogathon - Entry 87
The usual suspects seem to appear in this years nominations of the Bloggies. There are some quality blogs listed of course - but I didn't really find anything too new there I'm afraid. Only one of the blogs I nominated made the cut.
Who is your blog of the year?
Blogathon - Entry 86
How is your eye for fonts? Do you have a discerning eye that is up for the challenge of picking which is which?
Head over to
Blogathon - Entry 85
This is my 1000th post since starting this blog in November 2002. Thats about 2.5 posts per day - although today has obviously skewed those results with almost 10% of the total being posted in 24 hours.
In the time there have been 4203 Comments have been left (although I lost quite a few comments off earlier posts in the change to MT). I might have to have a prize for the 5000th comment posted when we get there.
Anyway - on with the job at hand - celebration over.
Anyone out there want to make a donation to the pedicab project? Its been a couple of hours or more since the last donation - we seem to have hit the wall a tad at one and a half pedicabs. Please consider.
Blogathon Entry 83
Blogging 101 is a great introduction to blogs and blogging. It covers a great deal of information including:
- history of blogging
- parts - the anatomy of a blog
- read/write - reasons to read and write blogs
- find - how to find blogs
- create - how to make a blog
- readings - books on blogging
Blogathon Entry 82
Tanya asks - 'Your "church" sounds like a great idea, I'm wondering how you reach out to others and if your church works well with small groups? Do you have a limit on numbers (cos wouldn't that go against the evangelistic approach?) and if you have lots of small groups going how are they organized? Or is that the beauty of it, that it isn't an organized structure?'
Ok some of this is covered in previous answers. But here are a few extra comments.
How do we reach out? I guess we've been challenged as a group to think about evangelism as being centered around relationships. We don't have major events or rallies or anything formal — but rather focus on encouraging one another to work on our relationships and friendships. We also don't see evangelism as something that individuals do in isolation but rather it is something that our community does, as a result we are trying to be more involved in each others lives so we know one anothers friends and forming friendships with them also. A lot of our activities happen around 'normal' routines or rhythms of life. So we have parties, meals, picnics, see movies etc.
We don't have a limit on numbers however we are pretty committed to being small. How does that work? Well I suspect that when we get larger we will start another 'livingroom' type group. Rather than grow by adding members into one unit I'd like to see us multiplying but growing and starting new ones. There would be times where all groups would meet together, but primarily church would happen in the smaller groups.
As far as structure goes — we try to have a balance to letting it be organic enough to evolve and grow naturally in whatever direction God might want to take us — but with enough structure to keep us accountable to our core values. This is a challenge but we're doing ok so far.
Blogathon Entry 79
Rich asks: 'I am intrigued to know the history of Living Room. What was the inspiration to start it? How did you make preparations to start it? What kind of financial base did it take, leadership support, etc? What kind of resources were useful in establishing it? What kind of relationships did you call upon to start it? Finally, do you find yourself engaged in much alt worship as part of Living Room?'
There is some overlap in those questions - check out my 2 previous posts for a lot of the answers. Part 1 and Part 2
Here are some further thoughts.
Financially I was given a generous grant from our denomination to help start Living Room. Basically it funds me at a half time rate over 2 years which has been most helpful. It ends at the end of 2004 so we have some important decisions to make.
Leadership support comes from a number of places - I meet with other local ministers from my denomination on a fortnightly basis for sharing, prayer and support. I also meet with a denomination person every couple of months and submit quarterly reports. I am also very involved with an Emerging/Missional Church network which gives me great support.
Resources - I'm not the biggest book reader in the world so the most helpful things were really people. I talked lots to others doing similar things. I'm lucky that here in Melbourne there are a lot of people experimenting with new forms of church. Also the blog has been incredibly helpful in gathering ideas and connecting with others. The course Ignition was really helpful in our initial formation and gave us a good missional language to base a lot of what we do upon.
Alt Worship - Whilst I understand the concept behind Alt Worship pretty well I always find it hard to define what worship is 'Alt' and what is not. I would answer yes to your question - but suspect that others may not see it as such. We are always trying new things. Yet because we are very small we don't do big installation worship things or use lots of projections etc. A lot of our worship is more around contemplation, meditation etc. It is generally pretty creative and 'different' to what most churches would do — but I'm not sure it fits into the some of what the bigger 'Alt Worship' groups do.
Blogathon Entry 78
Check out this interesting post which has some interesting discussion going on under it.
Blogathon Entry 77
Martin asks - 'Do you have any thoughts on Rick Warren's “The Purpose Driven Life”? I've seen several somewhat derogatory comments about it from Christian bloggers — even from some of the “conservative” Christian bloggers. Sure, it's formulaic, but I personally found it an inspiring book, and am planning to use it for my new Bible study group, which starts soon. Do you know anyone who's used it?'
Good question - not one I can answer from personal experience as I have not read the book. However I do know a number of people who have read and used it in groups. A family member swears by it and uses it a lot with people.
Here are some of my thoughts - keep in mind my lack of sleep.
I'm not a big one for formulas - my personality is not that structures - but I'm not opposed to them for others. I guess my test is if it is a life giving holistic approach to faith.
I worry when books tell people to focus only on one thing and side track them on only one part of Christ's call. I also get a little concerned with books that are of the naval gazing variety.
Lastly I get concerned with books that present 'the answer'. Ie if you follow this method you will have an amazing faith. I believe God made us each to relate to him differently from one another, we each have our own styles and personalities and I'm a big believer in these coming out naturally in our journey with God.
From what I have heard about Purpose Driven Life from people I trust - it doesn't ring any of the above bells. However I don't know that for myself.
I'm open to it, but probably will not rush out and buy it.
What did you like most about it Martin? What have others thought of it?
Blogathon Entry 76
Did you ever make snowflakes as a child by folding up paper and chopping little bits out of it?
Thanks Cam for the link.
Blogathon Entry 75
Ever wished the bible was shorter? Well someone has come up with a Comments (1)
Blogathon Entry 74
Here is how mine looks like combined with Tall Skinny Kiwi - I think it looks better with my content — but don't tell him! :-)
Update: It isn't working right now with that combination of sites because mine is too big after 75 entries in one day. Try it tomorrow and it should work better.
Blogathon Entry 73
I think America is asleep - Australia has gone home from work and Europe are only just waking up. No one seems to be on the site. I'm alone...going crazy....and there is still 7 hours to go!!!
Ok, this calls for drastic measures - except I have no idea what they might be. Any suggestions on drastic measures?
Ok - got to pull myself together, get back on track.
Blogathon Entry 72
Have you noticed an increase in political blogging lately? Or is it just me? With the US elections still 10 months away I have already noticed a considerable increase in blogging about it. To be fair I've also noticed an increase in media coverage in other forms also.
I suspect that we'll see this increase incredibly in the lead up to November and wonder what implications it might have on the blogosphere as a whole.
- I suspect that one implication will be that it brings an influx of new bloggers onto the scene which will bring some new blood into the blogosphere.
What implications do you see? Will it 'take over' and dominate other blogging conversations or will the blogosphere self regulate in a sense to keep balance?
Please don't hear me as saying that I'm against blogging about the election - it is obviously an important issue that will impact the whole world and therefore should be discussed - however I wonder if it has potential to get out of control and crowd out other important issues that could do with some of our attention.
Perhaps part of my concern arises out of not completely understanding the US political system. The process is quite different. For example our leader is determined purely by who is the leader of the party that wins majority in the Federal Election. There is no separate election. Also our election campaigns do not stretch out for such long periods of time - it can all be over in a matter of weeks.
Interested in others thoughts.
Blogathon Entry 71
There is one thing that got me through this past hour
Blogathon Entry 70
Presurfer (who has been most generous with his links of late) has just linked up to this very funny photoshop competition that gets people to combine animals and humans
Blogathon - Entry 69
I'm sure the we are running against each other in the upcoming presidential election.
Dear Oprah,
Writing this letter is the hardest thing I'll ever have to do. By now, you might have noticed that I don't like you very much. Life's funny that way. Don't feel responsible. I just always liked Dr Phil more. Besides, my history of bed wetting prevents me from committing to a serious relationship and you deserve better.
You deserve someone who appreciates all of your special qualities, especially the cute way you leave your toenail clippings on the couch. Even though we're no longer together, we'll always have our memories. I'll never forget the time you came to my place and ate all my fruit roll ups.
They say that time heals all wounds, and I hope that soon, you will be able to speak coherently to a person of the opposite gender. When this time comes, I hope you will be old, gray, and wrinkly.
Later,
Darren
Blogathon - Entry 68
16 hours down - just 8 to go. These could be the longest blogging hours of my life!
The donations tally is moving up still - we are now well on the way to securing the purchase of a second pedicab with the total now at $367US. We need another $173 to be able to get the second one and another $443US to get a third one.
Anyone up for the challenge?
Blogathon - Entry 66
V just made us a beautiful pasta dinner.
It was Ricotta, Zucchini, Chili, Garlic, Lemon Pasta with Parmesan Cheese. Superb!
Only problem after a dish like that is that now I want to curl up and sleep it off.
8.5 hours to go.
Blogathon - Entry 65
Paul wirtes - 'While perhaps I might be in a minority to be so interested, how about something about Aussie dirt track late model racing. I've heard it is gaining in popularity, and somehow, an Aussie site found my Steeler Dirt Freak site and linked to it, which I thought was was pretty cool. Anyways, there's something I'd like to hear about.'
Ok - I know nothing on this topic, but I'm going to learn.
Here's what I've found!
First some history:
'Late Model Sedan racing in Australia commenced with the formation of Late Model Racing Australia (Inc) in the 1997-1998 season.
Based in West Australia, the new Late Model division adopted identical car specifications to the popular United Dirt Track Racing Association (UDTRA) series in the USA.
The benefits of this quickly became obvious, with fully imported cars being able to compete without modifications to suit local (Australian) rulings.
2000-2001 and 2001-2002 saw the division consolidate even further with a large number of top West Aussie sedan drivers switching over to the blossoming Late Model class, and several East Coast racers also constructing/purchasing cars.
In a short period of time Late Models have entrenched themselves as a firm fan favourite on the WA scene, and are now expanding to the East Coast..'
Head over to OZ LATE MODEL: Australia's Number 1 Dirt Late Model Website. Its packed with all kinds of information for Aussie late model fans.
The Race Calendar was just updated yesterday - yep, its all up to date, with the next meet in Brisbane on the 31st of this month! Be there!
The Action Gallery has some pretty amazing photos in it.
Want to know more?
Also check out Shanon Babb Racing and Racing Around America and for more of the scene in the US.
Feel free to add more Paul - thats all I could find in my 15 minute deadline on dial up access!
Blogathon - Entry 64
V, the love of my life is home! Wooohooo!
A number of people including
Blogathon Entry 63
Susan asks 'If you had 10 million dollars how would you like to spend it'.
I'd give it all to the blogathon of course!
Well a fair bit of it anyway. I'm not sure I see the point of having that much money I guess. There comes a point when enough surely has to be enough. I know it is easy to say that from the safety of not having that kind of money, but I'd like to think that I wouldn't spend most of it on myself.
There are a few things I'd love to buy....
— I'd probably update this computer (especially after the pounding I'm giving it today), we'd probably trade in our little car for something that will one day hopefully accommodate a family.
One thing that I always dream of doing is being able to buy a building here in this local area that we could use to do community activities. A true 'Livingroom if you like. I'd like to be able to run educational programs, skills based development programs, book clubs and also to have a space for artist studios and galleries, free internet access (of course) and perhaps even a café/community area. We'd probably also run other activities such as storytelling nights, alt worship experiences etc there also — something of a spirituality centre.It would also be great to be able to offer affordable accommodation to people in need.
Around here that type of place would probably take up a good million or two of the ten you've just given me Susan. The rest would probably end up in others hands I suspect - although I'd probably better get something for V too!
Blogathon - Entry 61
Last night for Livingroom we went to a gallery opening together. One of our members and her boyfriend were exhibiting a piece of art each in a combined show.
It was really interesting to see the crowd. We live in a fairly artistic part of the city so there are a lot of galleries around. I've often dreamed of running one or at least putting on a show from time to time with the Livingroom for the wider community.
The show last night was one where artists were each asked to submit a piece of work no bigger than 50cm square. So everything was quite small and there were a lot of pieces on show.
As I walked around and looked at the show I really felt it was a somewhat spiritual moment. The creativity and beauty of the art, the community feel between the crowd that was there and the themes that came out in many of the pieces of justice, love and freedom.
I felt really connected to God in the midst of it all. I'd love to explore the possibility of running a similar show at some point. Sounds like the kind of thing Steve would be into - I might have to have a chat to the man if he's not out drinking coffee again (btw - he's changed blog address and its looking good).
Blogathon - Entry 60
Have been thinking about wealth today. I have a few dollars jingling around in my pocket. Actually it is $3.10. I didn't even notice that they were there until I looked - and wouldn't have noticed if they had disappeared. I am numb to my money - to my excess.
Yet I when I close my eyes and imagine this $3.10 in the hands this mother (pictured above - click to enlarge) that I met in Pasey City Slum - Manila I get a completely different picture. I suspect that if I was to give it to her she would know exactly what it was worth and would keep track of exactly where it is.
She would know the difference between having it and not.
She would not be numb to it.
Blogathon - Entry 59
I really like this last minute entry to Blogger Idol. Its a photo essay on the 80s. I was hoping we'd get some of these - hopefully there are more to come in weeks ahead.
Blogathon - Entry 58
Martin asks - 'Did you have a lot of plans for your website when you got going? If so, has the site developed in accordwith those plans, or has it gone off in unexpected directions of its own(as happened to me)?
Yes - totally - in many ways. Here is how...
I started out very naively thinking that the 'Livingroom blog' (which was then hosted at blogspot) would be just something that would be read by my family, close friends and those participating in the Livingroom community. I wanted to keep a record of our journey of starting up.
I guess the record keeping has happened - mainly in the Livingroom Category but its developed into something that is so much more.
After only a few days of writing I found that people were reading what I wrote - and they were not my family or friends, but complete strangers living on the other side of the world. The strange thing was that they were just like me in many ways. Initially the people who came here were others experimenting with new forms of church. We began to swap ideas, debate key issues and support one another in our dreaming and exploring.
Then the war in Iraq happened and the whole blogosphere changed. Things became quite political and wider debate began to open up including here at Livingroom. I guess that is when I made a decision to open up the topics talked about here beyond the 'Emerging Church' and onto 'Life'.
Since the war I have purposely stayed clear of most political comment. This is largely due to the fact that I found myself becoming increasingly negative and cynical in my interaction with other bloggers. Blogging went from being a life giving experience to one that was more about point scoring. I made a decision to at around this time to make the 'Livingroom blog' an environment more focused upon making connections, building up fellow bloggers and learning from one another. It has not always stayed like this, from time to time I get sucked back into the political stuff, but I guess I've put more and more of my energies into thinking of ways of making connections with and between others.
That is why I undertake projects like underbloggers, blog tips, blogger idol and even the blogathon. I've found these projects incredibly worthwhile, enabling me to make some great friends all around the world. I find that people generally reach out to you if you first reach out to them. Sure I do honestly get a kick out of seeing traffic go up when I do post something that people link up to, but bigger than that is the kick I get out of meeting a new blogger or introducing bloggers to each other that become good buddies.
The last change of direction is the exploration of blogging as a way to support my work with the Livingroom Community financially. I really enjoy blogging as a hobby and made a decision a few months ago to see if I could extend it beyond the realm of hobby and take it a step towards a micro business. Initially this was through putting ads on this site (which I'm in the process of phasing out) and more recently through the starting of Visually Speaking - Digital Photography Blog. It is my hope to build that blog (and another that I am planning) up to a point where they can sustain me financially at one day per week.
It is my intention for this blog not too be highly commercial. I want it to remain as a place of community primarily.
Hope that answered your question Martin - I'm not sure I expressed it as clearly as I'd have liked to.
Blogathon - Entry 57
'It's a 165 pound plastic tub. You fill it with a garden hose or pail, put firewood in the bin attached to the tub by two steel pipes, light it up, wait a while, and enjoy a 100-degree soak with natural eddies.'
I wonder if I could get one of these installed on our balcony and then i could blog from there! On second thoughts I think I'd be worried that it might turn into 'Blogger Soup' if I stayed there too long.
Blogathon - Entry 56
Want to know what gets Australian Politicians excited?
Blogathon - Entry 55
Well they've finally mapped the blogisphere over at Tim Blair has his own sea, Where is Raed and
Blogathon - Entry 54
Gentlemen are you getting a little thin on top? Finding hairs on your pillow in the morning that used to be attached to your head? More hair in your comb than on your scalp? This is the page for you (or should I say us).
Blogathon - Entry 53
Well we've made the halfway point friends. Whilst the first 8 hours pretty much flew by the last four have been a little slower. I'm looking for my third wind (or is it my fourth). I've just had a banana and diet coke for a bit of a pep up.
I've been quite overwhelmed by the amount of support I've had from people via email, comments and on msn messenger - thank you to everyone for saying hi and for your encouragement. Also your ideas for topics have been great - I think I almost have enough to get me across the line....but feel free to keep giving them cause I will use them over the coming weeks.
In terms of how much we've raised - here is the update:
The tally is at $268.00US!
Wow - we are just $2 away from being able to buy our first pedicab. Well done! Lets keep the ball rolling! :-)
Deep Breath.....oxygen to the head.....
Blogathon - Entry 51
I'm currently reading the most excellent book - Shantram - by Gregory David Roberts.
It is an amazing autobiography of a Melbourne man who has led the most amazing life. It tracks his life from his life as an intellectual and student in Melbourne - through time in maximum security prison after falling into heroine addiction and becoming an armed robber - escaping prison and eventually finding his way to India and Afghanistan. The majority of the book is set in Bombay where he forms the most amazing friendships and has the most incredible experiences.
It is a book of twists and turns as Roberts lives in Bombay slums where he sets up health clinics, associates with Indian Crime Bosses and lives with fighters struggling against the Russians in Afghanistan.
I won't spoil it except to say that I haven't been able to put it down and am hanging out to get the sequel which I've heard he is currently working on.
If this book doesn't win awards I'll be very surprised. It is a long read (936 pages) but it is well worth the effort. You'll be inspired, amazed, gripped, intrigued and moved by this amazing story.
Blogathon - Entry 47 - Joint post with Digital Photography Blog
Last week Kodak began what some say signals the beginning of the end of their commitment to Traditional Film Photography by stopping production of APS Cameras. Since that announcement there have been many article predicting the continued fall of film and rise of digital.
As a result it is with some surprise that today I read that Fujifilm have just renewed their committment to film.
'Fujifilm is defying current trends in the photography industry by announcing significant investment in film camera technology in 2004, and by adding a raft of new models to its compact film camera range - both APS and 35mm.
Despite pressure on the conventional camera market, and with some manufacturers consolidating their R&D functions or exiting the market altogether, Fujifilm affirms that certain product categories are, in fact, exhibiting steady demand, with products such as 35mm zoom compacts, entry-level, easy-to-use fun cameras - and certain APS models such as the Fujifilm Q1 - showing notable resilience. On top of this, single use cameras are demonstrating remarkable growth, with sales increasing by almost 30% year on year in the UK. Consequently, Fujifilm is continuing to support the industry with the introduction of both film and digital products, with developments in film, compact cameras and single use cameras projected throughout 2004 and beyond.'
Blogathon - Entry 46
Starting a Blog with Moveable Type is a great set of tips on starting an MT blog. Actually a lot of it is helpful for all types of blogs - not just MT. Check it out - it covers the following topics so far.
- Pick Your Software
- Archive Paths
- Syndicate
- Categorize
- Get Your Name Out
- Be Polite
- Be Yourself
- Get Help
Blogathon - Entry 46
Starting a Blog with Moveable Type is a great set of tips on starting an MT blog. Actually a lot of it is helpful for all types of blogs - not just MT. Check it out - it covers the following topics so far.
- Pick Your Software
- Archive Paths
- Syndicate
- Categorize
- Get Your Name Out
- Be Polite
- Be Yourself
- Get Help
Blogathon - Entry 45
Britney Spears has been in the top most searched phrases on Yahoo for 676 days in a row. Today continues to find her at Number 1
She is followed by other long term entries like 'Kazaa', 'Playstation 2',
Scary - So that is what people are doing all day online!
Here is how the presidential race would end up if it was decided on Yahoo Searches today (maybe thats how they should decide it!) - Source
1. Howard Dean
2. John Edwards
3. Wesley Clark
4. John Kerry
5. George W. Bush
6. Al Sharpton
7. Dennis Kucinich
8. Joe Lieberman
9. Richard Gephardt
Blogathon - Entry 44
After the last post there were many complaint from cats who wanted me to spend even time on dogs....
So here goes....
10 Lessons we can learn from Dogs
How many dogs does it take to change a light bulb?
16. Can't help attacking the screen when they hear "You've Got Mail."
15. Fire hydrant icon is very frustrating.
14. Involuntary tail wagging is dead giveaway they're browsing www . pethouse.com instead of working.
13. Keep bruising noses trying to catch that MPEG Frisbee.
12. Not at all fooled by Chuckwagon Screen Saver.
11. Still trying to come up with an "emoticon" that signifies tail-wagging.
10. Oh, but they WILL... with the introduction of the Microsoft Opposable Thumb.
9. Three words: Carpal Paw Syndrome.
8. 'Cause dogs ain't GEEKS! Now, cats, on the other hand...
7. Barking in next cube keeps activating YOUR voice recognition software.
6. SmellU-SmellMe still in beta test.
5. SIT and STAY were hard enough, GREP and AWK are out of the question!
4. Saliva-coated mouse gets mighty difficult to maneuver.
3. Annoyed by lack of newsgroup, alt.pictures.master's.leg.
2. Butt-sniffing more direct and less deceiving than online chat rooms.
and the Number 1 Reason Dogs Do Not Use Computers...
1. TrO{gO DsA[M,bN HyAqR4tDc TgrOo TgYPmE WeIjTyH P;AzWqS,.*
Blogathon - Entry 43
Top 10 things a man thinks about
Rules of Etiquette for Inexperienced Cats
16 signs that your cat is plotting world domination
Felix asks 'How did you start Living Room? Was there already a small core group, or did you go scouting for talent? Practically, how did you get things going?'
There is some overlap on this question to the one Michelle also asked so I won't fully answer it. See the answer to hers for more info.
Here are some additional comments:
In practical terms we started by me spreading the word about the ideas I had of the Living Room. I was interested in gathering local people so I talked to some local ministers, friends and family. Word spread via word of mouth and I soon had a number of people approach me. I met with each for coffee and chats and shared the vision (which was pretty muddy at first). Some were interested others weren't.
We called everyone together early last year had a BBQ. It was like blind speed dating as none of them knew each other at all. Here are my reflections on that first night. Over the next few weeks we got to know each other more and began to .
That was some of the initial things we did. Since then word of mouth is the biggest way of people hearing about us. We haven't promoted ourselves yet in any formal way. My fear in doing so is that we become the latest 'fad' and get overwhelmed by Christian tourists. We are small and rather fragile and an influx of Christians could knock us over.
Hope that answers the question Felix. Happy to answer more!
Blogathon - Entry 41
Bene just gave us the heads up that the excellent blogger tool Technorati is Beta Testing a new version. Their older version has been giving them headaches for a while now.
Technorati is a great tool that keeps you up to date with who is linking to your posts and also what is happening in the wider blogosphere. (ie what news articles are being linked to - what blog entries are being linked to etc). Glad to see it back up and running - and looking mighty fast.
Blogathon - Entry 40
I was getting a little cooped up in the study so I decided to take this blogathon thing of ours on the road - its out to our balcony (click for larger view).
Its quite pleasant out here at the moment, although a little hard to see the screen as its quite bright. It is supposed to get pretty warm this afternoon so I may not last long out here. Nice change of scenery though. Can you see our little Christmas on the left of the pic. Hope it doesnt grow too much or we won't get it back inside. This is one of those balconies where you access it through the window - no door. Its kind of like how Joey gets into Dawson's room in Dawsons Creek...not that I watch it...I've heard that ....
Blogathon - Entry 39
We've been going for 8 hours now - one third down, two thirds to go.
The time has gone remarkably quickly. 15 minute deadlines definitely put the pressure on - but I'm happy to announce we're ahead of the schedule to post 100 times in the 24 hours. Hopefully this will mean the graveyard shift tonight won't be quite so hard. I'm actually not feeling too bad, although I may be loosing feeling in the region around my eyes. Hopefully that coffee will kick in soon.
Also energizing is are the donations that have continued to come in. We are now approaching the $270US we need for the first pedicab. We're currently sitting at just under $225. Thanks again.
Blogathon - Entry 38
Luke just came over - and he brought with him some essential supplies. A coffee and a BLT from my favourite local cafe - The Tin Pot Cafe.
Coffee never tasted so good. I needed that. Thanks mate, you're a life saver!
Blogathon - Entry 37
I've been asked a number of times now for my top 5 Blogger Idols for week 1. By no means is this a definitive or official list. These are just the entries that captured my attention this week in no particular order.
Hamo's interpretation was definitely unique - as was Quality Control's
Downtown Chick's was one of the most comprehensive posts.
Matt's story was a very powerful one which I'm sure many will relate to.
Lanie's also was a very honest post about a tough period of her life.
Just a Girl in the World took a slightly more intellectual approach than some.
Luke's was cool - he must have spent a while on it - very amusing.
Stuffwars reminds me of my brother and sister's 80s (a bit younger than me).
LoobyLu's almost made me wet my pants from laughter - very amusing
Moodstruck was good - nice to meet a new blogger (to me).
They are the ones that spring to this slightly otherwise occupied mind at this moment in time. Check out the full 70 or so posts for yourself and post your own top 5...or so.
By the way Ande is looking for a few other people to join him on a panel of judges for the competition to get a more balanced view on results. Have a chat to him if this interests you.
Blogathon - Entry 49