A little Lewis...

And as it's been a while, here's another short passage from Mr Lewis (on the tendency of certain school texts and curricula to dismiss, ridicule and discredit all emotions, feelings, and values):

"The operation of The Green Book and it's kind is to produce what may be called Men without Chests. It is an outrage that they should be commonly spoken of as Intellectuals. This gives them the chance to say that he who attacks them attacks Intelligence. It is not so. They are not distinguished from other men by any unusual skill in finding truth nor any virginal ardour to pursue her. ... It is not excess of thought but defect of fertile and generous emotion that marks them out. Their heads are no bigger than the ordinary: it is the atrophy of the chest beneath that makes them seem so. [Emphasis mine: that's one of my all time favourite phrases, and I'll try to work that into a conversation at work sometime!]

And all the time - such is the tragi-comedy of our situation - we continue to clamour for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilisation needs is more 'drive;, or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or 'creativity'. In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful." (C.S. Lewis, The Abolition Of Man, 1943)

The Feaster Bunny

Well it's been a busy, but lovely, Easter long weekend...and we somehow haven't had to cook a single meal.

It started - as weekends usually do - on Friday, and we were invited out by my Dad to a local restaurant for an impromptu dinner. Got to spend some time with many of my nieces (Susanna, Erin, Grace, Beth & Eliza), my nephews (Connor, Darcy, Samuel & Jesse), two of my sisters (Rachel & Keren), one of my brothers-in-law (Jeff), Dad & Maureen and of course, Mel & Jessica (thanks Dad!).

On Saturday, after work, we went into Donovan's in St Kilda, and had lunch with our 'old' friends from Sydney, Matt & Melissa. Had a great time catching up on their news and introducing Jessica, and it's truly a beautiful place to spend an afternoon. It's pretty pricey, and the portions are quite small (well, by my all-you-can-eat-and-then-some standards), but the food was delicious, the service was excellent and the location and atmosphere were fantastic. It was a freezing day outside, and the restaurant is right on the beach, so were enjoying looking at the choppy waves from the comfort of our warm, luxuriously-rustic surroundings (here's a couple of pics). And to top off a lovely meal we all had Bomb Alaska which - although sans flambe (doh! - I was looking forward to that) - was still great. And as the whole meal was a gift from Matt's former boss, it was doubly delicious! (thanks Matt, and thanks Matt's former boss!)




Then on Sunday, we were treated to an amazing Easter Sunday gathering at Mum's. Having arrived shortly after 1pm, we didn't leave until after 9pm, and food was never far from me for the whole time. I dragged myself away from the table long enough to share an Easter Egg hunt with the kids (I think the record find was 14 - 14 more than I found). We also played some great games including one where two teams are given a word at random, and they have to sing a song containing that word, at which point the other team has to counter with a different song containing that word, countered by the first team, and so on until the timer runs out. Easy with "love", a bit more difficult with "broccoli"! Our team didn't exactly win, but we were almost helped across the line by the extra credit awarded for our team's special dancing (thanks Connor!). Got to catch up with Mum & Becky & Jamie & Rachel & Jeff & Keren & Stephen & Susanna & Erin & Grace & Beth & Connor & Darcy & Samuel & Eliza & Jesse & Tanya & Jasmine, and it was a real treat. AND we were festooned with so many delicious foods (yes, Biscotten Torte was there... but with everything else that was on offer I was only able to manage 4 or 5 servings!). A really great day (thanks Mum and Bec!).


And then Monday morning we headed off to Yum-Cha with our other friends Eddie & Shirley, who were also down from Sydney for the weekend. I think I'd only had Yum-Cha two or three times in my life, so the meal was great fun and very tasty (we went to The Golden Dragon). We were going to be joined by Eddie & Shirley's son, Darren, but he's 16 and apparently deeeeply in love with a Melbourne sweetheart, so the idea of having lunch with us didn't really rate on his list of priorities. It was Eddie & Shirley's first opportunity to meet Jessica too, and they seemed suitably impressed. I'm sure Jessica will really enjoy her time with "Uncle Eddie" & "Aunty Shirley" as she grows up, though she might need to close her ears for some of Uncle Eddie's more colourful anecdotes!

So it was a terrific weekend of food, fun, food, friends, food, family...and food. In my defense I did manage to avoid eating a single Easter egg (no, that's not code for having eaten more than one, either), but that has less to do with self-discipline, and more to do with forgetting to bring home the eggs we were given at Mum's! I don't hold out much hope for the four Cadbury Sitting Rabbits that are currently sheltering in our cupboard, waiting to be taken around to Mel's sister Jenny's house for her kids: if those bunnies are not taken out of the house in the next 24-48 hours, or locked away somewhere, I can't be held responsible for their continued safety...

We apologise for the break in transmission...

Let's see: last post March 17th, this post April 14th. Not my best performance, I'll admit..

If you're thinking that the paucity of my posting is directly related to the TV having been switched on again last month, you'd be wrong (well, you wouldn't be entirely wrong, as it must have played some part, but I'd like to think it's a little more complex than that!). In my defence, it's got a lot to do with the convergence of many worthwhile things competing for my time. It's somewhat ironic that, the more things you have going on in your life, the less time you have to write about those things (though they'd probably make the most interesting posts) while conversely, the less you have going on in your life, the more time you have for posting, but then you're likely to have a less-interesting blog as a result. It's probably true that the most interesting blogs will never be written, as the people living those lives can't make time to sit down and write what they're living. Not sure what that says about me (boring enough to have a blog in the first place, but with enough going on to keep me from updating it very regularly).

One of the things that's been competing for my time is the DVD proposal: it's about 80% complete, and I'm hoping to have it to my bosses within a week. It's a 20 minute video presentation, on DVD, hoping to convince them to let me make a full-scale DVD for them. If the time spent making this initial DVD is anything to go by, it might be a blessing if they say 'no' to the real thing: it's eaten up an awful lot of nights and weekends so far.

Over the last few weeks we also had my Uncle over from London: Uncle Roy is a real character, and it's great to see him when he makes it out here every 12-18 months or so. He was here for 4 weeks, but it felt like only a few days, and we really regret that we didn't get to spend much quality time with him (other than the 20 frustrating hours spent trying to fix/rebuild his laptop). While we weren't able to get the laptop 100% fixed before he had to go back, we were able to introduce him to Jessica for the first time, which I think was more-than-adequate compensation. I'll pop a photo of Uncle Roy, Mel & Jessica here aswell - though he and Mel will no doubt want it taken down immediately. He's not always that shiny red colour, by the way: he and our friend Frank seem to have a tradition now of heading out in a small boat and getting burned to a crisp in the days leading up to Roy's flight back home (I guess if you live in London and work 12 hour days indoors, sunburn is a unique souvenir).

Having seen Uncle Roy off on the 2nd of April, we welcomed my Dad and his wife Maureen from Northern Ireland on the very same day (they must want some sunburn, too). They're spending a couple of weeks in Victoria, then spending 4 weeks driving north through New South Wales and Queensland, through to the top of the Northern Territory. They're visiting with my brother and his family who are stationed in a remote part of Australia, where John is a pilot with Missionary Aviation Fellowship. You can check out what MAF does here. Dad's actually driving a 4WD vehicle up there to hand over to John and the family, as they currently have no transportation (Dad and my other brother, Stephen, purchased that vehicle this week, and from what I saw of it tonight I think the family will be very impressed). The Australian Outback will be a huge change for the two of them, as they're accustomed to life in Downpatrick, N.I., where they operate three 200-year-old stone cottages. If you're ever planning to be in that neck of the woods.... We're hoping to put together a little box of treats for John, Angela, and particularly their 5 great little kids Jordan, Mitchell, Cooper, Emily & Joshua (all of whom we haven't seen for over a year, and won't see for at least another year), before Dad & Maureen leave on their trek on Monday. Here's a snapshot of Dad with Jessica, whom he also hadn't met before this visit...(you can see the family resemblance, despite Jessica having a little more hair)

Tomorrow I have to go into work early, so that I can leave early and get to a late lunch with friends of ours who are down from Sydney. They've invited us to a fancy place on the St Kilda foreshore called Donovan's, and we're very much looking forward to it. Not because of the place itself - we'd be happy catching up with them over a doughnut and a cup of coffee - but just because they're great friends. They're actually a Matt and Mel also! They've already warned us that they're really only here to meet Jessica, so I don't think it'll matter if Mel & I are there or not. Matt & I used to work together in Sydney, and have stayed good friends ever since - I was even a groomsmen at their wedding. He now works as a DVD Account Manager for Fox Studios, which sounds like an exciting & glamourous job at first, but evidently is a hugely stressful and demanding one. And I guess all of the free DVD's (they do Simpsons, Star Wars, Arrested Development) don't mean much if you're never home, or awake, to watch them!

And on Sunday we'll be getting together at my Mum's new place for Easter lunch. It'll be a big congregation of the family - which doesn't happen nearly as often as it should - and my sister Bec will even be down from Sydney. She hasn't met Jessica yet, either, so I can see that we'll walk in the door, hand Jessica over, then have to ask for her back when we go to leave many hours later. It's Mum's first big get-together at the house (that I know of!) since moving back from Sydney, and she's always been a fantastic host. She's even promised to make her much-loved Biscotten Torte for dessert (I'll have to keep that in mind when deciding how many Easter Eggs I'll eat). Really looking forward to Sunday, and will no doubt take hours of video and several hundred photos, to the annoyance of virtually everyone.

Speaking of photos (yes, we were), it's time to add some more photo's of Jessica. I missed posting on her 3 month milestone (April 2nd) so I'll now post 3 recent photos - 1 for each month. These were all taken last Sunday, the 9th, and I really like the way they came out...they almost do her justice!

Well, I'm supposed to be heading off to work in less than 4 hours, so I really should get to bed. Happy Easter!

TV, or not TV...

..that is the question. Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous Wheel of Fortune, or to pull out the aerial plug and by opposing end them. (My apologies to Billy S)

We turned our TV off, and unplugged the aerial, in December 2004, and our house has been TV free for 14 months. We took that decision for a number of good reasons, and on the whole it's been really beneficial. We've had much more time each week to be productive/creative, we spend far less time becoming infuriated by banal and patronising programming, we no longer feel ourselves becoming dumber with each passing moment, and we're spared an awful lot of inane marketing.

In fact it's quite an eye opener to see how much of the daily conversation in a workplace and elsewhere revolves around TV programs: it's only when you go cold-turkey, and you therefore can't relate to at least half of the topics being discussed, that you realise how pervasive TV has become in almost everybody's lives. Based on the watercooler conversations, it seems the major 'must see" shows that I completely missed out on were or are "Lost", "Desparate Housewives", "House" and "Dancing With The Stars". People at work tend to think it very strange when you say you don't watch TV - I think to most it's a completely foreign concept - but turning off is a very interesting experiment that you may want to try one day (but for more than one day of course...maybe start with 14).

Well, the whole point of telling you all that was that we decided to pop the telly back on this Wednesday to watch the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. As they're being held here in Melbourne, it seemed vaguely un-Victorian, if not un-Australian, to be completely oblivious to them. So we sat down at 7:30 and flicked the switch. Well, i'm not entirely sure that it was worth breaking our self-imposed TV 'fast' for that particular event: elements of the opening were very good, but many other elements were downright embarassing. I know it's a very subjective thing, but a lot of the imagery in particular was pretty irrelevant and unrepresentative, and the theme (if there was one) seemed pretty patchy and misguided. I think someone tried to make things a bit too arty and clever, but forgot to keep it entertaining. But who am I to judge? Many people said many nice things about it - and some of those people weren't even on the payroll. So perhaps i'm just incapable of appreciating anything too high-brow.

In any case, the TV has stayed on past Wednesday, and we've watched quite a bit of the swimming, cycling, triathlon and gymnastics - which has been infinitely more entertaining than the opening ceremony. I'm not a sports fan by any stretch, but there is something very universally appealing about watching people give their best efforts toward an endeavour, sporting or otherwise. And I admire the self discipline that must have been required - particularly as so many of these guys and girls are just teenagers - so my hat goes off to them (and the Australians have been doing really, really well in the first two days - 25G, 15S, 18B = 56 medals so far).

So while the jury is still out on whether the TV will be switched off again for another year or so, I'm thinking that perhaps it'll stay plugged in for at least the next two weeks!

Matt

Jessica's 'Sweet 1/6th'...

Hi again - remember me?

One day you find yourself too busy (or too tired) to post, and suddenly three weeks have passed. I'm not sure if time is flying by seemingly so quickly (a). because I'm getting old, and old people always grumble about that or (b). because work has suddenly become quite busy (and is therefore bordering on 'enjoyable'), or (c). because of Miss Jessica. I think it may be a bit of all three, but (a) is clearly the majority shareholder.

Speaking of Jessica (when am I not?) she is officially 2 months old today. Well tonight - actually - at 11:15pm. She's doing great and is now full of enormous smiles and excited cooing noises. She's sound asleep right now (just to contradict my last sentence), and doesn't seem all too keen on marking this occasion with any great fanfare. To celebrate The Big 2 , I'll post 2 recent photos (and as with all of these, you can click for a larger version). Not bad, eh?



Work's been very busy over the past few weeks. I'm getting out on the road an awful lot more, which is a nice change from sitting at a PC in a windowless office for 8 or 9 hours. Not that I'm complaining - I have it much better than most - but given the choice, I'd always pick heading out for a site visit or two. My role took me to northern Victoria last week, so after a 4 hour drive I was able to spend a leisurely couple of hours walking through one of the most popular (locally & internationally) wineries there. It was a truly beautiful place, and I'll definitely take 'the girls' there for a social visit sometime soon. And although I didn't expect to be festooned with cases of wine as a token of their esteem, I was mildly disappointed to have not been offered even a tasting! Not even one! Not even their cooking sherry! I'm choosing to believe that their decision was not really a snub, and was motivated solely by concerns for my safety on the 450km/4hour drive home. Yeah...Sure it was.

But in any case it was a beautiful spot to have seen, and it's an enviable way to spend a workday. Oh, and as it's known as the WIne & Gourmet Food region, I stopped off at Milawa Mustards and bought a Hot Honey seeded mustard and a White Peach chutney - all homemade and presented in locally made pottery - either of which would have made the trip worthwile on their own. (Did I sound a little too effeminate just then?)

Also, in the three weeks I've neglected to post, Mum's whole relocation has taken place, and she moved in to her new place a couple of days ago - albeit in a very minimalist fashion (she has no furniture or bedding or clothes or even a fridge while she waits for the transport company to deliver her container "tomorrow"). We were able to visit last night, and Jessica had a long cuddle while we all chatted for a few hours; it is just so great to see Mum settled into a fantastic place nearby.

Well, after writing around 60 emails at work each day, you'd think I'd be better at this blogging thing. But right now I'm feeling pretty tired and incoherent - thanks for not mentioning it - so I may head off to sleep.

Until Jessica wakes up, that is. And we have a cake.

Lamb Roast and other blessings...

We've just returned from another great night with Christina & Anthony, Jesse & Harrison (the 'potential in-laws' featured in the photo below), and Christina made a delicious Lamb Roast with all the trimmings, followed by a beautiful dessert. We had a really great time, but probably overstayed our welcome; they're difficult people to pull yourself away from. Thanks again guys for having us!

The other big thing I'm thankful for is that this week my Mum was offered a job...only two days after making the tough decision to leave her work in Sydney and move back to Melbourne sans employment. I don't know much about the new role, but Mum seemed impressed by them (and vice versa, clearly), so it's very exciting. It's amazing what can happen when you take a risk, I guess (though I don't have a lot of personal experience on that front). Mum's now looking for boxes, organising a 1 tonne van, and is set to start work early next month. Congratulations again Mum, and Welcome back!!

More from Mr Narnia...

I quoted C. S. Lewis in a recent post, and I suspect I'll make a habit of it. There's no writer with whom I feel a greater affinity, or whom I respect more for his carefully-structured arguments, the clarity of his writing, and his unique ability to approach complex and challenging topics in a succinct, relaxed, and almost-conversational way. Like Democracy:

"I am a democrat because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that everyone deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they're not true. And whenever their weakness is exposed, the people who prefer tyranny make capital out of the exposure. I find that they're not true without looking further than myself. I don't deserve a share in governing a hen-roost, much less a nation. Nor do most people - all the people who believe advertisements, and think in catchwords and spread rumours. The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters." C.S.Lewis, "Equality", 1943

As much as I love Narnia, I think that Lewis' non-fiction is his most brilliant. But since I can't see them making a movie based on "Compelling Reason", "The Abolition of Man" or "Mere Christianity", I'll just have to make a habit of including a few of my favourite snippets every week or so.

Matt

Jessica's GREAT Grandmother

My Mum visited us for a little while today, before I dropped her off at the airport (she lives in Sydney). It was particularly great that she was able to spend some time with Jessica, as her work schedule has meant that she couldn't come down to meet Jessica until this weekend.

The two of them get along great, of course, which is no surprise to anyone who has met my Mum (she has that effect on people - especially the small ones!), and I think the admiration was pretty mutual. We got some lovely photos today, including these:



Mum/"Granny" also gave us some great and unexpected news: that she'll take her Victorian home off the rental market, resign from her current job in Sydney tomorrow, and move back to Melbourne once she's served out her notice. We're thrilled by the news (for SO many reasons), and we know that it took a lot of courage and faith to make the decision (moving is a daunting prospect, especially without a new job to move into). Good on you, Mum, we're really proud of you! Oh, and Jessica wanted me to tell you that she's really looking forward to some more cuddles very soon (though I expect she'll need to get in line behind all of her cousins).

Black and White Blues...

Some days you feel it more than others, I guess.

Today was one of those days that I spent too much time reading the newspapers, slowly but steadily allowing myself to be depressed by the declining state of the human species. One graphic story related to the rape and eventual murder last weekend of two young Melbourne women by the convicted rapist who had been allowed to move in next door. Another story centred on a local woman allegedly killing her husband and leaving him in the family garage for 4 days while she hosted a New Years Eve party in the house (incidentally, we knew the victim). Other pages dealt with the high level corruption involving Australian wheat contracts with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Yet more pages revealed that the very company I work for has just been successfully prosecuted, and fined a record amount, for abuse of market power - a conviction that they spent 10 years, and $10,000,000 belligerently fighting. Even our local paper leads with a story of how one of our local councillors has just been charged on summons for falsifying documents and obtaining property by deception - all so that he could have a $3,600 personal expense paid for by the taxpayer. There were dozens of stories like this in just today's paper, but I don't wish to list them all. On one level everybody KNOWS how selfish, greedy, deceitful, malicious, violent, incompetent, weak, dishonest, opportunistic, evasive and cruel "people" can be, but some days you become more achingly aware of that fact than others. And it's often difficult to accept.

One of the small comforts I find, when I get to this point, is the knowledge that this isn't an entirely new phenomenon. While I sometimes tend toward thinking that evil, cowardice and corruption have never been more widespread (and I could be right about that), it's helpful to remember that previous generations have endured many of the same evils (though in different forms), and have somehow forged through them. C.S. Lewis has a great pespective on this issue, which he discussed in a 1948 paper entitled "On Living in The Atomic Age". While he was talking specifically about the Atomic Bomb, I think the message is still very relevant when talking about our increasingly-isolated, increasingly-fragmented, increasingly-corrupted & increasingly-cruel "society":

"In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. 'How are we to live in an atomic age?' I am tempted to reply: 'Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.' In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation."

And he goes on...

"Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty."

And I particularly like the next bit...

"...the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things - praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts - not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs."

So I'll go back to not reading the paper quite so much, and instead get stuck into doing those other things. Darts or a pint, anyone?

Matt

Best start saving for that Wedding...

An auspicious occasion today: Jessica is now officially 1 month old!

What better reason to post a current photo of Her Loveliness, although I'll say from the outset that it doesn't do her justice (none of the photos do!). But with that caveat in place, below is a photo taken this evening, February 2nd.


And as for those Wedding plans, well they're not that far fetched: we have already received one written proposal from a 7 month old "would-be-suitor", asking (extremely-politely) if he might have permission to ask Jessica out for an ice cream in 2026. He's a lovely little boy, and his parents Christina & Anthony are great friends, so unless Jessica is only interested in younger boys when she grows up, he could be in with a real chance. Here's a photo of the potential in-laws, on a recent trip into Melbourne over Christmas: