If WW2 Was Fought By Gamers

I came across this the other day, and as a bit of a gamer myself, couldn't help but to fall off my chair in laughter. Apologies in advance to those who don't know much l337speak. While there's no actual swearing, there are some references (kinda like when people say "flippin" instead of the other word), so mind if you are offended :)

*Hitler[AoE] has joined the game.*
*Eisenhower has joined the game.*
*paTTon has joined the game.*
*Churchill has joined the game.*
*benny-tow has joined the game.*
*T0J0 has joined the game.*
*Roosevelt has joined the game.*
*Stalin has joined the game.*
*deGaulle has joined the game.*
Roosevelt: hey sup
T0J0: y0
Stalin: hi
Churchill: hi
Hitler[AoE]: cool, i start with panzer tanks!
paTTon: lol more like panzy tanks
T0JO: lol
Roosevelt: o this fockin sucks i got a depression!
benny-tow: haha america sux
Stalin: hey hitler you dont fight me i dont fight u, cool?
Hitler[AoE]; sure whatever
Stalin: cool
deGaulle: **** Hitler rushed some1 help
Hitler[AoE]: lol byebye frenchy
Roosevelt: i dont got crap to help, sry
Churchill: wtf the luftwaffle is attacking me
Roosevelt: get antiair guns
Churchill: i cant afford them
benny-tow: u n00bs know what team talk is?
paTTon: stfu
Roosevelt: o yah hit the navajo button guys
deGaulle: eisenhower ur worthless come help me quick
Eisenhower: i cant do **** til rosevelt gives me an army
paTTon: yah hurry the fock up
Churchill: d00d im gettin pounded
deGaulle: this is fockin weak u guys suck
*deGaulle has left the game.*
Roosevelt: im gonna attack the axis k?
benny-tow: with what? ur wheelchair?
benny-tow: lol did u mess up ur legs AND ur head?
Hitler[AoE]: ROFLMAO
T0J0: lol o no america im comin 4 u
Roosevelt: wtf! thats bull**** u ***s im gunna kick ur asses
T0JO: not without ur harbors u wont! lol
Roosevelt: u little biotch ill get u
Hitler[AoE]: wtf
Hitler[AoE]: america hax, u had depression and now u got a huge fockin army
Hitler[AoE]: thats bull**** u hacker
Churchill: lol no more france for u hitler
Hitler[AoE]: tojo help me!
T0J0: wtf u want me to do, im on the other side of the world retard
Hitler[AoE]: fine ill clear you a path
Stalin: u arsshoel! WE HAD A FoCKIN TRUCE
Hitler[AoE]: i changed my mind lol
benny-tow: haha
benny-tow: hey ur losing ur guys in africa im gonna need help in italy soon sum1
T0J0: o **** i cant help u i got my hands full
Hitler[AoE]: im 2 busy 2 help
Roosevelt: yah thats right biznitch im comin for ya
Stalin: church help me
Churchill: like u helped me before? sure ill just sit here
Stalin: dont be an arss
Churchill: dont be a commie. oops too late
Eisenhower: LOL
benny-tow: hahahh oh **** help
Hitler: o man ur focked
paTTon: oh what now biotch
Roosevelt: whos the cripple now lol
*benny-tow has been eliminated.*
benny-tow: lame
Roosevelt: gj patton
paTTon: thnx
Hitler[AoE]: eisenhower hax hes killing all my ****
Hitler[AoE]: quit u hacker so u dont ruin my record
Eisenhower: Nuts!
benny-tow: wtf that mean?
Eisenhower: meant to say nutsack lol finger slipped
paTTon: coming to get u hitler u paper hanging hun ****socker
Stalin: rofl
T0J0: HAHAHHAA
Hitler[AoE]: u guys are fockin gay
Hitler[AoE]: ur never getting in my city
*Hitler[AoE] has been eliminated.*
benny-tow: OMG u noob you killed yourself
Eisenhower: ROFLOLOLOL
Stalin: OMG LMAO!
Hitler[AoE]: i didnt click there omg this game blows
*Hitler[AoE] has left the game*
paTTon: hahahhah
T0J0: my teammates are n00bs
benny-tow: shut up noob
Roosevelt: haha wut a moron
paTTon: wtf am i gunna do now?
Eisenhower: yah me too
T0J0: why dont u attack me o thats right u dont got no ships lololol
Eisenhower: fock u
paTTon: lemme go thru ur base commie
Stalin: go to hell lol
paTTon: fock this **** im goin afk
Eisenhower: yah this is gay
*Roosevelt has left the game.*
Hitler[AoE]: wtf?
Eisenhower: **** now we need some1 to join
*tru_m4n has joined the game.*
tru_m4n: hi all
T0J0: hey
Stalin: sup
Churchill: hi
tru_m4n: OMG OMG OMG i got all his stuff!
tru_m4n: NUKES! HOLY **** I GOT NUKES
Stalin: d00d gimmie some plz
tru_m4n: no way i only got like a couple
Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets
T0J0: wtf is nukes?
T0J0: holy ****holy****hoylshti!!!111
*T0J0 has been eliminated.*
*The Allied team has won the game!*
Eisenhower: awesome!
Churchill: gg noobs no re
T0J0: thats bull**** u fockin suck
*T0J0 has left the game.*
*Eisenhower has left the game.*
Stalin: next game im not going to be on ur team, u guys didnt help me for ****
Churchill: wutever, we didnt need ur help neway dumbarss
tru_m4n: l8r all
benny-tow: bye
Churchill: l8r
Stalin: fock u all
tru_m4n: shut up commie lol
*tru_m4n has left the game.*
benny-tow: lololol u commie
Churchill: ROFL
Churchill: bye commie
*Churchill has left the game.*
*benny-tow has left the game.*
Stalin: i hate u all ***s
*Stalin has left the game.*
paTTon: lol no1 is left
paTTon: weeeee i got a jeep
*paTTon has been eliminated.*
paTTon: o ****!
*paTTon has left the game.*

I Forgot...

...how much I love poetry, and how I wasn't that bad at it. I can't find all of my pain-filled poems of Year 11 and 12 (which is a bit disappointing), but I came across this the other day. I've spent so much time over the past few years writing argumentative and informative stuff for uni that I had almost forgotten that I even had a creative side. Anyhow, this is one of the poems I found (10 points for the person who can suggest a good title!). By the way, I wrote this before "The Passion of Christ" came out, so it wasn't inspired by the movie.

Courageous Christ,
You held back your fist
When they bloodied your face.
You restrained your army
When they ripped you with whips.

Brave Jesus,
You reserved your justice
As they spat on your name.
You stayed your might
As they blackened your body.

Angels watched.
Did they cry? Did they weep?
Did they scream in frustration?
Tears and burning swords.
Blood, vinegar and thorns.
Painful nails in their Lord of Lords.

Silence.
One voice.
He speaks.
And eternity stands amazed.

"Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

-

Unfathomable you,
As I nail you to the cross with my sin,
As angels cry in disgust at my wrongs,
As I heap the evil I do upon your back,
You lay on a cross
Asking for my forgiveness
And proving your most powerful love.

"Here, Take My +1 Mace!"

I'm not usually an avid watcher of South Park, but I stumbled upon a snippet of this episode while browsing through SpikedHumor.com (spelt poorly, I know). I decided that this episode needs to be shared to the world, and the first step would be to post it on my blog.

The people who own the rights have been kind enough to allow the whole episode to be hosted on YouTube, so if you have a spare 20 mins, sit back and enjoy this (if you don't have a spare 20 mins, wait till you do)...



Apart from being very funny, I think the fact that a computer game would be the central focus of a whole episode in a mainstream adult cartoon (even if it is alternative mainstream), says a lot about the way our society is heading. I think the success of World of Warcraft is heavily influenced by the fact that people who engage with it are finding genuine (to some degree) friends through their interactions with people online. I know from my experience with the game that when you join up with people in this game, you can really create a long lasting alliance, and even get the opportunity to speak into each others' lives sometimes (I had an amazing discussion more than once with a couple who played together - we got real deep actually). I can understand why this game is being used as a medium for people in our society to rediscover community.

What do you reckon? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Is it a sign of things to come?

Ankhtack of the Cabbits!

I wrote a part of a story. Would you like to add to it?

Ankhtack of the Cabbits

Twelve past midnight, a surly cabbage passed along its surly way. It went to see Ronald from the Bon-Bon, a wise and mighty rabbit, where they would at once partake of 'the naughty' and spawn a peculiar sort of progeny. Their intent? To rule Egypt, land of the ankh...

The wall of the building closest ran slick with grey-water and thriving algae, cold and slimy to the touch. The small lane looked like a roughly hewn pathway cut into a mountain. A pale moon glow gleamed in the reflection of recently fallen rain. The cabbage rolled onwards...

[insert the next part of the story here]

And Another Thing...

I don't know what that other thing is yet, but when I think of something, I'll tell you.

Things have been going very well as of late. I am learning and learning and learning how to be a better teacher, and learning and learning and learning that I really need to stop putting off my marking. We're doing Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" in my Year 10 class at the moment, and it's lots of fun. We have a good time bagging out both Michael and the American public that is represented (the bloke is highly manipulative, but clearly doesn't have to look very far to find material for his 'documentary').

Year 8's have just finished "Tomorrow When the War Began", and I think we'll all be sorry to see the back of that text. Onto something else that I can't remember next.

And my Year 9's have had a good go at "Deadly Unna?" (an amazing book about Australian racism by a guy called Philip Gwynne - I'd recommend it to anyone) and have "The Truman Show" to look forward to.

I think my speciality in English is teaching film as text. I love being able to rip apart the techniques that film makers use to express their content. It's really good fun. I think I could be a decent Media teacher too. My film-focused buddies have been a big inspiration to me where this is concerned. Thanks Guru and Alex :)

Anyway, school holidays now, and today Chrystal and I made a big effort at cleaning up the house. It looks SO much better - we got into all of the cupboards and wardrobes and just started throwing out everything that we didn't need. My main philosophy on that subject is "If you have survived the past little while without it, then most likely you are not going to miss it iff it goes". Books have are the exception here - they never lose value. Seasonal items also can be exempt. Broken lamps are not.

Ah... well, I thought this was funny. Have a squizz...

HEADSHOT!

Haha, fans of Unreal Tournament will love this one.

The Proverbial 'Bun'

Spicks and Specks

I done some fings wot I reckon are gr8. Lookie here...


This guys ere are me and my bruvva inlaw bein lifted up by my uvva mate whos like real tuff. His names Matt. Dis happnd at church afta da sermen n stuff, and we was goin crayzie! LOL!






Dis is moi woife, which I done impregnateded. Shes like rooly cute wid da baby in her tummy, an a little whoil ago we went an saw da baby in her tummy wiv loik a doc bloke who rubbed a scanner or somefink ova her tummy. It wos rooly cool. We saw da babys face an that.
















Dis is moi desk wot I do moi nerd stuffs at, when I're not playin footy or drikin BEER.

A Story I Wrote for a Year 11 Extra

A donkey. You'd never believe it by the way that it looked at me. Vicous, understanding, benevolent. Its head was half-hidden by a pole. The pole turned green with envy, purple with royalty. How was this possible? A vicious, understanding, benevolent donkey? Head half-hidden by a pole? I wanted to see the half-hidden head. I wanted to be near it, stepping closer.

The pole stopped me. It was red. Anger poured from its concrete base and at its top flew the Jolly Roger. It threatened my curiosity with rageful piracy. I knew very well how cats die.
I sidestepped to left, but the keen, unwavering gaze of the vicious, understanding, benevolent donkey alerted the pole. The Jolly Roger turned to face me once more.

My mind strained beneath the tension, between my burning curiosity and fear of the pole; fear of the raging flag. Which way could I turn? What path was open to me? I must see the half-hidden head!I must gaze upon that which taunts me with its half-hiddenness! But I cannot! I am stalled! I am held hostage! I am BOUND and ANGRY and TREMBLING with STILLNESS. Rising frustration boils about my brain and my mind... is slowly... maddening...

I can feel my whole being twist in on itself.

One final moment of indescribable insanity and... POP!

In a peculiar paradox my descent into madness, from madness, has reversed itself. I take my red pen. I put it to the page. And I continue with my marking.

Weapons of Mass Coolnessness

Hey! I found this really awesome video which gives the top ten coolest weapons ever designed in a videogame.

The silly computer I'm on won't let me link it, so I'll give you the site manually. It's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxSdKF5Fd38.

Can you think of any others that deserved a mention? I reckon the nuke from Command and Conquer: Generals was pretty darn cool. What were your favourites?

It's Funny Cos It's True

Until I Can Be Bothered With A Proper One

I really do love you all, but my motivation for blogging has been surpassed recently by my motivation to do absolutely nothing on account of the fact that I am on holidays.

So I'm gonna cop out and give you something funny to have a look at instead (emailed to me by my beautiful wife as a suggestion for a blog entry a little while back). See if you can think of some more!

Performance Evaluations Quotes

These are actual quotes taken from some Australian Government
Department's employee performance evaluations:

1. "Since my last report, this employee has reached rock-
bottom and has started to dig."

2. "I would not allow this employee to breed."

3. "This employee is really not so much of a has-been, but
more of a definite won't be."

4. "Works well when under constant supervision and cornered
like a rat in a trap."

5. "When she opens her mouth, it seems that it is only to
change feet."

6. "He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle."

7. "This young lady has delusions of adequacy."

8. "He sets low personal standards and then consistently
fails to achieve them."

9. "This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an
idiot."

10. "This employee should go far, and the sooner he starts,
the better.."

11. "Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy to hold
it all together."

12. "A gross ignoramus--144 times worse than an ordinary
ignoramus."

13. "He doesn't have ulcers, but he's a carrier."

14. "I would like to go hunting with him sometime."

15. "He's been working with glue too much."

16. "He would argue with a signpost."

17. "He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room."

18. "When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell."

19. "If you see two people talking and one looks bored,
he's the other one."

20. "A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on."

21. "A prime candidate for natural de-selection."

22. "Donated his brain to science before he was done
using it."

23. "Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train
isn't coming."

24. "He's got two brains, one is lost and the other is out
looking for it."

25. "If he were any more stupid, he'd have to be watered
twice a week."

26. "If you give him a penny for his thoughts,
you'd get change."

27. "If you stand close enough to him, you can hear the
ocean."

28. "It's hard to believe he beat off 1,000,000 other sperm."

29. "One neuron short of a synapse."

30. "Some drink from the fountain of knowledge;
he only gargled."

31. "Takes him 2 hours to watch '60-minutes'."

32. "The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead."

A Fresher Mind

I got a good night's sleep last night, and recovered from the angry lump in my throat (which I received during the day from a few difficult students), and so now I am posting anew.

Before I begin, a point to note on the last post is that I didn't intend the word 'stuffed' to indicate that I was stuffed because Chrystal was pregnant (after re-reading that, I realised how it sounded and was annoyed, because I would never be that crass about something so important). I simply and purely meant that I was absolutely fragged, and thus didn't even notice the possible insinuation.

So yes! I will be a father, beginning from around about the date of December 8th. I can't believe it yet - it is such a difficult concept to get my head around. I think it sinks in through stages: first you start trying, and you go "Hmmm..."; then you find out that it has happened, and you go "Oh!"; then you start telling other people and you go "Hang on...."; and then the next step will be when Chrystal starts showing and the baby starts kicking, and then I'll be like "Oh my goodness...". When the bub's actually born I think I probably be speechless, jaw dropped. I'm not sure you can even begin to verbalise the thought process, if there is one.

In other stuff, I started teaching at Plenty Valley the Monday before last, and it is going very, very well. My Year 8's are beautiful - we're doing What's Eating Gilbert Grape at the moment, which they love, and they also love hearing my stories of the last place I used to work (ie. the Special School). I'm teaching them a heap, not just about studying film, but about disability, autism and intillectual disorders. I hope to be able to show them that people who are different from them, maybe a little bit slower, can still be amazing people.

My Year 10's are fantastic. My little sister is in this class, and she is a gem, and all her friends are wonderful. Either because of her, or because these guys are maturing a little more, I have a really good relationship with most of the people on this year (I also have a Year 10 home group). I value them as people and want them to succeed, and they in turn value me as a teacher and give me the respect I need to be able to run a good class.

My Year 9's are a little different. One class, who I only have for one period a week, are difficult to manage. They are the ones who rattled my cage yesterday afternoon. I rattled their cage back >:), and they can expect a heck of a lot more where that came from. I plan to walk into that class a very angry teacher, and dare them to give me schtick.
Anyway, my other Year 9 class is coming along. Apparently this class has been trouble all the way from Year 7, but them and I have struck a happy bargain. I put into practice the theory of 'negotiated curriculum', where I sat down with them, discussed what we needed to cover for the rest of the year, and then negotiated with them what they woul like to do more of, less of and other things that they want to do altogether. They responded really well to this, and it was great for me to be able to give them some power in terms of what they learn during the year. Then I told them the flip side of this though, and said that if they continued to give me grief, then I would pull out my grammar books and we would sit there in silence for the rest of the year doing exercises. You could've heard a pin drop. So I'm excited to see how this pans out.

So, at the moment I have my Year 9 exams to mark, plus Year 9 Christian Ed and Year 8 English assignments. Should have it done very soon, and then I can enjoy my holidays!

"Chrystal's pregnant, and I'm stuffed"

Heading says it all.

Me tired. School kids are tired-ing me.


Ngggffff......

The Guy With The Sword, If You're Confused...

This is worth a look.

A lot of it looks a bit like play fighting if you ask me - made me want to do an Indiana Jones and pull out my gun :)

And this is for all you World of Warcraft kids out there. Oh, hang on, that would only be me, hey? And not even me, cos I've only played it once (for about a week). Nevertheless, the concept is an interestong one.

Oh, and this is for all you poor unfortunates who have yet to see one of the funniest skits ever done.

Joke Time!

Feel free to post your own :)
I thought this one was good:


One day, a 6 year old girl was sitting in a classroom. The Teacher was explaining evolution to the children. The Teacher asked a little boy:

TEACHER: Tommy do you see the tree outside?

TOMMY: Yes.

TEACHER: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?

TOMMY: Yes.

TEACHER: Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.

TOMMY: Okay. (He returned a few minutes later) Yes, I saw the sky.

TEACHER: Did you see GOD?

TOMMY: No.

TEACHER: That's my point. We can't see GOD because HE isn't there. HE just doesn't exist.


A little girl spoke up wanting to ask the boy some questions. The Teacher agreed.

LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?

TOMMY: Yes.

LITTLE GIRL: Tommy do you see the grass outside?

TOMMY: Yessssss!

LITTLE GIRL: Did you see the sky?

TOMMY: Yessssss!

LITTLE GIRL; Tommy, do you see the Teacher?

TOMMY: Yes

LITTLE GIRL: Do you see her brain?

TOMMY: No

LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were taught today, she doesn't have one...

Well...

Hey everyone! Guess what!

I GOT THE JOB!!!

I will be teaching Year 8, 9 and 10 English, Year 9 Christian Education and two Sport classes at the very same Secondary School that I went to myself! I'M RAPT!

I went for the interview early last week, which went really well, and I was just starting to get a little sad at the thought that yet another interview was unsuccesful, when I received a phone message on my mobile from the head of the Senior School. I rang him back and he told me that my application was succesful! I'm going to be a real teacher! Continuity, setting work, essays, marking, professional discussion - it's all waiting for me! I'm looking forward to saying goodbye to glorified babysitting (emergency teaching). I begin on 20th May, which is quite soon, so I'll be in at my new school (old school?) in the intermediary to work out a smooth hand over of the classes (it'll be a mid-year swap) and to get a good grasp of where the kids are at and what I'll be doing with them. I'm a little scared of beginning full time work, and of having the responsibility for all of these classes, but I know that I learn best through experience (being thrown in the deep end). I'll thrash around for a bit, but I'll quickly learn to stay afloat, and then after a bit I'll be powering through.

Thankyou all for your support and encouragement - it has meant the world to me :)

Big Mumps, Small Notices

I was driving through a roundabout today, and I noticed something that made me smile on the inside.

Someone had walked into the middle of this big, busy roundabout, and planted an upright 'Big M' (a flavoured milk drink carton, for you yanks) to the left hand side.
It sat with the 'M' peering slightly above the lush green grass. It was deliberate placement.

I wondered whether it was meant as an act of littering. Probably. But for me at that moment, I actually found something very aesthetically pleasing about it. I'm not quite sure I can put my finger on exactly what it was.

And that got me thinking. Because I'm appreciating that milk carton put in that spot, just for its aesthetics, does that make it art? Must art have a deeper meaning? Or can art be justified simply because it looks/sounds/feels/tastes/smells appealing?

My vote is a yes, and I am appreciative of the unintentional (?) artist that put a smile on my inside this afternoon.

The sight was even more ironic, because in the middle of this roundabout is a council-commissioned 'official' art piece that looks like a big, ridiculous green ribbon, or "apple peel" (for those who know it). The Big M was better :)

Confused...

Something that really makes me laugh (and confuses the heck out of me) is the way people get really annoyed at the police for deploying speed cameras, saying that the police are 'revenue raising'.

Am I missing something here? People drive cars, right? And they can drive their cars at varying speeds... some cars can go really fast, some cars can't go so fast (like trucks, etc.). Also, depending on how fast you are driving, you have a varying possibility that you might have an accident. People who drive faster are more likely to have an accident (a generalisation of course), and most definately do more damage to whatever they hit (and themselves) when they do have an accident. Therefore, instead of people flying around the streets smashing into things all the time and killing lots of people, we have speed limits. So that people abide by these limits, there is a reasonable penalty for breaking them. If you don't break them, you don't get a penalty.

Here comes the clincher...

Therefore, if you get a speeding ticket IT'S YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT!!! For goodness' sake! If you don't want a fine, DON'T SPEED!!! Why are people so bleeding STUPID?!?! AARRGGHHH!!!!

On a funnier note, click here.

A-sumptuous! Look it up!

Hey, I'm here. I really am. And posting. Just watch me go.

"I'm going this way!"

Oh, and I love you all like a collective brother :) Except my wife, whom I love like a collective wife. Collectively. I don't collect them though. Wives I mean.

I have some news to tell soon, but for now I shall leave you with Dboy's...

PROBLEM FOR THE DAY

If one ferret gave birth, and the other ferret in town didn't, then what would be the likely health status of the child ferret if both of these ferrets were the original parents?

Winner gets a big kiss.

Pics From The Vault

Me manning a Vietnamese War artillery... in Vietnam... during the war... just kidding.

A guy with his head up another guy's butt.

Peebody and I on his last birthday.

My brother and me being idiots.

Little Buddha

I've wanted to post on this for a while, but I've kept musing on it until I could figure out what my actual thoughts are.

I've been working as a Casual Relief Teacher in a Special School for the past term (as well as another mainstream highschool), and my experience there has been invaluable.

I walked in on my first day as green as it gets, nervous about the kind of student I would be working with (I've heard many stories from my wife who is a Speech Pathologist working in education and my brother who is an integration aide in a Specialist School - one step lower functioning than my school) and wondering about my purpose in such a place. I quickly came to realise in my first hour that children with autism are not at all scary (at least the ones I am working with), even when they are throwing things around the room in a tantrum, picking their nose until it bleeds, smacking themselves in the face, squeezing the crap out of another autistic child (pinching) or even screeching at you at the loudest decibel level they can muster.
I also quickly cam to realise that children with special needs can be as, if not more, adorable than 'normal' children. Each child has such a unique personality.

On my second day there, I met the child that has been my favourite (even though we're not supposed to have fovourites - it's impossible not to) ever since. I love this kid - he is absolutely adorable.

Let me paint you a picture:
A rotund Asian boy squats in his chair, peering down at a puzzle beneath his eyes. His eyes are a little too slanted, and upon further inspection I can see that he has actually fallen asleep again (succumbing to his narcoleptic condition). I walk over to him and kneel beside him.
"Wake up, Wei Yin!" I whisper with a smile, gently nudging him behind his left shoulder. "Look! Let's do your puzzle!"
His eyes open gradually, and without a smile he looks at me in acknowledgement. I hand him a piece from his childrens' puzzle.
"Where does this one go?"
He scrutinizes the puzzle board, and can't quite decide on the right spot for the truck-shaped puzzle piece he now has in his hand. He drops the puzzle piece on the board, reaches over to me and forcibly places my hand over the puzzle piece.
He looks at me. I know what he's trying to do, but I play dumb - I want him to do it. He picks up my hand and drops it on the piece again. I pick it up and put it back in his chubby, olive fingers.
"Come on, Wei Yin. You're clever, I know you can do this."
He grips the piece, looks at the board and spots the right slot in less than a second, his hand pushing towards it without a thought. He struggles with the exact positioning for a moment and then slides the piece cleanly in.
I give him a huge grin.
"You. Are. Wonderful! Well done Wei Yin!!!"
My joy spills out into my arms and give his shoulders a congratulatory squeeze as my face and words convey my pleasure in his work.
His face lights up. Where once there was a look of casual contentment, now there blooms a huge smile. His huge chubby smile beams up at me, and then he grabs my head either side with both of his hands. He pulls my head closer and closer to his own, until they are touching, and he holds me there, beaming with joy, looking at my eyes.
For the rest of the day, we were best of pals. He continually amazed me with how smart he is. He can't talk, he manages to fall asleep while walking around a basketball court and he tries to get everyone else to do everything for him, but knows his way around Windows XP as well as anyone I've ever known. He can spell. He can write. He listens and understands everything you say to him. And he still remembers who I am whenever we see him in the playground.

This kid is one of the most special kids I've ever has the pleasure of teaching, and this school has so many just as special kids who are special in their own completely unique ways. I hope I can have the opportunity to encourage kids like that all the way through my life.

I think this is the primary reason why I teach. I love to make people feel good about themselves. I love it. And I seem to be able to do it best with kids. I want people to be able to feel like they can do things, and that their worth is immeasurable. I think I've just defined my life's mission statement.

Do I Keep It?

Do I keep this facial hair style? Chrystal thinks I look creepy. I reckon a change would be nice, but I'm not sure what to do. Suggestions?

Update-a-thon! ('A-thon'?? What is that?)

Ok, I'm gonna post some stuff about stuff, so get ready.

A few Saturdays ago, we had Matt's Bucks Day. It was fantastic! We began the day with a trip to the local waterskiing club, where Matt's then-future-father-in-law and family friend drove us up and down the river for hours and hours. Personally, I got up on my first attempt, but just couldn't manage to hold it for more than about 5 seconds. It was surprisingly hard to keep your balance I found, not sideways, but forwards and backwards. The rope would get slack and you would fall either forwards (and get a face full of water) or backwards, either way ending your joyous skid-fest in a barrage of water, filling your every orifice.

Matt was a pro, and this is what he would've looked like if he had a moustache.

After waterskiing, we went into Lygon Street for dinner (a place synonymous with Italian dining, for those who live outside Melbourne), and had some very authentic pizzas at a place called La Spaghetteria.


From there we went further into the city to an Irish pub called The Irish Times for a stout or two (suggested by Alex Marriot). It was an awesome little bar with a really nice atmosphere, and we found a booth and drank to Matt's marriage.

Then we moved on to a place called the European Bier Cafe, where I was able to order my favourite beer in the world (a Belgian beer called Hoegaarden White). Here we partied the night away, dancing like nutters to the tunes of a cover band (man, they played some great songs) and fully going mental. Matt really got into it, dancing and singing along with the rest of us :)


Skip a couple of weeks along (to March 4th), and then we have Matt and Kathryn's wedding. What a special day. I was honoured to be the best man, and apart from almost getting the groom run over by a train, I think I did ok. The above photo is all I have of the wedding so far (c/o Guru's site - he's editing the wedding), because the camera is at my in-laws' at the moment, but it was such an amazing time).
Memorable moments:
- standing at the altar next to Matt (the same altar where I was married two years ago) and watching his beautiful bride walk down the aisle.
- listening to Andrea sing incredibly during the signing of the register (what an incredible voice - you could have recorded it and sold millions).
- delivering as many sandwiches/drinks/cakes into the hands of my charge (ie. the groom) in the afternoon tea as he mingled with congratulators.
- posing for an awesome photo where we mimicked a car breakdown (Kathryn was told to look annoyed and we all watched on as Matt had his sleeves rolled up, trying to fiddle with the engine of a beautiful antique car).
- going crazy on the dancefloor with a quality crowd.

All in all, an absolutely wonderful time.

A few days ago, me and my family went to the final dress rehearsal of the Commonwealth Games (yep, they're being held in Melbourne for those who've never heard). It was, in a word, BORING. If we didn't get free tickets, we wouldn't have gone, and if we knew it was going to be so tedious, we probably wouldn't have gone either. It was kind of a poor man's Olympics really: a situation where the budget really wasn't that big (and you could tell), and you probably wouldn't have wanted the budget to be bigger because there's better things for a nation to spend their money on. The highlight, other than having some lovely together time with my family, was a bunch of people skating around with oversized sparklers on. Otherwise it was cold.

We had a LAN last Wednesday! It was awesome, running from 9am to 11pm the same night. The venue was perfect, the crowd were enthusiastic, the computers ran without a hitch (as usual).
On the left here we have Marcus (rear - Mr. Sven) and Will (front - loves his sniper). On the right we have Caitlin (rear - that's right, a girl! very quick to pick everything up, you should be proud, Revhead) and Josh (middle - also Revhead's offspring, also very quick to pick everything up), and then Neale (front - my brother in law :)).
This is a pic of almost everyone. The total other attendees were: Mic (my bro), Brent (other brother in law), Michael, Guru, Carl, James and Sam popped in for a bit too.

In other news:

- I had a job offer, which was then retracted, and it makes me a bit sad to think about it.
- I took my youngest bro-in-law out for a Tim-Tam iced chocolate the other day (mmmmm....) and we spent about an hour walking around the toy section of Target pressing every button we could find (he's so funny).
- I played the World of Warcraft boardgame with Guru, King Kohl, Josh, Casey and another guy the other day - best board game ever.
- can't wait for the school term to start back again so I can start working! I'm doing CRT (Casual Relief Teaching) for a few of the schools around my area, which I really enjoy doing.

Over and out.

Hahahaha!

Check it out! Go here and click 'Watch This Movie'!

Credit goes to Film Guru for showing it to me a while ago. Do you remember the history on this one, Guru?

Ode to Dboy

This is the first poem I ever received from a friend of mine, Matt Baker. He wrote it about 3 years ago, and I still have the origianl paper it was written on. It's awesome:

Give me the show
So I might give
It a go
Don't get low
Just mow.

Gummy


In Year 10 we used to have 'warm and fuzzies', where we had a pocket each with our names on them, and then during the week you could write something nice about someone and then stick it in their pocket for them to read. This is one I received from Peebody (we've known each other since Grade 1):

Eey can spel th wordds thaT ar good.

It still gives me goosebumps.

Proof for the Existence of God

Peebody has raised a wonderful discussion topic that deserves a post all of its own, as well as raising some interesting questions about divine creation.

As a prelude, I'd love to say that my experience in studying Philosophy at uni has provided me with a wonderful foundation for my belief in God, and Jesus Christ as the Son of God. My underlying attitude is one that says the most logical answer wins - if someone could provide sound evidence that God doesn not exist, then I would concede the point in a moment and my beliefs would change to suit.

What my major in Philosophy did for me, was it taught me that Christianity is actually the most philosophically sound conclusion. I love what I believe because it is the most defendable position that there is: it has provided answers where there are none with anything else, it has survived the philosophical scrutiny of every one of my peers/lecturers/tutors at uni, and it has an answer to every question thrown at it.

Ok, onto the content. People, this is your thread. For those who believe, this is an opportunity to provide evidence for your convictions. For those who are searching, this is an opportunity to ask any question you wish to put out there.

Have a ball!

My Kind of Logic

Love this. It's taken from a book called 'A Ready Defense' by Josh McDowell, and he's quoting a guy called Charles Wesley.

The Bible must be either the invention of good men or angels, bad men or demons, or of God. Therefore:

1. It could not be the invention of good men or angels, for they neither could nor would make a book, and tell lies all the time they were writing it, saying, "Thus saith the Lord" when it was their own invention.

2. It could not be an invention of bad men or devils, for they would not make a book that commands all duty, forbids all sin, and condemns their souls to hell to all eternity.

3. Therefore, I draw this conclusion, that the Bible must be given by divine inspiration.

Thoughts?

Update

Well, I think I'm well overdue for an update.

I didn't get the job - got a letter in the mail. I rang my interviewer (he was a really nice guy) to ask him for some tips on what I can improve on, and he said that I was 'pipped at the post' by a person with a bit more experience, and that if the job was a year position, then he probably would have taken me (he needed someone for the position who could just walk in, do the job and then fly off - because I'm a graduate, I would have just been finding my feet as a teacher and then I would've had to leave). He encouraged me though, saying to persevere because I was as keen as mustard. It was a nice conversation, but I guess I still have to make the decision to keep my spirits up.

I ebb and flow with that one - some days I'm incredibly passionate and motivated to keep searching, and then other days I get a bit down, and I have to tell myself not to be like that. It's a bit of a tough road, butI am convinced that God has it all under control - he's taking me on the best road, even if it seems a little difficult at times.

Chrystal and I went on a lovely holiday up the coast to Nambour (2hrs north of Brisbane). We drove, seeing Sydney on the way up (that place drove me nuts - you just CANNOT turn right. Anywhere. You have to do a 'Zoolander' and make three left hand turns to turn right) and Brisbane too. Brisbane was lovely - really nice place. We drove through the city on a late Saturday morning, and it was so quiet. We stopped there and saw The Chronicles of Narnia on an IMAX screen for $5 too. Bargain.

We went to Nimbin on the way back (hippie/commune/drug capital of Australia) just to see what it was like too. About 80 seconds from exiting the car, we walked across a pentagram with was painted on the footpath, and were offered drugs twice by two aboriginal people almost directly outside the police station. Crazy place. A little bit after that we started to feel a bit uncomfortable as it seemed like we were getting weird looks from all the locals who were hanging around. The one old, shaggy guy who looked like he was a bit desperate started following us as we made our way back to the car. We were a little shaken. Haha... one of the shops there was called 'Bringabong', and another shop had the subtitle 'We are not criminals' - I wonder why they felt the need to point that out... hang on, I actually don't wonder at all.

All in all a very relaxing, warm holiday.

Now we're back, Chrystal is at her new job, getting settled in, and I'm at home doing odd jobs (like beating compensation out of our home insurance company, as we were robbed a couple of days after we got back) , looking for jobs and waiting to be called for emergency teaching work.

Well done if you got this far :)

A Post

This is for Cray-z, who said she was bored in another country because of me not posting. I wrote you a poem, Cray-z.

Higgeldy piggedly, figgeldy fish,
Higgeldy piggedly, he broke I'm dish,
Higgeldy piggeldy, smamagon nash,
Smamagon smamagon, strapped for cash.

You like it?

I'll update on job and other life stuff soon. Missed you all :)