Today would be the day I joined a long line and bought myself a new phone. Nah, truth is I'd probably wait until the noise died down or order it on line. Heck, it's only a phone after all. That's not really true—it's an iPhone! And there's just a little hype surrounding the launch.
In the last six months, Apple’s iPhone has been the subject of 11,000 print articles, and it turns up about 69 million hits on Google. Cultists are camping out in front of Apple stores; bloggers call it the “Jesus phone.” All of this before a single consumer has even touched the thing.
I'm happy to wait though. It builds character. Passionate patience Paul called it. I shouldn't get too excited...they'll probably sign up '3' as the network of choice.
Still, it might be fun. And my phone's already surrendered.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
If I lived in the US I'd be buying a phone today...
Manly Man Part 3 of 3:
Characteristics of a Manly Man
Welcome to the epic final installment in a series of posts about Manly Men.
Grace, we must learn, is opposed to earning not to effort - Dallas Willard
So far I've rather clumsily tried to point out––as have many others––the crisis of masculinity in the Australian church. Someone suggested post #1 was a bit of a "shot across the bow" to raise the issue. That's pretty much on the money. In post #2, which focused on characteristics of Unmanly Men, I wanted to crush all of us who are blokes with the weight of responsibility that comes with being a masculine man. Every man is essentially an Unmanly Man. Some of us are so through our wilful disobedience and rebellion, others through ignorance––and all of us because we are broken at the core and, in a myriad of ways, we give God the finger and seek to do what we want to do.
So hopefully you fellas were reading #2 and feeling uncomfortable. And at the same time I hope something in you was feeling angry––like you know it's not the whole story and you want to throw the 'grace blanket' over the rough parts. I don't believe it is the whole story but until we sit with our sin, name it and agree with God about our need for him, we get nowhere.
The Vision: Keep Shovelling!
That brokenness is a grace gift that points us continually to Jesus. From that place we cooperate with God who, by the Holy Spirit, works an ongoing transformation in us for an eternity––the very beginning of which is a promise of its completion (Phil 1:6). Our task as aspiring Manly Men is to work with God––to keep shovelling. And in that process of shovelling––of working hard, being courageous, sacrificing ourselves, being others-centered––we discover that the gospel makes sense, we relate more closely with Jesus and we discover our deepest joy.
The vision is a big one: Manly Men who in humble submission to Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit shape communities, families and churches into gospel-living, culture-transforming brilliance to the glory of the Father. (I'll take trinitarian for $250 thanks Alex...) This vision takes shovelling. It's not always pretty, it's rarely easy, but I believe it's right––and beautiful.
Some assumptions
At a basic level, men are created in the image of God and find their identity in Him. Men are created as worshippers who, through the fall, are sinners by nature and in need of God's saving grace. Men aren't self-sufficient beings, but created in need of God and others. God created men different to women. Wayne Grudem and John Piper define biblical masculinity like this:
At the heart of mature masculinity is a sense of benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women in ways appropriate to a man's differing relationships.
I think that's a tidy definition because it focuses on maturing out of sinful distortions and limitations to both act and feel benevolence in ways that are appropriate to different kinds of relationships. The combination of acting responsibly and feeling responsible means that mature masculinity isn't about just ticking the box, which is still immature, but focuses on a quality of heart, a core disposition that shapes concrete actions, attitudes, thoughts and words appropriately according to context. Here's another good one from Stuart Scott:
The possession and pursuit of redeemed perspective and character, enhanced by qualities consistent with the distinguishing male roles of leading, loving, protecting, and providing--all for the glory of God.
Jesus is the Perfect Man
Jesus is the perfect man and our ultimate example. He does the Father's will (not his own), was filled with Spirit (not worldly wisdom), lived a holy and obedient life, gave people the gospel, sought to meet the needs of others, sacrificed himself, sought to be gentle wherever possible (not harsh and demanding), was decisive and not wishy-washy or afraid, led the discples, showed initiative, confronted others when necessary, fulfilled responsibilities, was diligent and not lazy, served and listened to others in his leadership, wasn't proud and lording it over others, sought to glorify another (Father) and not hungry for attention or recognition.
Biblical Qualifcations for Manly Leaders
Above all, Manly Men are to put on Christlikeness and seek to emulate Christ in their lives. Characteristics from the biblical qualifications for church leaders include: being above reproach, a one-woman man, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, gentle, organised, loving good, upright, holy, disciplined and holding firm to the word to teach and rebuke.
Roles for a Manly Man
As you can see there's a huge amount of context and scene-setting that goes before an explicit discussion of roles of a Manly Man. Here are a couple of characteristics that are unique to Manly Men.
Leader
God is the ultimate leader. God appointed Adam to oversee the garden despite the fact that he could do a better job Himself (Gen 2:15, 1:28-30, 2:20). He was given tasks before Eve arrived on the scene. When she was created it was to help Adam in the work God had given them. Adam was to lead, Eve to help and follow. A Manly Man is a leader who is: wise, full of initiative, decisive, humble, courageous and personally involved.
Lover
God is the ultimate lover. Adam and Eve were given to each other as marital companions, an intention that's clarified throughout scripture (Mal 2:14). In the NT husbands are singled out as needing to exemplify this sacrificial love that Christ has for the church (Eph 5:25). This love involves living in an understanding way (1 Pet 3:7). Jesus commanded the men he left behind to love and serve each other (John 13:15). John Benton writes: There is need for repentance. Perhaps single men have used the strength they have to serve themselves rather than other people. Perhaps husbands have used their strength to dominate their wives and children. We need to learn to come back to God, back to his Word of Scripture, and learn again to walk with him. To be a loving sacrificial servant of others, as Jesus Christ was, is not to be namby-pamby. It is to be a true man. A Manly Man is a lover who is: kind, gentle, giving, considerate, a servant and self-sacrificial.
Protector
God is the ultimate protector of his people (2 Thess 3:3). A man makes the same commitment to protect his family, his wife, his children, the church and others around him. In 1 Corinthians 16:13 God commands the peeps at the Corinthian church to protect the faith by saying "act like men" (ie. be courageous, man up). Jesus protected his disciples (John 17:12) and expects church leaders to protect the body of Christ (Acts 20:28). A Manly Man is a protector who is: courageous, bold, strong and watchful.
Provider
God is the ultimate provider (Psalm 34:10). In the NT husbands and fathers are specifically given the role of provider (Eph 5:29, 1 Tim 5:8), as are leaders of God's people (Ezek 34:1-4, John 21:15-17). Manly men should seek to meet the true needs of the folks in their care: both physical and spiritual. A Manly Man is a provider. He needs to work hard, exercise wisdom, be personally involved and have a servant-heart. He needs to do all he can to care well for those he gets to love and lead.
Aspiring Manly Men
How to become a Manly Man? Simply, put off sin and grow in Christlikeness. Sins like fearing man, self-pity, loving pleasure, pride, laziness, selfishness, idolatory, lack of trust in God are pretty obvious impediments to cultivating masculinity. A real man will put off anything that stands in the way, cultivate practical skills and qualities as part of daily living. It's a lifetime journey and the metaphor of a shovel has been a helpful one in my life––some people lean on the shovel (avoid), others swing it at people (abuse) and some pick it up only to throw it away (abandon). The key is to use it to cultivate something greater than yourself and in so doing be transformed.
More...
• You may have come across the biblical qualifications for elders and glossed over them because you're not one or don't see yourself becoming one. But I think they're good criteria to measure yourself against as you seek to grow as Manly Man. Check out 1 Timothy 3:1-7 & Titus 1:5-9.
• Read and study the book of Proverbs, which is basically a book written by men to train younger men.
• You might never intend to plant a church, but this article draws heavily from the qualifications for elder and it's something I read and journal over a few times each year.
• Study the lives of flawed and faithful biblical men.
• Pray and ask God for wisdom (James 1:5)
• Read historical biographies of men of the faith who sought to live life well, fallen as they are.
• Look for men who are older than you––who have kids and grandkids and who have walked faithfully with Jesus for many years––and sit and listen to their wisdom. Ask them lots of questions around the practical application.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Spacious Miracles
Think quick: which of Jesus' miracles do you remember first? There's no winning answer, just something to get us off and running.
In an internal monologue (probably a dialogue given there was Q&A involved) during my Sunday morning run, I settled on one...
Riverview had a Miracle Offering Day on Sunday for all our Riverview Trust initiatives and while I was considering what I might talk about with the team I lead as a foray into leading our church in worship, I got thinking miracles.
My answer took me back to Year 9 at Wesley. Before I get there though, the miracle:Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
I want to write a few words about Jesus feeding the 5000 but first, let me just say this: my theological understanding of what went on is fairly simple. Jesus took the lunch of a boy who was willing to give sacrificially and blessed it. Something miraculous and supernatural took place that was inaugurated by Jesus and activated by the obedience and faithfulness of the disciples. The food didn't multiply upon being blessed, it multiplied upon distribution. While there's plenty of significance to be gleaned from the miracle, I just want to leave my understanding of it there for the moment.
I guess it was a neat and salutary message to selfish school boys. Heretical in my humble opinion, but neat and salutary nonetheless.
As I reflected on this on Sunday morning, I realised that whether or not it was accurate to the events that might have taken place 2000 years ago, the notion of behaving spaciously was demonstrated in the telling.
Our words and our action inspire and grow, or deflate and diminish those around us. Our attitudes are contagious. And, from that perspective, we're all leaders. We're all capable of building up or tearing down. Unintentionally or intentionally.
The Apostle Paul recalled a principle regularly considered in Proverbs when talking to the church at Corinth:Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop.
I vote yes to miracles that can only be explained through the supernatural. I also vote yes to the authority of Jesus to be the steward of those unexplainable signs and wonders. Yet I also vote yes to the (often miraculous) notion that you and I, through going about our sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life with eyes on eternity, can change the flavour of the world around us. We can be positively contagious. There's truth in it.
Live creatively friends.
(PS. On reflection, 'water into wine' was probably my 'top of mind' miracle...but I don't have a Year 9 story about water into wine. And that's appropriate.)
The Occasional Ensemblee Series:
No shame about Ray
Our fine friend, Raymond Lampard, got his Ironman on last weekend. For those under the illusion that 'Ironman' is simply a moniker given to some multi-displinary event of arbitrary distance, know this: the Ironman consists of a 2.4-mile swim (about 3.8K), a 112-mile bike ride (179.2K) and a 26.2-mile run (42K or a marathon). Rayzo completed the sucker in Nice, France on the weekend. Gidiup, great man! Here's a considerably complete report from a man of few words:
Le Ironman is over!
1400 athletes ventured into the French Riviera at 6.30am for the start of Ironman France 2007.
I had a reasonably good swim, a 1400 person start going around one buoy, a few kicks to the head, goggles ripped off, all makes for a good day. Unfortunately a somewhat long transition and long run follwed to actually start the bike leg. The transition was over 250m long and my
bike was at the end!
Onto the bike and the field started to spread out. After the first 20km the climbing starts, 11% followed by a 7-8% climb, various switchbacks for the next 20km. Then you start decending and start the major climb of the day. Just over 20km up to 1400m, a long arduous process with no rest. That climb alone took 1.5 hours. Don't know why but my back was causing some grief, could have been the extra tyre and weight I was carrying in my back pocket.
The next section was up/down and played with my head a little. You had two more mountain passes, one at 900m and the next at 1000m. After seeing a few guys come off, you had to really concentrate.
The best part of the ride was passing through a quaint little village with the road wide enough for one car. Rammed earth buildings on both sides. AMAZING. Only lasted 2 mins but it got me through the rest of the day. The other thing was seeing 4 french girls, potential ooh la
las cheering on the cyclists in their French summer attire. You could class that as a distraction.
The last 50km was dangerous. Swithbacks are common in France and given you have to descend from 1000m quite dangerous. Two major incidents. Got hit by another cyclist as he cut across my line and the second hit a pothole wich temporarily lost control.
Scared the crap out of me!
My back became progressively worse especially when I came to the last 20km which was flat.
So, onto the run and legs weren't going anywhere. Hamstrings were tightened from lower back. Lost it a little bit for the next 10km and realised the back was the main cause for frustration. On the 3rd lap had a nurofen and that numbed the pain. In the end did a slow marathon time but at one stage was gonna do a plus 5 hour marathon.
So the last 5.5km back into the finish were tough and long. Knowing I was 30mins away from another Ironman was the thing that kept us going. 2km from home and a few tears remembering the people who have helped me on the journey.
Ironman is a surreal experience. Afterwards you are left questioning why you push your body to those endless limits, the answer: because you can.
So now it's onto the rest of my holiday—2 more weeks in Europe to find a suitable ooh la la, followed by a week in Cambodia and Malaysia. My sister joins me in a couple of days time.
Looking at heading to the Bordeaux region for some wine tasting. This region is known for their great red wines.
Ray
Top 5: Sad Songs Say So Much
Life can leave you feeling very sad sometimes. I'm a fan of the melancholy, I have been known to embrace a bit of misery from time to time.
And there's nothing to help you along your way with your eyes to the pavement than a good sad song. Songs are sad because of the words, the idea or concept, the melody, the production, the sounds, the chord progression, and sometimes little delicate details that invoke emotion.
Here's my Top 5 for an emotional rainy day:
1. Stable Song - Deathcab for Cutie
2. Somersault Score - Decoder Ring
3. Into The Sunset - Neil Finn
4. Drugs Don't Work - The Verve
5. Say Hello Wave Goodbye - David Gray
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Especially for Simon
Guppy's to Puppy's has made me chuckle since childhood. I even surprised myself at how enjoyable it was to read Simon's tome exalting the humble apostrophe. Here is a blog dedicated to tracking the misuse of the beloved mark. Although, I am still more of a literally girl.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Scratching lyrical (A communal Top 5)
There are moments of magnificence and beauty when the breath of our creator God seems to infuse the mind of the created in a sublime way. Through the crafting of words, a song lyric can capture or recall experiences, people, emotions and time in a way that cuts through the clutter with alarming simplicity. Sometimes that doesn't happen. Sometimes the reverse happens. Alas, some lyrics become memorable because of their abuse of our curious language.
That's what this Top 5 is all about. The one-liners within songs that make us start searching for sharp objects. They're either cheap rhymes, banal notions or just plain English. A few decades back, a band called Supertramp wrote a song called 'It's raining again'. The sad thing is, it often gets played on some commercial FM radio stations - usually when it's raining again. Brilliant. The song houses the heartfelt cry 'Come on you little fighter, no need to get uptight-er'.
Among other things, this Top 5 is likely to demonstrate that we're equally capable of recalling the dross as we are gold.
So, bring it on. A communal Top 5 or 55 of chalkboard-scratchy one-liners where the writer should have really gone into a room for all of mirrors before saying, 'I think I'll pick up a royalty cheque for this'.
PS. It's more than possible to still like a song that contains a hideous lyric. Tough but possible. Perhaps redemption has stories to tell.
The Communal Top 5:
1. Come on you little fighter, no need to get uptight-er
(Supertramp, 'It's Raining Again')
2. Excuse me forgetting, but these things I do. You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue. Anyway the thing is, what I really mean: those are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen
(Elton John, 'Your Song')
3. Roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, roll'em, Don't do much good, but good Lord, he could roll 'em. Roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, Don't do much good, but good Lord, he could roll 'em. Roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em, Don't do much good, but good Lord, he could roll 'em.
(Neil Diamond, "High Rolling Man")
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
My symphony
After a big month of much stretching...people...events...conversations... thinking and more, a quote from William Channing helps me gain perspective on the big and small.‘To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy not respectable, and wealthy, not rich. To study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; To listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with an open heart. To bear all thankfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconcious, grow up through the common, this is to be my symphony!’
- William Channing
Life is full of the common, yet our take on the small and large of life, can turn the daily into a symphony or into a torture chamber.
Reminders that encourage me to be thrilled by the leaves flickering from the winter sun, tempted by the sound of a loved one whispering not much, the pound of the footpath heavy under legs that can still walk or the caramel of sugar dissapearing through the foam of a chai latte.
Appreciating the small, to increase the size of my heart. That my friend is the timing and notation of my current symphony...
A
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
John Stott lives.
If you've never heard some of John Stott's prolific and wide-ranging corpus, then it could be time to get going. Here's a guy whose life has been characterised by faithfulness, industry, endeavour and the pursuit of truth. There's a whole lot that's worthy of imitation about Stott, here's but a wee slice of the gold that he has mined:Our neighbour is neither a body-less soul that we should love only his soul, nor a soul-less body that we should care for its welfare alone. Nor even a body-soul isolated from society. God created man who is my neighbour; a body-soul in community. Therefore, if we love our neighbour as God made him, we must inevitably be concerned for his total welfare: the good of his soul, his body and his community.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Too easily moved?
It could have been the gravity of Riverview's Big Weekend, or the recording and all that gear, but when I saw these two clips late on Sunday night I was sobbing like a banshee. Yeah, ok, you might label them schmaltzy, saccharine and commercialised. All I'm saying is give peace a chance. Open up your heart and let the sun shine in.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Going public
Having spent the last 15 years living in the suburb of Maida Vale (da hood), I like to think of myself as somewhat streetwise. Okay not streetwise but at least somewhat able to cope with what my closer-to-the-city friends would turn their noses up at – ie. camping in tents, killing small insects, catching public transport. This last quality, however, hasn’t been tested for a while – until this week.
My trusty Laser has been out of action since last Tuesday and after finally running out of energy to persuade another family member to pick me up from work again, I succumbed to looking up the bus and train timetables from East Perth to Maida Vale. In the last few days I’ve caught two trains and one bus and it’s amazing that while some things have changed in the world of public transport, most haven’t.
Things that haven’t changed:
• The bus itself. The one I caught didn’t appear to have been upgraded since the late 1980s and the seats didn’t look as if they’ve been cleaned in that time either. I’m no hygiene freak but I found myself wanting a shower when I got home.
• Grumpy bus driver.
• Schoolkids on the backseat talking about more inane subjects than I could have dreamed possible at a volume that allowed the whole bus to hear. “Oh my god, did you see Cathy come in late this morning? She had like, so not even thought of an excuse.”
• Being selected as a seat-buddy by the one overweight passenger who got on reeking of smoke.
• Sullen teenager wearing headphones that pumped out an audible level of his fave death metal tunes.
• An amazing cross section of people – that’s a polite way of saying that there are some serious fruitbats that come out of the woodwork to get from A to B. Example: A boy standing up on the train wiping at his lips vigorously, examining his hands and wiping the offending substance on his pants. Then glaring at anyone who happened to be looking at him.
On the bright side, I love the brilliant Transperth website that allowed me to map out an endless number of possible routes by train, bus or foot. It even told me how many metres it would take to walk from my house to the nearest bus stop. And the new smart card is very sci-fi - swipe on, swipe off. It was nice to not have to worry about a park and to feel a little smug about not contributing so much to global warming for a day or two but I must admit, I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel of my ride again next week.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Stop: collaborate and listen
You know we’ve gone post-industrial when people start solving problems you weren’t aware of – and charging you for it... But then there’s Cacophony, which we’ve already established is a barter economy. In return for your engaged readership, I’m about to solve the biggest little problem you never thought you had...
And that problem is: the email ‘subject’ line...
It isn’t so hard at work – because generally there’s some ‘thing’ you’re trying to communicate. But what if the point of the email is just to connect? Go through your inbox – I bet it’s full of ‘hey’s and ‘hi’s, maybe a ‘howdy’ from your cowdy friends. I’m partial to a ‘hi y’all’ and a solid ‘greetings and salutations’ generally hits the spot. But by the time you’ve bounced a couple of Re:hi’s back and forth, you’re having a genuine conversation, and that subject line is plain inaccurate.
One of my friends avoids the whole issue and leaves his subject lines blank. The thing is, he’s not a man with nothing on his mind. Based on the subject line, you’d think he was sending you something with the mental nutritional value of fairy floss, which: just no.
My default is day-and-time. Monday Morning. Tuesday Afternoon. Wednesday Evening. Again, fine, but when you regularly email someone at the same time, you end up with an unsearchable inbox. I know there’s an invite to a party somewhere in there, but which of the Re: Monday Morning’s holds the gold?
The solution? A diversion I like to call Subject Line Lyrics.
The game is this: Sender fills in the subject line with lyrics of their choice. Recipient includes title and artist in their reply. Simple, right? Well, there are rules.
1) Points are scored for matching lyrics to content; the more oblique the connection, the better. You can give genre hints, but it’s more fun if you don’t...
2) Googling is not cheating; you don’t have to know it, you just have to be able to find it.
3) Most importantly, hipper-than-thou-isms are considered an act of hostility. Don’t be pulling out your Sub-Saharan folkadelic punk acts, particularly if they’re only available on vintage 8-track bootlegs.
I’m sometimes surprised by how different lyrics can seem when they’re written down. Cliches that glide right by when they’re sung start to itch (see: Ben Lee, collected works of).
Inanity sometimes becomes profound. (Collaborative listening? How would that work? And what sort of invention would make it possible? And what’s it all got to do with flavoured frozen water, anyway?)
And sometimes they stay inane. (Sing it with me: Oh. Ah. Oh-yu-es. Yeah...).
But the best thing? People open your emails.
Now if I could just figure out a similar solution for work...
Speaking of Jimi Hendrix...
For a hypnotic experience of a transcendent musician and a live clip that fades from picture to white then white to picture, rather than the reverse (how clichéd) enjoy some Little Wing, circa 1969. Then for good measure, a vocal version by some other guy (circa...I'm guessing 1980-something). By the way, Garrick might be interested in the other guy's bass player. Just saying.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The Cacophony Interviews: June 2007
Darren Hanlon, Singer/Songwriter
A few weeks back, on a retreat at New Norcia, I woke on a Saturday morning to some animated voices not far from my door. A few blokes were talking about the Australian music industry. One of those blokes seemed to have a pretty good idea what he was talking about. In my semi-conscious state I remember taking some guesses as to who that was. It was obviously a recording artist who toured a fair bit, but beyond that I didn't have much to go by.
Later in the day, I discovered Darren Hanlon was the guy who had been doing the talking. Curiously, Abbot Placid was the one who told me that Darren was staying in the Monastery Guesthouse and further, he would be giving a short 'performance' to the parishioners after mass on Sunday morning.
For those who are strangers to Darren's work, here's a couple of clips to get you on the page:
And this link will get you to his MySpace.
Genres can be uncomfortable pigeon-holes, but there's plenty that's acoustic and folk-rock about Darren and you can fill in your own categories beyond that. If I was adding a pigeon-hole for Darren, it might be the 'quirky' hole. There's a intricate humour and rich tapestry to many of the word-pictures and stories that find there way in Darren's songs that are both endearing and self-deprecating (interesting how often one of those attributes triggers the other).
To give you some idea where Darren fits into the Australian music pantheon...the answer is: somewhere. Each of his 14 albums/EPs have racked up around 10,000 sales.
After dinner on Saturday night, Darren and I caught up for a two-and something hour conversation about a bunch of stuff that become the guts of this June edition of The Cacophony Interviews. Darren was happy to step up to the Cacophony plate and I was happy to do some pitching.
C: Right off the bat, what brings you to New Norcia?
DH: A bit of a whim really. I've been up to my ears in music administration gear for the last few months and I wanted to move from an admin head space to a writing head space. A change of location helps.
(complete with some dodgy details, here's how the Courier Mail reported it)
C: Sure, but New Norcia? You're from Gympie in Queensland aren't you?
DH: I grew up in Gympie, but I've been living in Sydney for a few years now. And New Norcia? Well, it's a bit of a story. My first choice was Prague but the money wasn't there to get that far away. A year or two back I was touring Australia with my band. When we got to Perth a friend gave me a call from Meekatharra. She's a teacher up there and she was hoping we might be able to come and sing for the kids. We obliged and headed for Meeka. On the way we drove through New Norcia. I remember thinking as we drove through that we'd just barged in on some movie set with all these Spanish buildings in the middle of the countryside. It stuck in my memory as a great place to come back to. And here I am...slightly more affordable than Prague.
C: Is there a spiritual context for you to be paying a visit to a Monastery?
DH: I grew up in Gympie as an altar boy. I was in church Saturday and Sunday morning. I don't go to church these days, but I love the tradition of it all. It brings back a whole lot of memories for me.
C: What stopped you?
DH: Well, I think I just stopped getting much out of it. I still go to church now and then. Often when I'm touring I'll go along to the church of the country town where I am. A while back the church I grew up in made some renovations to make it more modern. I didn't like that much. I thought that was missing the point thinking that a better building would draw a bigger crowd. I think I got a bit disenchanted with it all. I find I'm more spiritual away from the church then inside it.
Having said all that, I love liturgy. I find it quite hypnotic. I have to confess, I've got some great ideas for songs while being transported by the hypnotic effect of the liturgy!
C: How does Jesus fit into the picture?
DH: I think I regard him as more of a feeling than a person. There's often a spiritual theme or element within a lot of my songs, but I'm not hammering it at all.
C: What are the dominant stomping grounds for your lyrics?
DH: The usual stuff I guess. Girls...personal politics...Australiana and country towns, friends and incidents, tributes and encouragements.
C: Do you follow a rigorous process in your songwriting or is it more organic?
DH: It's not really a formula or necessarily a natural progression. I'll often develop a groove and work from there. I often write in multiples and can have a few songs going at any one time. Often, as I'm working on one, the framework, basis, or chorus for another can fall out. I think you the act of giving attention to the process of songwriting puts you in the path of more songs.
C: You seem to have a great affinity with country Australia. Fair call?
DH: For sure. I love escaping to towns and cities. There's a richness in the character of country towns and the folks that live in them that is often missed in the larger cities. A lot of my friends are envious that I come back from touring with such interesting stories or people I've met along the way. I think it's more that I tour in places where there are a whole lot of interesting people.
(Hanlon's most recent album, Fingertips and Mountaintops, features pianist and trumpeter Cory Gray as well as Shins drummer Jesse Sandoval. It was recorded almost entirely at the charming old Majestic Theatre in Pomona in rural Queensland.)
C: You don't just visit country towns either...you get around don't you?
DH: Yeah, we've played in lots of Eastern European countries. Estonia, Latvia...and some of your more traditional European cities.
C: Estonia? What do they think they're coming to?
DH: They're just mad keen Australian pop-music fans. To an extent they're coming because I'm from Australia but, over time, you get a following as well.
C: Are there many at the shows?
DH: We regularly play to 500+ in places around Estonia and Latvia so it's a fair crowd. There's a bunch of Aussie musos who now tour that circuit. We'll probably crowd out the market soon, but there's been a neat little niche for us all because of how many of us have toured around there.
C: Do you get recognised much around the place?
DH: Nah - a couple of times in places like Paris and London or New York, an Australian might recognise me but I'm really not that much of a big deal.
C: Are you ambitious?
DH: Yeah. Not in that I want to be famous and earn millions, but in that I love the exciting life of adventure that is touring, traveling and playing around the place.
C: Is there a dream?
DH: This is it really. The whole moving from town to town and city to city playing my music. You can keep the whole music admin thing - that's not part of the dream - but the regular rhythm of playing gigs and interesting places, that's more like it.
C: I read somewhere that you're a fellow fan of the Moleskine...
DH: A huge fan. I'm a notebook geek. I just like carrying them around. Sometimes I find them too sacred to write in so I use Spirex notebooks for lyrics and lists and stuff. But Moleskines, they're beautiful.
(What proceeded was a homage to the Moleskine Notebook...but you've heard it all before on this site so I'll spare you.)
C: I heard you talking this morning about your friend who has sold a bunch of records and her experiences in the music industry.
DH: We were talking about staying independent or going to the big label. From my point of view, being independent is a great way to go. I live with a girl called Sarah Blasko who's on a major label, so it's good to see the differences. She's doing amazingly well - she's got a really good deal. But I'm friends with a lot of people on other labels and basically they're not seeing any money and it's very hard to make a living because, from what I've heard, the record company will charge you for everything and it's a difficult road to take. Then again, you become famous instantly. Whereas if you're independent, you own everything and one of the great things is that you don't owe anyone any money. So even though I don't have the money to make a $30,000 video clip or spend a lot of money on recording, at the end of the day if I sell cds, the money's mine and I don't owe any big label. The other good thing about Australia is that a lot of our big bands are independent. John Butler, The Whitlams and The Waifs are all independent and have all got where they are from hard work.
I've just got all my stuff up on iTunes too.
C: How does that work?
DH: I'm still working it out really. I used to be with an indie label called Candle Records but they've recently folded - hence all the admin. Apple just have the normal royalty deal - it's simply another avenue for getting your music out there. I've got a whole heap of papers I need to sign and stuff. Admin...
C: Has coming New Norcia helped you get away from all that?
DH: Pretty much. The internet connection in the Guesthouse Library has been a Godsend. With a tour coming up, there's a constant need for communication for locking in dates and gigs around the place. I actually got an email tonight from a mate who's touring around Europe when I'll be there and wants me to do some supports with him. It's been good to have that internet lifeline here to keep the ball rolling.
C: Out of interest, how do you go with vocal health?
DH: Hmmm...not too bad. I got pretty sick - actually, really sick just before my last tour and had to cancel the whole tour.
C: What happened?
DH: I started getting these fevers and pains in the chest. I just wrote it off to start with, but they got worse and worse. One night, while I was at home with my folks in Gympie, it just started to get worse. I'm not one to make much of a deal but I said to parents that I thought I'd better get to a hospital—the pain was unbearable. We went to the hospital in Lismore and they sent me on to Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane. I still remember being wheeled in to the hospital and the nurses seeming more interested in whether I was the Darren Hanlon who sung 'Punk's not dead' than whether or not I was staying alive. It was a blessing that Prince Charles is one of the foremost coronary care hospitals in the country because the doctors said that I was not long off a serious/fatal heart attack.
C: What was it?
DH: They did a bunch of tests without finding out too much. It's some form of auto-immune disease and it absolutely wiped me out. It wiped out a tour and it delayed the recording of the album in a big way. I remember in May 06 I was back into Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney because I had fluid on my lungs as a result of the condition. I'd been pretty lousy and had been in a hospital bed for 3-4 days. Problem was, I was supporting Lior at the Enmore Theatre and I couldn't cancel - I really needed the money from that gig to survive. It was a good paying gig. I told the doctors I had to do the gig. They thought I was crazy but said if I left for the soundcheck/gig and came straight back to my bed, they'd look the other way. When I got there I told them to turn off the smoke machines because I couldn't breathe with them on. I survived the soundcheck but just before I was about to go on some friends came out the back where I was struggling to get up to tell me that there was heaps of smoke machine action. I went ballistic at them and told them (not so gently) they'd be get them off or they were going to have a dead guy on their hands. I survived the gig (just), got back to hospital and got paid.
C: How is it now?
DH: Well, after a while they tried steroids which had some pretty bizarre side effects. I was awake for about three days and had one of my most prolific stretches of songwriting ever, but I wanted to get off them as soon as I could. They certainly helped though. Along the way, a natropath told me going of pretty much all sugar would be a big help as well. They were right, so it's no beer for me anymore (which is a bugger, 'cause I love beer). Laura Imbruglia told me around the same time that Daniel Johns had got a lot of benefit for his reactive arthritis condition by getting heaps of Omega-3 from fish. I now eat plenty of tuna and different fish and it seems to be keeping it under control. It's an ongoing thing though...
C: So, with the health pretty much under control a cliché question: where do you see yourself five years from now?
DH: Hopefully making records of integrity or doing something creative. Most likely doing what I'm doing today.
C: Thanks for talking mate. You've got a big gig tomorrow. Better get a good night's sleep.
DH: Yeah - it's a bit weird. It's certainly my first gig in a monastery. I'm a bit nervous. What do I play?
C: Whatever you want!
DH: Do you even know where I'm playing?
C: No, but I'm sure it'll be fun
(Darren played to a packed room of about 30 people; curious on-lookers, bewildered monks and a couple of people who occasionally tapped their feet. It was fun for sure.)
Darren's Touching Elbows Tour comes to Mojos (237 Queen Victoria St, North Fremantle) this Saturday, June 16. You can buy your tickets right here.
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A footnote: I read in the music press over the weekend that Darren plans to record his next album at New Norcia based on his experience at the monastery.
Friday, June 8, 2007
In praise of the caffeinated beverage
Part Two: The Third Place
Much has been written about the Third Place. I'm just going to throw it out there rather than get all academic on its ass.
The notion is simple. We live and sleep, we work, and we do whatever else we do. Our home is our first place (live and sleep). Our workplaces/study-places are our second place (work). And that leaves our Third Place—our other place (or places). These are the places where community is cultivated and enjoyed. Probably a place to be renewed or revived. And definitely a place to hang.
The Third Place comes with challenges and opportunities for Jesus-lovers.
For centuries, the Third Place was the church. Traveling through old towns across Europe you see the same agglomeration of functions and buildings again and again. The church was (or is) the centrepiece of the town. In older Australian towns it's often the Town Centre or Town Hall. Predominantly though, in towns the world over, it's the church right there at the fulcrum. It was the dominant meeting place and the dominant place to invest your disposable time. When you weren't working and weren't sleeping or feeding your family, you were active in your local church.
Many years later, Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks made a critical observation: we've lost our Third Place. We still have homes, we still have jobs. But we've become insulated from the world by those first two places and we've begun to view the church as irrelevant. It has ceased to be the critical Third Place it once was. And it's left an unoccupied void for many.
In his book, The Great Good Place: cafés, bookstores, bars, coffeeshops, hair salons and other hangouts at the heart of community, Ray Oldenburg investigates and explains the Third Place that Shultz found essential to the success of Starbucks. The Third Place, says Oldenburg, is where people congregate to find a sense of community outside of the home and workplace. By their nature, humans have a desperate need for somewhere to meet friends or take solace in the familiarity of both people and their surroundings.
Shultz sought to create Starbucks as a viable Third Place. Whatever you think about Starbucks isn't particularly relevant here. The deal is: Third Places are important because community is important.
A host of emergent church blogs talk about the significance of the café as the Third Place. I think the deal is that God colours can emerge wherever we are. Rather than working out how we can turn cafés into churches (not that it's a bad idea) or capture a caffeinated crowd and get 'em into church, I think we need to bring Jesus into our Third Places—wherever they are. The café is without doubt a Third Place. So is your favourite bar, or pub, or hair salon, or sporting club. Wherever you spend a chunk of your non-work, non-home time and enjoy or create community—that's your Third Place.
The important thing is to have one (or some).
The church is a brilliant Third Place. In its beauty, Third Places don't come as spectacular as the church. For Jesus-followers they're a a contextualisation of what's pre-eminent in our First and Second-places. But they're not the only Third Places. It's just as possible for churches to fail as vital Third Places too, so I'm not assuming that church equals great Third Place.
Jesus had Third Places. They were all over the shop. Mostly other people's houses. Friends, tax collectors et. al. He spent time in the synagogues too and, as an itinerant, called home wherever he lay his hat. Jesus formed, challenged and created community wherever he went and in many ways redefined what was acceptable as a Third Place—before we started calling it a 'Third Place'.
Here's another interesting thought to ponder: the size of your triangle.
There's an obvious triangle to be formed by the connection of your work, home and Third Place/s. There's no prescription here, but if you work in Joondalup, live in Mandurah and have a Third Place in Mundaring, chances are you true Third Place is probably your car. The proximity of your places is in large part about convenience, but it's also about community. Asking your next-door neighbour along to church (or a coffee) in Mundaring might be a bit of a stretch, but five minutes away?, that's not too much of a challenge.
There's an intentionality in urban planning these days to engender community and facilitate the Third Place. I think we need to play our part too. Some of the most vibrant communities are either villages or built around the principles of a village—a small collective of homes and businesses that share their lives together. It's not as though there's a magic distance for the dimension of a triangle that will produce community. It's more that there's a social, environmental and economic priority or benefit to keeping the distance low.
There's a balance that's created by having distinct places. The ideal isn't to live in the basement of the church where you work. Good on you if you do, but you'd be best to find a place beyond those walls where you can a) get some sunlight and b) enjoy and be part of building community.
It's easy enough to have a 100 metre triangle yet remain utterly disconnected from those around you. So, I figure, it's more about being intentional in our decision making. Intentional in building community and intentional in finding your Third Place. And intentional (or thoughtful) about the proximity of those places.
There's way more to chew over as far as Third Places go. Plenty that's already been written from a variety of perspectives. I'm just adding to the commentary really. Like you.
Got a Third Place? Looking for one?
In praise of the caffeinated beverage
Part One: Luxury
This post has been brewing for a little while now. If it was an espresso, this could turn it a little bitter. It's not an espresso though, it's a bunch of words that are in part homage and in part sociology.
Caffeine must surely be one of life's richest pleasures. With equal blends of romance, puritanical pleasure, sensory stimulation, social lubrication and sheer indulgence, a dose of caffeine in your preferred configuration kicks goals on a bunch of levels. It's surely the most fun you can have in a cup (although I do remember some photos my parents took at Disneyland on some Madhatter's Tea Cup ride...but that's a bit of a tangent).
I don't intend to wax on about coffee for a whole lot of paragraphs—we're recruiting more eminent spokespeople to look after that in forthcoming posts.
I have two coffee-connected thoughts and then I'm done. Two thoughts, two posts.
Thought One: Coffee is a low-cost luxury
This is my slither of a thought. Whether you own half of Turkmenistan, Brazil or Ethiopia, or you study at the government's pleasure, a cup of coffee will cost you roughly the same amount of money. And it can transport you wherever you'd like to go. There's a romance activated by a short macchiato created from beans grown in countries that I haven't been to that doesn't require a plane flight.
Around $3-4 (depending on whether you're having a coffee or a warm milk shake) will give you the excuse to meet up with someone and the lubricant for the conversation. It will provide the prop to hold on to for those awkward moments and grasp with steadying assurance during unfolding revelations or ecstacy. A friend of mine and me effectively rented a booth at a café in Leederville one public holiday for 6 hours. The rent was about $1/hour for the two coffees (and numerous waters) we had for the duration. That's great value right there.
It's breathtaking and liberating the permission a little cup gives you to write, to talk, to journal, to read and to dream. And you can do all of these alone or accompanied. Your choice. It's coffee—it's up to you.
In a time when luxury is often displayed with big ticket items, coffee stands head and shoulders above them all as a little piece of repeatable luxury in a cup.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
The pinnacle of sport...the pinnacle of design?
(Revised 7/6/7) Welcome to the branding of the London Olympic Games...just 5 short years away. It seems that perhaps the games organisers know something about the future of design that the rest of the world hasn't grasped just yet. Based on their insights though, Armageddon is just around the corner.
The jagged logo for the London 2012 Olympics has attracted a barrage of criticism, with thousands signing an online petition calling for it to be scrapped.
As if that wasn't bad enough, animated footage of the logo was removed from the London 2012 Olympic Web site amid claims that it could trigger epileptic seizures. The logo cost £400,000 (AU$947,824.01) and took a year to develop.
The London 2012 Web site says: "The new emblem is dynamic, modern and flexible.
"It will work with new technology and across traditional and new media networks."
Critics have said it resembles a "monkey on the toilet" or a "broken swastika."
My mum used to tell me that if I didn't have anything positive to say then I shouldn't say anything, so here's 3 positive things: 1) blue is a pleasant colour, 2) there are no spelling errors, 3) the olympic symbol is a timeless piece of design (a quality seemingly lost in this piece of turgid design - oops, there I go again).
Over 11,000 people have signed a petition to have this logo banned so far. Perhaps you'd like to join them...
There are moments when, in contrast, Comic Sans seems to have some merit.
On reflection, it's been a bit of a downhill slide since 1968...
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Stop it! A communal Top 5 (or 50)
Perhaps this is anti-spacious but, heck, I have so many annoying habits it's worth dragging some of them out into the open.
Every now and then someone near you (it may even be you) does something that you really wish they wouldn't. It might go completely unnoticed by those around you, but to you it's like a high-pitched feedback-like squeal in your ears. Perhaps it's a long sloppy sniff or maybe someone stealing 'your' armrest at a movie. Whatever it is...it irks you and you wish they (you) would stop it.
I'm thinking we get a common Top 5 of sorts on the move. You add your annoying habit (or the habit that you find annoying) and we'll add it to the communal list.
Duplication is ok - it reinforces the degree of communal frustration with the habit!
So, here's the evolving communal list:
1. Sloppy sniffers (tissues are great aren't they?)
2. Noisy eaters
3. People who leave half finished glasses/plates/bowls of stuff around
4. Out of tune singing
5. Bad spelling and pronunciation
6. When something is pronounced 'somethink' and straight is pronounced 'shtraight'.
7. The noise people often make to illustrate hunger - the tongue hitting the roof of their mouth over and over - kills me every time.
8. The sound of anyone eating before midday.
9. The phrase 'touch base'.
10. Unacknowledged smells.
11. the smell of reheated leftovers for office lunches
12. being beeped at by taxi's (kind of only really a peruvian problem)
13. incessant whistling, drumming or humming
14. people who don't understand the delicate laws of air conditioning systems and open windows when you trying to keep the car cool (thus making the car very noisy and hot at 100km/hr so that you can't hear the music).
15. people who make no attempt to make their braking, acceleration, gear changes and cornering as smooth as possible.
16. noisy eating
17. noisy breathing
18. jerky/nervous drivers
19. people who prank rather than wear the cost of a phone call to you
20. knuckle-crackers
21. people who ride the brake...and brake suddenly as though an accident is about to happen (except there isn't another car in sight)
22. ok, I'm naughty, but people who pray mentioning the word father or Lord at a ratio of 1 word to 4 or less
23. People who take your armrest on either side of you on a 13 hour plane ride
24. People who talk during movies and tv
25. People who eat loudly during movies.. actually in general!
26. People who ask if we have running water and electricity in Australia
27. Out of tune singing
28. people without manners or respect for the people around them
29. people who lack spreadsheet data entry skills
30. starbucks baristas
31. overeager shop assistants
32. the man in the apartment above us who spends from 11pm till 2am most nights dragging a chair across the floor of the room above our bedroom.
33. people who talk during movies, gigs, and concert
34. people without manners or respect for the people around them
35. People who try to patronize you when they speak to you
36. nasty smells!
37. Noisy eating, chewing of gum, or simulating eating noises because it sounds 'cool'?
38. The visual of people eating/chewing with their mouths open3. Someone asking me a question and then looking around when I try to give the answer, which I'm only giving to humour their question.
39. over 40's calling a cappucino a "CUPPA-chino".
40. Kicking of others' chairs in church, lectures, meetings. Seriously people, why would you? have you ever turned around to the person behind you and said 'excuse me, I find it distracting that you're not kicking my chair, would you mind just kicking it continuously for the next 45 minutes?" NO, I didn't think so. Enough said.
41. Excessive licking of fingers whilst eating. "I know! lets lick our fingers noisily after every handful of salty chips, then put our hand straight back in the bag so we can do it all again! horrah!"
42. Gum snapping - you know the pop people make by sort of blowing an inside the mouth bubble?
43. people holding occult ceremonies within a 5 metre radius of my personal space, while I'm sleeping.
44. People who say 'youse' instead of 'you' eg. "Hey, youse guys, come over here!"
45. When people use to/too/two incorrectly.
46. Noisy eaters. They definitely annoy me.
47. Pray-ers who say "God, Jesus Father Jesus (?), Lord God, Holy Spirit, we just ask you, Jesus, Father Jesus, Lord" etc. I think he knows his name by now.
48. People who throw litter out of their car. Of course it disappears outside the time/space continuum when you let it fly out the window....
49. People who blame their obnoxious behaviour solely on their personality type. "It's not my fault, don't you know I'm a sanguine/melancholic/cleric?"
and 50...
the sound one of my work-mates makes by pouring water from a juice bottle in a way that sounds like a dog drinking from a water bowl, amplified through a trace-elliot accoustic amp.