Yes, I am back from 5 days and 4 nights of the BLT camp! And if you were thinking it, no this was not a subway apprenticeship training camp on how to make the best sandwiches in the world. In fact, it was far from it. BLT is the Brisbane Leadership Training camp, and it is a camp that brings together christians from various local Chinese churches to learn how to lead and teach ourselves and others on the Christian Walk. It is about bringing up leaders within the churches so that Brisbane and Queensland, Australia and all of the world would hear of Jesus and what hope, grace and salvation we can find in him.
The camp was split into 5 strands for people at different years of attendance at BLT, and as this was my first year at BLT I was in Strand 1. We learnt about how to interpret a passage by asking questions about it, about things we might not understand at first glance. By asking these questions, and reading the neighbouring passages and the book in which it is contained, we can find out the context in which the passage speaks from. We learnt that there was 3 types of contexts, Literary, Historical, and Theological Context with theological context being split into two sub-categories, which are Biblical and Systematical theology. Knowing the style in which the passage is written and who the author and audience was influences the way it is written and how the words can be intepreted. Knowing the timeframes and events that were occuring at the time during which the passage was written helps interpret the meaning and purpose of the passage. Knowing how it fits into events of the book as well as how it fits into the rest of the bible allows us to know what the passage's role in the whole bible is. Knowing what topics and issues the passage covers allows us to understand what the passage says and how it links with other sections of the bible that also talk about similar topics. Knowing what the context is allows us then to pull apart the passage into its individual sections of text that flow together to express an idea or concept. Having done that, you will be able to understand exactly what the passage is trying to say, after which you can develop further understanding of the passage and how it is relevant to yourself and others and from there begin to teach others.
The passage that we were learning to do all this was Hebrews 12:18-25. And it was exceptionally hard, which makes me believe that it is a BLT tradition to choose the hardest possible passages for it's studies. Which in turn makes things easier when you read simpler passages or passages with more context. It was a really challenging camp that really expanded my knowledge and changed the way I read the bible. To know how the OT and the NT have such intricate links. It even resurfaced the thoughts I onced had about considering entering full-time ministry one day, and had heaps of questions answered to help me consider whether it was the thing for me.
But the greatest thing about this BLT was the men's and women's workshops in which the guys and the girls were seperated into different workshops to talk about the differences and all sorts of gender related stuff.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed BLT and hope that I can go to BLT+ and next year's BLT as well.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
4hr Cooking spree...
Today was a good old friend's birthday, and I volunteered to help him with food arrangements. Expecting 18-20 guests, we went groceries shopping to buy food. And I'd have to say, as much as we seemed to have bought, ie. $100+, it was just enough... Or more accurately just over enough. With 2.8kg of chicken and 1.5kg of uncooked pasta, +8L of punch that didn't end up being made... I think we covered everything...
First time cooking without the reliance of recipes, and depending only on past experience and memory. And apart from a few kitchen booboos, ie. letting the pasta cook with my back turned and having it spill... twice... thrice... :P I think we did a good job of it. Suprisingly enough, the chicken skewers were completely gone as well as all the veges too. But yeah... haha funny thing was someone asking me for cooking lessons :P Though I don't think I have nearly enough experience to be teaching someone else how to cook lol... but yeah... It was fun though, although as the title might suggest, I was running around the kitchen for 4 hours :P Makes me feel sorry for the professional chefs really... Although it is the first time I've ever served so many people at once, ie. dinner for 18... Maybe next time I decide to jump in the deep end and assist with menu's and food, I'll be much quicker haha...
O, and if your wondering what I cooked, it was satay chicken skewers, triple cheese pasta bake, chicken and mushroom pasta bake, chinese veges, and the others prepared garlic bread and a snack of nachos.
Neways, yeah...
First time cooking without the reliance of recipes, and depending only on past experience and memory. And apart from a few kitchen booboos, ie. letting the pasta cook with my back turned and having it spill... twice... thrice... :P I think we did a good job of it. Suprisingly enough, the chicken skewers were completely gone as well as all the veges too. But yeah... haha funny thing was someone asking me for cooking lessons :P Though I don't think I have nearly enough experience to be teaching someone else how to cook lol... but yeah... It was fun though, although as the title might suggest, I was running around the kitchen for 4 hours :P Makes me feel sorry for the professional chefs really... Although it is the first time I've ever served so many people at once, ie. dinner for 18... Maybe next time I decide to jump in the deep end and assist with menu's and food, I'll be much quicker haha...
O, and if your wondering what I cooked, it was satay chicken skewers, triple cheese pasta bake, chicken and mushroom pasta bake, chinese veges, and the others prepared garlic bread and a snack of nachos.
Neways, yeah...
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Product Design Fail
For some reason, our family recieves some junk mail that advertises some of the most ridiculous product ideas in the world. I think the products they sell are all "experimentals", and granted some of them are rather ingenious, some are mediocre, and some are just plain stupid. Here are some examples of STUPID ideas.
SCISSORS with inbuilt LASER POINTER.
Now I have heard and seen of circular saws with lasers and other stationary hardware tools or large bladed motor saws with lasers, and they work because A. if the laser is stationary, then the line is guarenteed to be straight and the saw just has to align with the laser beam; or B. The blade is too large to actually deviate once it has entered the material at a specific angle. But on an implement like a pair of scissors? and remember also that even on jigsaws, the thing is that the blade movement is non-relient on the hand, where as scissors rely on the movement of your hand to produce its cutting force. Therefore that laser beam will MOVE while you are moving your fingers up and down and the beam will never be straight and is therefore redundant.
POT CLIP.
This is a clip that you attach to the side of a pot while you are cooking on the stove. The idea is that the clip is used to hold a spoon to that you have a place to put it when you are not stirring it. Basically this is for a remarkably lazy person who couldn't be bothered using a saucer or something like that to place the spoon down. So why do I say it is a STUPID idea? Because with a clip on the side of the pot, you CAN'T close the lid. So you have to remove the clip to place the lid on the pot. Now unless you intend to boil your soup or sauce or whatever into a dry cake of muck, you need a lid on it while it boils. Which means that you will still need a place for the spoon while u have the lid on... ie. saucer or something... so why have a clip? the only time this can potentially come in handy is when you are simmering something... but what good does a clip do lol... Useless...
SONICE KEY FINDER.
Just by the name, the first thing that comes in mind is WTH... basically, what this thing is, is a key chain attachment. Basically it has a mic and a speaker and a light. What's it good for? well, when you can't find you keys, you WHISTLE... and if the keychain is close then it will pick up your whistle and it will beep and the light will flash. However... what if you can't whistle? and thats not a silly question... alot of people can't whistle... and even if you could whistle, you would need to walk around to all the possible places you left your keys and continuously whistle. It's ok if your by yourself... but otherwise you look like an idiot. O and chances are, if you have some kind of barrier between the keys and yourself, it won't trigger, anything like keys inside bags or clothing, probably won't register. Another thing is, that keychain clearly does not have the AI needed to define a whistle and any other noise of similar frequency. so... either one, your watching some kind of sporting event on TV and everytime the whistle goes off, your keychain will go off. Or other high pitched noises like maybe instruments or anything will set it off. Inconsistent, silly stuff lol...
LASER PARKING SYSTEM.
This is just silly IMO. Basically what this thing is, is a ceiling sensor that goes on your garage roof. What it does is that when you rear your car into the garage, the sensor will detect your cars movement and shoot a beam of laser to where you want to park (obviously you have adjusted that point manually cos that think isn't military equipment). Thing is, a laser only shows up as a dot... and if you in a car in reverse, YOU CAN'T SEE THE GROUND. so how the heck can you see the beam? Ok, so some people might say, "well you can see it on the boot of your car", well depends on what car you drive, you can't see what is pointing away from you, so if your boot is slanted backwards then you won't be able to see. If you drive a hatchback, you can't see it, if you drive a wagon, you can't see it. If you drive a Van, you can't see it. If you drive a Ute... slim chance, but probably not. A novel idea, but in reality it's a useless contraption.
LED HAT LIGHT.
As the name suggests, it's a light that goes on a hat. So what's the problem with it? the problem with it is that it goes on the RIM of the hat. Basically its a clip with 5 LED lights on it. It works on baseball hats, because it has a solid rim. But what if the rim of the hat isn't solid? like those floppy rim hats? then your rim will basically drop and your lights will point to the floor. Ok, if you have a hat to clip it onto, then its a good hand's free alternative right? well... If you need a torch, then why do you need a hat? You need a torch when you don't have light, but you need a hat when the SUN is too bright. It's a mixture of conflicting usages. Sure, if at night and you need light, you can just find a hat and clip this on. But why don't you get a proper headlight with proper straps? they can fit OVER or go UNDER a hat if you must where one... and they can go on to things that a hat brim clip can't, like helmets. Another advantage that the headlights have over this hatlight is that headlights are strapped and buckled to your head, therefore it is hard to lose it no matter how hard you swing yourself around. Hats however come of easy, and even if the hat doesn't come off, the clip will. So just get a proper headlight... its so much more useful. So unless you CONSTANTLY wear a cap, I don't think this thing will hardly ever be useful.
While these are novel ideas... They are clearly less than practical... Each of them are something suited to extremely specific lifestyle and people... And definitely aren't successful commercial products. Figures why you would find it in some local, over the phone purchase catalog, cos no self-respecting and partially intelligent business man would ever mass produce something as crazy as these things and expect to make a profit and maintain the reputation of his brand.
Anyways, the end :P
SCISSORS with inbuilt LASER POINTER.
Now I have heard and seen of circular saws with lasers and other stationary hardware tools or large bladed motor saws with lasers, and they work because A. if the laser is stationary, then the line is guarenteed to be straight and the saw just has to align with the laser beam; or B. The blade is too large to actually deviate once it has entered the material at a specific angle. But on an implement like a pair of scissors? and remember also that even on jigsaws, the thing is that the blade movement is non-relient on the hand, where as scissors rely on the movement of your hand to produce its cutting force. Therefore that laser beam will MOVE while you are moving your fingers up and down and the beam will never be straight and is therefore redundant.
POT CLIP.
This is a clip that you attach to the side of a pot while you are cooking on the stove. The idea is that the clip is used to hold a spoon to that you have a place to put it when you are not stirring it. Basically this is for a remarkably lazy person who couldn't be bothered using a saucer or something like that to place the spoon down. So why do I say it is a STUPID idea? Because with a clip on the side of the pot, you CAN'T close the lid. So you have to remove the clip to place the lid on the pot. Now unless you intend to boil your soup or sauce or whatever into a dry cake of muck, you need a lid on it while it boils. Which means that you will still need a place for the spoon while u have the lid on... ie. saucer or something... so why have a clip? the only time this can potentially come in handy is when you are simmering something... but what good does a clip do lol... Useless...
SONICE KEY FINDER.
Just by the name, the first thing that comes in mind is WTH... basically, what this thing is, is a key chain attachment. Basically it has a mic and a speaker and a light. What's it good for? well, when you can't find you keys, you WHISTLE... and if the keychain is close then it will pick up your whistle and it will beep and the light will flash. However... what if you can't whistle? and thats not a silly question... alot of people can't whistle... and even if you could whistle, you would need to walk around to all the possible places you left your keys and continuously whistle. It's ok if your by yourself... but otherwise you look like an idiot. O and chances are, if you have some kind of barrier between the keys and yourself, it won't trigger, anything like keys inside bags or clothing, probably won't register. Another thing is, that keychain clearly does not have the AI needed to define a whistle and any other noise of similar frequency. so... either one, your watching some kind of sporting event on TV and everytime the whistle goes off, your keychain will go off. Or other high pitched noises like maybe instruments or anything will set it off. Inconsistent, silly stuff lol...
LASER PARKING SYSTEM.
This is just silly IMO. Basically what this thing is, is a ceiling sensor that goes on your garage roof. What it does is that when you rear your car into the garage, the sensor will detect your cars movement and shoot a beam of laser to where you want to park (obviously you have adjusted that point manually cos that think isn't military equipment). Thing is, a laser only shows up as a dot... and if you in a car in reverse, YOU CAN'T SEE THE GROUND. so how the heck can you see the beam? Ok, so some people might say, "well you can see it on the boot of your car", well depends on what car you drive, you can't see what is pointing away from you, so if your boot is slanted backwards then you won't be able to see. If you drive a hatchback, you can't see it, if you drive a wagon, you can't see it. If you drive a Van, you can't see it. If you drive a Ute... slim chance, but probably not. A novel idea, but in reality it's a useless contraption.
LED HAT LIGHT.
As the name suggests, it's a light that goes on a hat. So what's the problem with it? the problem with it is that it goes on the RIM of the hat. Basically its a clip with 5 LED lights on it. It works on baseball hats, because it has a solid rim. But what if the rim of the hat isn't solid? like those floppy rim hats? then your rim will basically drop and your lights will point to the floor. Ok, if you have a hat to clip it onto, then its a good hand's free alternative right? well... If you need a torch, then why do you need a hat? You need a torch when you don't have light, but you need a hat when the SUN is too bright. It's a mixture of conflicting usages. Sure, if at night and you need light, you can just find a hat and clip this on. But why don't you get a proper headlight with proper straps? they can fit OVER or go UNDER a hat if you must where one... and they can go on to things that a hat brim clip can't, like helmets. Another advantage that the headlights have over this hatlight is that headlights are strapped and buckled to your head, therefore it is hard to lose it no matter how hard you swing yourself around. Hats however come of easy, and even if the hat doesn't come off, the clip will. So just get a proper headlight... its so much more useful. So unless you CONSTANTLY wear a cap, I don't think this thing will hardly ever be useful.
While these are novel ideas... They are clearly less than practical... Each of them are something suited to extremely specific lifestyle and people... And definitely aren't successful commercial products. Figures why you would find it in some local, over the phone purchase catalog, cos no self-respecting and partially intelligent business man would ever mass produce something as crazy as these things and expect to make a profit and maintain the reputation of his brand.
Anyways, the end :P
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Holiday Sleeping Patterns...
Holidays would be the worst time of the year for my physical body I reckon. Why do I say that? Because of my extremely retarded sleeping and eating patterns during holiday periods. With no uni and no work, there is no reason to sleep early and no reason to wake up early... Hence I sleep LATE and wake up even later. When I say late I mean I've drifted from sleeping at 1am ish from the start of the holidays, to sleeping at 4:30am last night... which... is pretty bad... I woke up at 2:30pm this morning... so that's horrendous lol... church on sundays is the only thing that brings my week back into relative alignment but even then, I still sleep at 1:30am and sometimes 2am.. to wake up at 8am... either way holidays are really unhealthy for me. Because I'm only awake at those hours I only eat about 2 meals a day... so... thats also very unhealthy... While I'm working or at uni I eat 3 and sometimes even 4 meals a day and sleep at or before 12am... and waking at 7-8am... and if I have 8 am starts at uni or work then I sleep sometimes at around 10-11pm which is an incredible feat for those of you who know me and my nocturnal tendencies. So yes... I'm sure I've gotten skinner than I was at the start of the holidays, and I was already skinny then... Probably lost abit of muscle as well from the lack of physical exercise... At least I have work next week :P
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Live Firefighting experience =P
Today was an unusually exciting day... I was just hanging out with friends and having a bit of an afternoon snack at the soy custard place at sunnybank hills... which is across the road from the shopping centre. Well presumably a smoker drove by on the other side of the road and tossed a cigarette butt out the window and into the hedging around the shopping centre... We watched as the bush caught fire and started smouldering and flaming, but it wasn't a big flame and was slowly burning itself out. While some of us there were considering to call the fire brigade, one of my other friends yelled across the road and asked if I had any water... I so happened to have half a litre of water in my car and so I took it and we put out the little smouldering flame =P While we were doing that some random girls asked us whether we felt like heroes... which was kinda random... but yeah... It was enough excitement for the day lol... And while we were inside enjoying our snack about 15 minutes later, fire trucks began circling the shopping centre searching for a fire lol... yes... that's about as exciting as my day got... neways... I'm bored and tired...
I was debating in the car about smoking laws being an environmental issue or a health issue, which I thought was more health inclined than environmental seeing how cigarette in isolation is carbon neutral but burning of fossil fuels is not as it comes from outside our biosphere and fills it with carbon dioxide. However, after the little incident I would have to agree that smoking is also an environmental hazard as well... as is public drinking.... as live cigarette butts and glass bottles can set things on fire and cause damage to both environment and to other people... but yeah... thats all I can care to write for today...
I was debating in the car about smoking laws being an environmental issue or a health issue, which I thought was more health inclined than environmental seeing how cigarette in isolation is carbon neutral but burning of fossil fuels is not as it comes from outside our biosphere and fills it with carbon dioxide. However, after the little incident I would have to agree that smoking is also an environmental hazard as well... as is public drinking.... as live cigarette butts and glass bottles can set things on fire and cause damage to both environment and to other people... but yeah... thats all I can care to write for today...
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Years Celebrations
Yup.... today is the 1st of the 1st, 2009... another tally on the wall. Didn't get home till 2:30am lol... And because I was driving, I didn't drink a drop :P not that I would have even if I wasn't driving... I'm sure those photos are on facebook already :P but yeah... some people were a tad drunk... but noone was disorderly... just slow :P Which reminds me I left that present behind AGAIN... I was meant to pick it up today... but I forgot again... I'd have to say both teams cooked pretty well too :P although personal bias... says that our team cooked better XP chicken + seafood risotto, satay chicken skewers and Chicken lasagne was our team's menu, the other team's menu was, soya chicken, chicken pastries and butter chicken... So I'd have to say our team (uni student team) had the more sophisticated menu :P but we did go overtime by a few minutes... but that was because of kitchen size... If it was in my kitchen we'd be done in half the time :P first because we have about 4 times the knives and alot more chopping boards haha... but yeah enough of the excuses and "whinging" from me. It was good fun all in all. Hope the new year has good things in store for me. haha... anyways Happy New Year to everyone who even bothers reading this... I'm tired...
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