Geoff Thompsons Blog: March 2012

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Talkin' about My Generation part 2

Talkin about My Generation. Part 2

Below is link to part 1

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/search/label/baby%20boomers

I'll start with music: Born in the mid 1940's I grew up listening to music on the radio in the days before television.
My recollections start in the 1950's.

The first music I remember are probably in the novelty genre.

"How much is that doggy in the window?" by Patti Page, "Bimbo" by Jim Reeves, although I saw the Le garde Twins sing this at a local circus.
"The Whistler and his dog" was a favourite instrumental with a dog barking at the end.
The various versions of the "Laughing Record".
We would sit around the radiogram or gramophone laughing our heads off.
Also Stan Freberg's :St George and the Dragonet" and "Little Blue Riding Hood" were great sides on the one 78.
My grandparents had an old gramophone( I still have it) and I used to listen to old 78's on it when I visited. "Swedish Rhapsody" and "the Song from Moulin Rouge" were favourites.
Singers like Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney,Smoky Dawson.
Then as the fifties gave way to the sixties there was the explosion of pop music and rock and roll.
My first "45" vinyl record I bought was "I've been every where" by Lucky Starr.

The second "Sherry" by the 4 seasons.
Then the "Guitar Man" by Duane Eddy.
Then "If I didn't have a dime" by Gene Pitney.
Who can forget "The Man who shot Liberty Valance"
I loved Ray Stevens novelty records such as "Harry The Hairy Ape" and "Ahab the Arab" and "Freddy Feelgood's Funky Little 5 piece band."
I became a lifelong Gene Pitney fan and saw him once in the sixties in Adelaide at the height of his fame and then twice in the 90's before his untimely death.
Then Elvis, the numerous Johnnies and Bobbies, Gene McDaniels, John Leyton(Lonely City is an iconic sixties pop song in my opinion)
See John Leyton clip from the film "It's Trad Dad" which stared Helen Shapiro and other 60's stars made cameo appearances.It was my favourite 60's film. Very little story but great music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFo79873I7g

,Helen Shapiro,Cliff Richard and the Shadows,Dusty Springfield( she was on the same bill with GenePitney in the same sixties concert.)
I loved the music of Ral Donner the first Elvis sound a like who died an untimely young death.
As did so many.
I had always wondered what had happenned to "Joe and Eddie"(There is a meetin' here tonight!) and only recently googled to find one had died in a car crash.
See Joe and Eddie on Shindig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XV0W7ueYgY

As the 60's gave way to the 70's my wife and I had become Chjristians so our music likes swapped over to mainly Gospel then with many of the 60's stars becoming Christians in the Jesus Movemennt of the 70's ("One way!")
eg. Barry Mcguire,Paul Stookey and of course Keith Green.
See Keith Green clip. "To Obey is better than sacrifice."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzWyZxlwGKI

Helen Shapiro ,Dion, Cliif Richard were some who declared their faith in Jesus.
I still have a vast collection of vynil 12 and 7 inch and 78's.
And I love the music of Bert Kaempfert,Henry Mancini,Arthur Lyman,James Last and many more in the Easy Listening genre.
And the Beatles of course dominated the 60's and I was lucky enough to see them in Adelaide without Ringo Starr who was ill.
We had to queue in the streets for about 3 days to get tickets and I always remember how a young man in a suit was walking up and down the queue trying to talk to people about Jesus. we just ignored him but looking back it was one of those moments when God was trying to get through to me.

Every New Year's Eve we get together with our neighbours for a party and enjoy the 60's music all over again. Sadly each year we note that some more of these entertainers have passed on.

Next recollection SPORT.

From the Wayside Chapel by Graham long

Dear Inner Circle,

It's unusual for a young person to make an appointment to see me but a cute
little sausage made an appointment this week. It was a joy to clap eyes on such
a beautiful creature and to know that she'd thought enough to make an appointment
and to keep it. I was expecting this little girl to pour her heart out but she'd
taken ice and was in a confused state. I thought that there was no chance
of a sensible conversation and then she put both her hands out for me to hold
and she asked me to pray. This was a most unusual act for a girl who's spent half
her life in s*x work. We held hands in a most gentle way and yet she'd reached
deep into my chest and pulled my heart onto our joined hands. I was captured
by her breathtaking beauty and my heart broke for a little girl who was entering
a psychosis from which she may never return. We were in a public place and
while the moment passed quickly, I've not quite been the same since.
It was one of those moments when I felt like I was a father, unable to make
any contribution to the moment except to see and know that something
very precious was in danger of being lost.

I guess this dear girl seeks to dull her pain through her use of drugs. I've had
many people, especially alcoholics, tell me that it is oblivion that they seek.
I kind of get it. There is an oblivion that doesn't destroy the self. There is an oblivion
that is right and holy. It is the act of knowing that my essence is not located in me,
but located between me and you. I reckon Buddhists know this truth and I'm sure
it is what Jesus meant when he said, "Who saves his life will lose it and who loses
his life will save it". Oooops, we're on holy ground; it must be close to Easter.

Yesterday, I spoke at an event called the Battle of the Big Thinking.

I sat on stage next to Rev Tim Costello (CEO of World Vision) and just

before we spoke, he leaned across and said, "How did we think this might

have been a good idea?" He took the words right out of my mouth.

Neither he nor I related to the context of "competition". My anxiety was

all about keeping to the strict time. To my surprise I won the community

section of the day and then to my great fright, I won the whole day!

What made the day was that in the crowd was a group from UrsaClemenger,

the advertising agency that looks after us, who came to support me

(at $800 a ticket, there were no Wayside people there). It made my day

to know that some of the beautiful team were at Wayside following

progress on Twitter and dancing around the table for joy as the wins

were announced. It made my day to see my daughter sending messages

to Facebook and Twitter because she was proud of her old father -

who may not be funny but did at least pull this off yesterday.

My big idea was that there is no single person; that humans are hard wired

as relational beings; that to reduce humanity to "one" is to violate the

very essence of what it means to be human. The minimum number in the

basic human unit is at least two. So the word "I" could only ever refer

to half of something. We in the west love the idea of the "power of one"

but it is a total illusion. So, there is no such thing as success except shared

success and there is no such thing as failure except shared failure. The joy

of yesterday was that it was shared by the Wayside team, by our friends

at UrsaClemenger, by my daughter and my best friend and wife, Robyn.

These people have stood with me in times of failure and to see them rejoice

in a success fills me with joy.

We have a brief church service on Good Friday at 10am and on Sunday

as usual at 10am. Remember, we're not much like a church which might

suit you if you're not much like a christian.

Thanks for taking the time to read this note and for being part

of our inner circle,

Graham

Rev Graham Long

Pastor

The Wayside Chapel

Kings Cross

http://www.thewaysidechapel.com/

Monday, March 26, 2012

Marsupial Lion-thylacoleo

There was an article in the Adelaide Advertiser on 23/3/12 about how it is now believed "humans killed our big beasts".
It talks about new evidence that demonstrates that Australian extinct animals like the diprotodon and thylacoleo (marsupial lion) were made extinct by humans in Australia about 40,000 years.
Co-incidently I am currently reading a book by Charles Barrett called "Coast of Adventure"
In it he is describing a visit to Australia's North in the 1940's.
The book was published in 1946.
He describes anectdotely an encounter with what sounds like thylacoleo by a local inhabitant of Northern Australia.
Charles Barrett was a prolific journalist and writer on nature in the 1930's and 40's.
He was if you like an Australian David Attenborough of his day.
My late father in law who was an authority on Australian Flora and Fauna in the Riverland of South Australia actually corresponded with Barrett when he, Dudley, was about 16.

There is also reference in Barrett's account of the British Museum having knowledge of the Thyalcoleo at the time which is born out to some extent in an article about Richard Owen in wikipedia.

So my conclusion is that Thylacoleo may have been wiped out by humans in less than 100 years ago not 40,000.
After all the Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacene only become extinct in living memory.
It is a similar animal.

I have included the article from the advertiser and also relevant extracts from Barrett's book and other interesting links.

As a creationist or intelligent design advocate, (immediately some will switch off) it is always interesting to me that as I note new scientific discoveries events and dates are always becoming younger not older:
eg the recent revelation that a recently discovered pine tree in Australia that was thought to go back millions of years is now contemporary and not ancient at all.

Food for thought!

http://m.news.com.au/SA/fi988873.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacoleo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Owen

Here is a video link to what it is believed they looked like etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDoMQ4Gj3sI

Please note there is terminology used in this book that would not be used in this day. It was the common vernacular of the day, that was just how it was in those times. Reading Charles Barrrett's books he had a regard and love for Aboriginal people that many men of his day rarely did. It is not my intention to offend anyone by what is reproduced here.

What do you think?

Sunday, March 25, 2012

The Holy Spirit by Frank Hunting

This post follows on from my previous post of the early pages of this booklet.
See link below.There is some overlap. Pages through to about page 17 have already been posted.Anyway you can do some revision.

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/holy-spirit-by-frank-hunting.html

To view the pages simply click on each one.

For a link to about Frank Hunting on this blog see below

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/about-fank-hunting.html

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Page Views by Countries in Last Month

For your interest to see who is reading this blog.This is majority countries for the last month.I am constantly amazed at the diverse range of countries and thus people coming to visit.

Pageviews by Countries

United States

232

Australia

155

Germany

115

Russia

United Kingdom

India

Ukraine

Netherlands

Canada

Mexico

Pageviews by Browsers

Internet Explorer

241 (34%)

Firefox

230 (32%)

Chrome

79 (11%)

Safari

79 (11%)

Opera

32 (4%)

GranParadiso

23 (3%)

Mobile

9 (1%)

Mobile Safari

6 (<1%)

Apple-PubSub

2 (<1%)

Hat

1 (<1%)

Pageviews by Operating Systems

Windows

538 (76%)

Macintosh

63 (8%)

Linux

49 (6%)

iPhone

28 (3%)

iPad

16 (2%)

Android

6 (<1%)

BlackBerry

3 (<1%)

Linux 2.4.22-10mdk

1 (<1%)

Unix

1 (<1%)

Other Unix

1 (<1%)

Ray Smith-Author,Pastor,Counsellor and much more

Lesley and I have just concluded a wonderful short holiday capped off with an overnight stay in Wandiligong Victoria with good friends Ray and Marg Smith in their restored heritage listed cottage and shop. "The Miner's Find"
They are moving this year to Beechworth and the shop and home is currently for sale.
They have been, apart from their busy lives in the community as Pastor,Nurse and Grandparents, running a small business serving devonshire teas and also selling antiques.

Ray has just released a book that is selling well that I have already posted about.

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/fallacy-of-generational-curses-and.html

I would recommend the book if the subject of generational curses is troubling you or indeed if you are wanting to overcome the effect of negative influences in your lives.

Risk Makes Sense

"Risk Makes Sense" is the title of Dr. Robert Long's newly released book.(Co-authored with his son Joshua)

Rob and Helen are our Canberra relatives and we have just enjoyed their hospitality in Canberra.

Rob is owner and Director of Human Dymensions Pty. Ltd. and also the brother of Pastor Graham Long of the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross Sydney.

Rob has been many things in his career and is highly skilled and educated in his chosen fields.

If you are in Management in the Public Service or Private Enterprise you might like to consider what he has to offer and to buy his book or engage him as a trainer/consultant.

It is about many things including Occupational Health and Safety and relationships in the workforce and life.

Below is a link to his website and you might want to watch the video of the book launch.

http://www.humandymensions.com/

Update at 1/5/12. Rob's first print run was a sell out.

From the Wayside

Dear Inner Circle,

I'm sitting at The Fountain Cafe in Kings Cross because I'm a bit afraid that if

I walk into Wayside, this note will not be written. We have a Board meeting

tonight and our Business Manager has been sending me emails since 6am.

To say the least it's busy at Wayside in recent days. It's busy because we have

a growing number of community activities which means additional people are

coming and going and it's busy because the number of people who visit Wayside

and ask for some kind of help has also increased. I'm in awe of our front line staff

who maintain extraordinary compassion for people even when the demands upon

them are daunting.

It's a rather nice cool morning. The lady on the next table has a big leaf in her hair

that looks like it just fell on her head. She's just ordered a large chocolate

milkshake with two marshmallows. It's not an ideal breakfast but I wouldn't

mind one myself. There are three old fellows on the table on the other side of me

who are having coffee and sharing a bowl of chips. That is more weird I think.

These funny old sausages are all deaf so I, and half of Kings Cross, know what's

on their minds. Since the Bourbon has stopped trading, what used to be the steps

into the gambling area has been transformed into something of an amphitheatre

for homeless people to sit and watch the world go past. There are three people

who I know enjoying the cool and engaged in conversation with each other.

A homeless fellow asked me the other day, "Does human damage make the human

voice louder?" I have no idea what the right answer is but I know that loud voices

are a constant feature of life at Wayside. One of the people on the amphitheatre is

a transexual person for whom the transition is entirely unconvincing, however,

she is one of the kindest people I know and she certainly makes this world a

better place.

Most of the people walking past are in a hurry to get somewhere. They look like

successful people on their way to the CBD. Our lovely old lady who wanders

around wearing everything she owns just walked past. In cool weather this dear

old thing doesn't look too out of place but you should see her in the middle of

summer dressed like she's ready for voyage to the antarctic. The three deaf guys

now are solving the problem in Syria with such enthusiasm that their chips are

going cold.

Quite a young man who is often at Wayside just walked past like he was hurrying off

to the CBD as well. I asked him how he was and he replied, "Good, bad, not sure".

I'll take that as a "good".

My heart is heavy for the family of that young fellow who lost his life after being

tasered by police. I'm most supportive of police and testify that they are mostly

compassionate in difficult circumstances here at Wayside but I hate tasers with a passion.

Police use of guns has not diminished since tasers were issued so the main argument

for these nasty things is weak. I've only seen one in use on one occasion and then

there were five officers and one cranky customer. The use of the taser was entirely

unnecessary. It seems on Sunday there were five or even six officers trying to

apprehend a man that was running away in fright. I would think that the use

of these rotten things ought to cease immediately and at a minimum the multiple

use of tasers should be absolutely forbidden. I know the hearts of the man's family

will ache for the rest of their days.

I could stay here all day and have a most enjoyable day. The deaf guys keep

touching each other on the arm or poking each other depending on the strength of the

point they are trying to make. I guess it's a way of stopping your deaf mate from drifting off topic.

It's funny and it will be me one day.

This Sunday is Neighbour Day and we at Wayside are inviting all of our neighbours

in for high tea on our rooftop garden. If you are our neighbour or within cooee or if

you are in town at that time, we'd love to have you drop in for a cuppa. It's happening

this Sunday from 11 am to 12pm. Just drop in, no need to respond to the invitation

or pretend that you want to borrow a cup of sugar. We love our neighbours and we

try hard to be a good neighbour.

I hope you don't mind this note from the cafe this morning. What a wonderful

community is Kings Cross!

Graham

Rev Graham Long

Pastor

The Wayside Chapel

Kings Cross

http://www.thewaysidechapel.com/

Protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information

is important to us, as it is fundamental to the way we operate. All information

is kept in the strictest confidence and is stored in a password secure database.

Levels of access to information are determined by an authorised employee's specific

need to do their job. Personal information collected by The Wayside Chapel is

never sold or passed on in any way, shape or form to any other organisation or

non-authorised person for any purpose. If you would like to seek access to,

or revise your personal information or feel that the information we currently

have on record is incorrect or incomplete, or you believe that the privacy of

your personal information has been interfered with, please contact us.

Our appointed Privacy Officer is Stephanie Guerin

stephanie.guerin@thewaysidechapel.com

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Millawa Mustards.

On our very recent holiday we went to Canberra and also Wandiligong and passed through Milawa on the way home. On our trip we were able to plot a course on the internet to avoid the floods in-undating Victoria and NSW.
At Milawa we called in to see Jim Mellor at his Milawa Mustards shop.
Les and I photographed Jim and Kristy's wedding at Wandiligong in Victoria a little while ago now.

For an article about them follow the link below.

http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/01/25/433491_country-living.html

We enthusiatically endorse their products.

Kristy and Jim Copyright Geoff Thompson

Address:Old Emu Inn,Cross Roads,Victoria,3678, Australia
PH: 03 57273202 fax:03 57273648
email: milawamustards@bigpond.com.au

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Talkin' about My Generation Part 1

"My Generation" was a song made famous by "The Who" in 1968.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4TRrVu_tQ

That was my generation.
The young people now called "baby boomers" who grew up with the pop music explosion,the Vietnam War as a constant, and for people my age, the risk of the Draft to go to Vietnam.
My marble did not come up(It was chosen like a lottery).
I doubt I would have coped as so many didn't and some sadly lost their lives.
We also had been born after the second world war and heard from our parents the stories of that conflict.
My Dad was a Catalina Pilot in the RAAF.

http://catalinaflying.org.au/catalina.htm

It was also an age where drug taking was beginning in Australia having already been in America some ten or more years before.
It was the era of the Beatles,so called "Free Love" and also the start of the Protest Movement that is still ongoing in the world today.
The collective human nature of mankind never changes.
(Individuals can have a life changing , change of disposition ie. exchanging their dispostion for the disposition of Jesus Christ.)
I intend to share some of my experiences since that time,probably 60's to seventies to begin with,over these pages in coming months but also giving respect to the privacy of others.
I will talk about Music, Sport,Social Change, The Church,Religion,Politics,Employment,Entertainment and probably much more.
I invite you to follow (and for younger people it might be of interest what world their grandparents and parents lived in and to those of us who are this generation some nostalgia) and feel free to comment and share your experiences.

Melinda Schneider tribute to Doris Day

Last night we went to see the musical tribute of Doris Day put together by arguably Australia's queen of Country Music.
Melinda has a wonderful voice and vibrant personality and wove the Doris Day story through the rendition of many of the well known songs.

We all (almost all) enjoyed the show and for me a highlight was her rendition of "Autumn Leaves".

There are some minor criticisms of the show eg. maybe there could be less dialogue, some missing of lines by the "Boys" who supported her and sung and dance on many numbers(they were very good over all).
The band was very good and Melinda is a professional and it shows.
I will take my mum who is a big Doris Day fan.

The show was a good way for many, like me, who knew of Melinda Schneider but had never really seen her before, to become interested in her previous work.

See the link to her website below.

http://www.melindaschneider.com/

Friday, March 16, 2012

"Mass" by Leonard Bernstein

Duringthe last week Lesley and I went to see "Mass" by Leonard Bernstein at the Adelaide Festival Centre. It was very different musical theatre but nonetheless entertaining. The lead performer as the Celebrant was Jubilant Sykes who is an amazing singer.
The work was commissioned by Jacqueline Onassis, who was a friend of Bernsteins, for the Opening of the Kennedy Centre in America.
We had seen West Side Story and Candide in the past also by Bernstein and my wife says she could definitely hear a Candide type influence in the music.
There were also traces of Godspell in it.
The sets were brilliant as was the lighting and many of the usual Adelaide singers doing well.
We would recommend it but it is a bit of everything.

For a review of what we saw see the link below.

We saw the second performance and there were no backstage problems that we noticed as mentioned in this review.

http://aussietheatre.com.au/reviews/leonard-bernsteins-mass-adelaide-festival/