by | May 18, 2006 | Uncategorized

Someone Up There 21st Birthday
Always a delight to work with something that is full of heritage and tradition. Last weekend I helped out at Murray & Dave’s 21st birthday party for their latest acquisition. Fun times. The venue was amazing. Considering that Tere’s wedding will be here as well – I’m excited about the possibilities.

The SUT night featured AJ Bell, Max Jocobsen, Derek Lind, Kevin & Darlene Adair, Luke Hurley .. a number of others, and relative newcomers Shooting Stars and Edwin Derricutt.

What was a lot of fun was pulling out the new Canon 20D to do the photography. Bit of a lucky scoop, I simply noticed that there wasn’t a photographer on the crew list and so made sure to have the kit in the car. Great fun to be had, especially trying to catch so many of the fingers waving over the fretboards at such high speeds.

Leaders Night
Last night our quarterly Leaders Training Night featured Brian Winslade talking about Church. Why, Where to in the future and all that jazz. He stole my sermon for next month though – I’ve been planning a speak on “A Short History of Nearly Everything” .. basically the Last Supper til now .. how the Western Church has become who we are, what’s good about it, and what we can change. However, most of the foundational material Brian managed to cover last night – including the climax .. so it’s back to the drawing board.

Creatives
Had a purely benevolent coffee with the marvellous Luke Oram. He’s a talented wee laddie and I’m looking forward to the opportunities that might be spawned from expanding the circles of creative collaboration. He’s written for Relevant before.. and we love them, so no surprise .. I enjoyed his company just as much as I was expecting too. Yay. Here’s to a bright future of new things and projects.

by | May 16, 2006 | Uncategorized

There’s No Filter

SO there’s been a lot going on .. and we’ll start with the trivial first..

MI:3
Last night we went (production co. thankyou for eastercamp and noise) to the Gold Star Lounge to watch MI:3… exhorbitant ticket prices aside, you get a lazy-boy seat with pullout table, reclining back and footstool, free popcorn and softdrinks. Then you can order from a fairly classy menu all sorts of nibbles to full-blown meals to be delivered at whatever time you choose throughout the movie. Wine, beer and cocktails available as well. Great environment and very cool people. However, to be completely honest the staff walking up and down all the time was pretty annoying, especially cos they seemed to be continuously tripping up on themselves. I might not have noticed that though, if the movie had really been super gripping.

When it’s a TV show you can make it interesting by using the same old gadgets and tricks episode after episode .. but with this blockbuster budget you just expect more. So the gadgets weren’t that exciting and the storyline twisted in all the predictable places, and PR jobs, judgement jines aside, I haven’t really seen a Tom Cruise movie since the whole TomKat debacle, but I think the tabloids have ruined it for me, because I just can’t take him seriously. Even in the intense gun fights last night, all I could see was Tom Cruise jumping up and down on couches trying to strangle Oprah.

Everything Else
I’ve been spending a lot of time, energy and conversation in talking with Simon. We are about to launch ourselves into a new chapter of being and doing. This time, concentrating on on being who we are, and doing what we are good at 90% of the time, rather than doing whatever we have to in order to be able to do what we are good at.

yay.

by | Apr 21, 2006 | Uncategorized

The Gratitudes
Seems like it’s only fair to sing the praises of my magnificent crew as far as I possibly can.. so read on and be amazed at the calibre of people I was surrounded with for the most intense days of my life.

Dave “Pinky” Munro
This guy rocks. He’s not necessarily a sound engineer, lighting guy, rigger or stagehand. He is good, solid fun to have around. Probably more renowned for lobbing a tennis ball into one of the more expensive hired lights than anything else.
Pete Wood
Pete is quiet and reserved and gracious, flexible and top-quality. Nothing seems to faze him and he puts in amazing long hours behind the desk, producing superb results. We would be lost without you mate.
Jozsef Fitysus
I think that no Easter team of mine could ever be complete without Jozsef now. He’s a mountain of understanding, wisdom and grace that could never be replaced. He’s tirelessly supportive and understanding of me, and offers such a warm & secure place for me to operate, I wouldn’t be without him. Plus – nothing fazes him either – he’s phenomenal.
Gordon Dear
Gordon worked like a trooper the whole camp – doing the early mornings with me for the leaders meetings. Always smiling even when he looked as close to the end as I felt. It seemed like it was such a privilege and joy for him to be doing Eastercamp, that it reminded me how much I love it to. It was so much fun to have him around!
Matt Cathro
Matt! Such boundless energy and wicked vocals at our impromptu playout. I can’t describe how much fun Matt is – his energy in the whole team was amazing. Pretty lonely out there on the village marquee but he made it crank and made some good programming calls as well.
Goff
Thanks so much for being part of it. For saying yes, and coming up with a budget that we could manage (just) and for answering the questions, and being so supportive.
Pete “Clever Pete” Allerby
You are very clever, the master of packing. Your ability to pack in and load out and keep smiling is phenomenal.
Dave Weston
Talk about talent – his videography on our Sola videos was just exceptional. There are no words for how much of a future he has.
Peter vant Wout
Peter! I have lost count of how many camps he’s been on the video crew – and he’s always fun of energy and life. I love having him around – and his commitment to the cause is tireless, even when faced with the challenge of a whole new team. Can’t wait til next year Peter.
Glenn Stewart & Chris Vale
Methinks that toasties every night would be enough to keep these guys satisfied for life – but more than that – this year they delivered some of the most beautiful and well-presented lighting I’ve ever seen. It was beautiful and well-balanced. Just phenomenal. Plus Chris’ support and warm friendship made me delighted.
Justin, Phil, JD
What would camp be without you guys? I love your enthusaism, and commitment to the task. Justin – I would have been lost without – he was tirelessly championing the cause.
Tim Youngson
You’re so much more than a rockstar to me, baby. For always smiling, for always being creative, for always being prepared to say yes to anything, no matter how impromptu it seemed. I loved having you with me at every moment.
Jo Norrie
So much more than just programme admin – but you did a phenomenal job of being there to help with everything no matter how obscure it seemed! Honestly couldn’t have done it without you – and now I know I can trust you even more than before. Can’t wait to do it again.
Blake Hansen
You are beyond words my dear friend! You worked soooo hard and tirelessly not just helping me but Luke and Katie as well. We all would have been lost without you. I’m so glad that you were part of it this year. I’ll miss you so much in 2007.
Jono Palmer & Rhiannon Sims
Dealing with change after change and yet still managing to run the shows and keep things moving – i’m immensely grateful for your contribution in a high-pressure environment.
Luke & Katie Malcolm
the Sanctuary was beyond everything I had hoped. To see so many kids engaging with it over the weekend and on Sunday morning surpassed all my hopes. Thanks so much for all the hours, blood, sweat and tears that went into it. I hope you believe it was worth it too.
Jeremy White
Seems that it would be tragic to say this was the last Easter you’d be by my side keeping things calm and funny.. but you did an amazing job – not just of preparing and putting people at ease, but also the Sola videos. I will always be thankful that we stayed up til ridiculous o’clock goofing around. It’s what we’re best at after all!
Brendan Quaife
Brendan just completely blows my mind. Last but definitely not least, I’ve been trying the whole time I’ve been typing this post to come up with the words, but the reality is I have nothing. Zip. Nada. That’s it. Nothing with which to express how competent and talented and capable and funny (actually, hilarious!) this man is. Far out.

by | Apr 21, 2006 | Uncategorized




And That’s A Wrap Baby
Easter is done and put to bed for another year. Well, of course .. there are still loose ends to tie up, reviews to be done and thankyou cards to be made (at the printer now..) but for the most part.. we are done.

I have no words to express the love that I have for my crew .. it’s been such a ride.

More later.. when I’ve finished diffusing.

by | Apr 1, 2006 | Uncategorized

Who Am I?

I’m stuck in a moment and I’m not escaping it .. I’m listening to the White Stripes “We Are Gonna Be Friends”. It’s 2.30am on Sunday morning. I’m feeling wide-awake. In the minutes it took me to piece those words together into a sentence, one song has become another. I’m feeling wide-awake. Doing this test from Dani’s site took up some time.
Just cos you might be curious, here’s who the web says I am ..
My Personal Dna Report

The Cold Cold Night
In putting words to the screen, I am finally finding the sleepy roll of the eyes I was longing for hours ago. I’ve been wasting time until I could hold my eyes open any longer .. for the sake of avoiding the moments spent lying awake avoiding the blankness of the ceiling.

I have a billion thoughts running through my head and the person that I most want to talk to about them just isn’t here. The next person I’d like to talk about them, probably isn’t that interested, and the third is my mother. I’m not sure what she would think.

Thoughts
There are moments of clarity that make the mundane melodramatic, and harken our hearts to a sense of deeper mystery than we might otherwise see in the day to day. Tonight was one such moment, as I picked up a copy of the North Shore Times featuring a front page interview and photo with Blake. Here’s a copy of the official press release from the Vice-Chancellors office. Something about the angle that they took on the article (he is planning an undergrad degree in biochemistry, hoping to work on researching cancer cures) and the photograph of him wearing his regular clothes, his regular cross around his neck = smiling in that relaxed kind of way he has; brought the reality of his imminent departure home a little more.

The realisation that he will never be the same, but also that he will inevitably now end up doing things for the cause of greater humanity. I will soon be accused of being over-emotional about the whole thing – but he’s been such an enormous encouragement and support over the past few weeks.. the roles completely reversed! I thought I was the pastor. I find myself writing advice to him in my head .. things that don’t make sense like “don’t be in a rush to grow up too fast, but don’t stay a kid too long.” It’s in the aftermath of that, I realise he’s already grown up and interacting with the world and a ridiculously overprotective streak in me, wants to say no.. that he is too precious for the world to spoil with any more cynicism, evil or hopelessness.