*Moderate Spoilers* At some point around halfway through Solo: A Star Wars Story, I really hoped there was something that I could really like about it. One or two scenes revealed much potential, especially the scene where Han and Chewbacca meet. I was wondering why I hadn't laughed much, or felt particularly thrilled, despite reading... Continue Reading →
"Gradually I became interested in this book called the Bible. Yet somehow I was uneasy about the idea of reading it. Sometimes I would think to myself, Well, I guess it won't kill me not to read the Bible, and I would talk myself out of buying a copy. Somewhere in my heart was the... Continue Reading →
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and... Continue Reading →
I wrote the following in an email to a group of fellow students prior to Harmony Day about 3 years ago. It was in response to some theological troubles I'd had with the idea of Harmony Day and my participation in a class activity to acknowledge Harmony Day. I hope you find it helpful. ... Continue Reading →
The more I review my high school education, the more I question the kinds of things we were taught, or not taught. For example, it is common for many of my cohort to have issues with identifying grammar. I saw this particularly when studying Japanese late last year, where people did not know how to... Continue Reading →
Only a week out from 30, I am reflecting on how deeply my childhood has had a role in shaping who I am today. I assume we all downplay the effects of our childhoods, especially the bad and the traumatic on who we are today. But of late my childhood has surfaced, and maybe in... Continue Reading →
Ever since Punk came on the English scene, it was never characterised by particularly good-looking groups (although The Smiths may be fronted by the charismatic Morrissey). It was about making rock 'n' roll filthy again; its edge lost to the degeneracy of glam rock and other watered-down, über-polished forms. In England, it was your average... Continue Reading →
En route to meeting friends, I was in the consumerist paradise of Tokyo, Ginza, and happened upon a pipe shop. But firstly... I was aghast to find that Japan was full of smokers. Sydney-and maybe all of Australia-has successfully pushed smoking to the fringes of society. Pubs, one of the bastions of beer and cigarettes,... Continue Reading →
From the legacy of Japan's Studio Ghibli comes sister company, Studio Ponoc, with their debut film, Mary and the Witch's Flower. From the opening with a Ghibli-esque logo of Mary, rather than Totoro, the comparisons between the studios was inevitable. After all, director Hiromasa Yonebayashi was an animator under the supervision of the great Hayao Miyazaki,... Continue Reading →
I first came across David Martyn-Lloyd Jones in a season where I was experiencing considerable spiritual difficulty. 'Spiritual Depression: It's Causes and Cure' was the book I first encountered by the man - a series of sermons delivered in the mid-20th Century on how defective spiritual understanding can affect one's relationship with God. The book spoke... Continue Reading →
Through the Eye of the Needle 