GUNS N' ROSES - CHINESE DEMOCRACY!

Ladies and Gentlemen. It's been 15 years since Guns N' Roses' last proper studio album. And it's been 10 years since Chinese Democracy was started. There have been tours. There have been cancellations. There have been riots. But as of today it is official.

GUNS N' ROSES WILL RELEASE CHINESE DEMOCRACY THIS YEAR.

OFFICIAL TOUR STARTS OCTOBER 20.

Thirteen more Tuesdays left in the year - thirteen possible release dates.

Chinese Democracy starts now.

Get excited people!

rock4rights

Hey people!

I'm back from the lovely Gold Coast where the sun is always shining, the ladies are all good looking and the beer never stops flowing. I went up with my cousin for 3.5 days to attend a concert my uncle was organising for Amnesty. It's entitled rock4rights and you can check it out here.

The bands that played were:

• Grassroots Street Orchestra

Who were really, really cool. They have an electric violin with a wah-wah pedal!!! That's right a violin that sounded like Hendrix!

• the President's Bush

These guys rocked loud and hard but didn't take themselves too seriously. What more could you want?

• the Black Market Rhythm Company

They have a trumpet!! A trumpet!!!

• the Winnie Coopers

Funny name and not my kind of music but the crowd loved them, so who am I to comment.

• Transport

I didn't get to catch these guys... It was late in the day and the Red Bull hadn't kicked in...

• Shifter

Aussie pub rock. Nothing more, nothing less. Good.

• Kate Miller-Heidke

5 foot nothing. Opera trained. A true performer, Kate was the highlight of the day. If she ever comes down to Sydney I'm taking everyone with me to see her. Her songs were funny and honest and more often than not very catchy.
Oh, and she's got a babe for a backup singer. But that could have been the Red Bull finally kicking in... She also plays violin. That's right 2 bands with violins in 1 day!!

I just checked out her website Kate Miller-Heidke and she's playing the Basement on October 5th, 8pm. Anyone interested? Don't make me go alone...

Exams

Today I completed my last ever university exam.

Maybe I should have studied...

To Beard?

Advantage: No shaving.
Disadvantage: Less appealing to girls.

Jobs

So I finally applied for some jobs and within 24 hours I got a reply from some guy in Brisbane. He asked me how long left I had on my degree, and I told him about a month, and he asked if I could do that by correspondence...

So I'm thinking that they're reeeeaaaalllllllyyyy desperate for engineers in Brisbane at the moment. The guy then asks when I was thinking about moving and I told him mid-January. He then tells me to give him a ring about a month before I'd like to move up there; apparently he can get me a job within 3 days.

I guess it depends on Sydney jobs now. Will I get any? Will they pay me more than $30,000 (bloody URS)? But it's nice to know that I have a career just waiting for me in Brisbane.

In summary: I can have a job!!!

Sickness

Still sick. But getting better.

That is all.

Sickness

Still sick.

That is all.

Sickness

I am sick.

That is all.

The Greatest Song?

From Heaven You Came

From heaven You came, helpless babe,
entered our world, Your glory veiled,
not to be served but to serve,
and give Your life that we might live.

This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
to bring our lives as a daily offering
of worship to the Servant King.

There in the garden of tears
my heavy load He chose to bear;
His heart with sorrow was torn,
"Yet not my will but yours," He said.

This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
to bring our lives as a daily offering
of worship to the Servant King.

Come see His hands and His feet,
the scars that speak of sacrifice,
hands that flung stars into space
to cruel nails surrendered.

This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
to bring our lives as a daily offering
of worship to the Servant King.

So let us learn how to serve
and in our lives enthrone Him,
each other's needs to prefer,
for it is Christ we're serving.

This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
to bring our lives as a daily offering
of worship to the Servant King.

Family or Faith?

The Background:
My cousin's getting married, so he's having an engagement party.
At church we have an annual camp for the kiddies years 6 - 12. To be a leader you have to turn up to 4 / 6 meetings. BUT I'll be in Melbourne for 1 meeting and Kenya for another. Therefore I can't miss out on any others.

The Problem:
My cousin's engagement party is on the same day and at the same time as one of the camp meetings.

The Conversation:
Mum: "Matt, are you coming to the engagement party?" (even though she already knew my answer was no)
Me: "Unfortunately I can't. I have a meeting at church."
Mum: "But surely family comes first?"
Me: "Silence. Silent grumble. More silence."

What was Going on in my Head:
Didn't Jesus say that we should give up everything to follow him? It's not as if I'm barring my cousin. I'll be at his wedding and I'm going to the Gold Coast with him in September to a concert to support Amnesty International.
And as for the question, "Surely family comes first?", isn't the answer "No"?

Luke 9: The Cost of Following Jesus
57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

59He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

61Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family."

62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."


Or am I wrong? Have I missed the point?