Christmas Wrap

Jesus was born in most humble circumstances and his coming was announced to fairly common shepherds, but the kings of the earth rushed to admire and worship him. It sounds like "the best of both worlds". But even better is this: God jumping into the one world he made and loves to restore it to its glory-giving-to-Him-best.

The entire globe is His handiwork, lovingly crafted and known. This is the God who made the people of Nineveh and Jonah . . . and the plant.

God 'enfleshed' is a guarantee of hope because it points to His commitment to all that He has made. God strung up then risen up is hope because it is the way -- but equally importantly now, it is the model. Consider Christ, God as man.

He was obedient to His Father in pursuit of his loving relationship with the world he made and loves. It was good enough for God to jump into and thereby, assert it was His to be cherished and made new -- perfect.

The best of God's world. What a great privilege for His humanity whom He placed at the head of His created order. What a responisbility for them.

May the author of life bless you with his peace as you seek to follow Him in His world that he treasures -- to die for.

If you love Him you will obey Him.

*** There will be no Shadows cast here for the next fortnight ***

Spotted

Don't be fooled: this post is not about dalmations, leopards or even polka-dotted leotards. Rather, it's about my chance encounters with people who are somewhat famous. Yep, those minor celebrities who happen to find themselves on the B list or C list, or perhaps somewhere in between like the B flat list.*

This sudden plunge into the murky world of hazy mobile phone-photographs and fruitlessly chased autographs was precipitated by an encounter on the weekend with Chas Licciardello of Chaser fame. I was sitting at a bus stop on Trafalgar St, Petersham, waiting for a bus when Chas went zipping along on his bicycle.

It's not as if seeing Chas is very special -- he doesn't really try to hide himelf -- and I didn't really get to see much of him due to his zippiness, but it was a brief moment moment of excitment as I waited for the bus. I felt like calling out to him, but all I could think to say was "Go Chas!" and this would have been quite unnecessary because he was already going, and going quite well. So I bit my tongue.

This last year I have almost bumped into two other almost-famous people -- in the supermarket. The first was Margaret Pomeranz. The first time I saw her (I've seen her twice) was just days before I had to give a presentation on Renoir's La Grande Illusion. I was thinking about asking her for some insight into the film, but then I thought that it might also be good to say "You're so much better than David" or "Hmmm I like low fat, soy, sweet chilli capsicum dip too."** I got so flummoxed trying to choose between the two that I just gaped awkardly and Margaret slipped away. She really is quite short, you know.

The second shopper of note was arguably the biggest bridesmaid of Australian cricket: the very angry Stuart MacGill. I looked at him once and turned back just to check that it really was him, and as soon as our eyes met he spun around and took off. A very angry character, indeed.

It's pretty pathetic, I know, but I want to see if anyone can beat it. Perhaps a C lister in a leopard-skin leotard. What is your worst 'celebrity' story?

* Go to the comments to see me being hauled over the coals for this awful gaffe.

** There is no guarantee that this was the actual flavour of dip that Margaret was considering. The Shadow takes no responsibility for accuracy when it comes to the eating habits of minor celebrities, although I have heard from a reliable source that Casey Donovan is a frequent visitor to KFC Pagewood, but that's a completely different . . .

Boules update: on the weekend the Reallys once again tasted victory, this time trouncing the Nearlys. Pierre was the standout. His wings were flapping so much that it was a great surprise to all that he didn't fly away (I'm sure that were he in a South American novel, he would have). The best that the Nearlys could do, however, was flap their gums (even a South American novelist would have struggled with them). Bring on the Christmas Eve Special complete with Mexican hats!

Confusing conundrum

The other day I was thinking out loud about a tough decision I had to make and I said, "I wish I could just solve this dilemma".

But then I stopped and thought a little and realised what a silly thing that was to say. The problem with a true dilemma is that there is no 'solution' to it; you can't solve it like a riddle or a puzzle.

I'm not talking about your average, run-of-the-mill, Kevin Rudd-fork in the road, but a really difficult decision that demands a definitive response and promises to niggle away at the back of your mind long after you've made the agonising decision; a splade in the road if you like.

So, the burning question on my mind is this: What does one do when one comes to a splade in the road? What verb do you use to describe the task of tackling such a dilemma?

The best answer I've found so far is "To work through". Is there a better one?

P.S. To all those who care (and that should be all of you), here is an update on the McNeilly Park Boules Club. Today, at home, the Reallys (Pierre, Samuel and Tintin) beat the Nearlys (Benoir, Nateau and Robespierre) 11-10.

Dig deep for water

An unhealthy statistic has thrown Sydney's water shortage back into the spotlight -- today our total supply reached an all-time low of just 37.5 per cent of capacity.

Feeling the heat, the state government spat out another possible alternative source -- abandoned and operating mines. There's a possible 50 gig hidden away down there and all that's standing between that and our taps is. . .a government investigation into the cost of removing and treating it.

First it was desal, then the wonderful aquifers at Leonay and Kangaloon, and now it's this. The water policy tap seems to be turning very slowly.

In south-east Queensland where supply is below 25 per cent, there will be a referendum about using recycled water next March, but nothing on that scale is being talked about here. Maybe we'll start doing that when our dams reach a quarter of their capacity.

Or maybe we should all just look on Mars. Don't laugh -- it could be possible.

Some of that possible Martian water. Marvin says it's top drop. Source: Associated Press

Here I go a-musing

Colour spectrum: Aren't those blue-green colours annoying? If you're anything like me you've experienced the teal/turquoise conundrum before: is it blue or green, or neither? Why is it such a tough one? Well . . . I think it's because there's a bit of a grey zone between blue and green.

Eastern Europe: I have it on good authority that the Czechs and the Poles are poles apart. I don't know where the Slovaks come into it but I assume they're somewhere in between the Czechs and the balances.

Full bore: The relationship between my mother and me is reciprocal; twenty-one years ago she bore me and now I bore her. The relationship between you and me, dear reader, is much more lopsided; you never bore me but I'm boring you right now.