Baggas’ Blog

• Finally fixed some longstanding syncing issues I had with contacts between my Windows mobile phone and my Mac. All working sweetly now #

• At Owen’s soccer game. We are winning 4 nil in an enjoyable game. #
• A new record for me - just cost $270 to fill our Prado with petrol! #
• At Koorong bookshop - between us all we have a very full basket of books as usual #
• Dinner at an Italian place in Mt Lawley, after being turned away from 2 other empty restaurants because we didn #
• Just realised that I already own a Jim Wallis book I bought at Koorong - for some stupid reason they changed the name of it for Australia #

Occaisionally when surfing channels I’ll wind up on the Comedy Channel watching shows like the Colbert Report. He has some interesting guests but an annoying tendency to continually interrupt them in order to get his jokes in. Anyway, here’s an interview he does with my favourite Bishop, N T Wright, about his latest (excellent) book Suprised by Hope. Good interview, funny in places, annoying in others, but in general Tom holds his own and gets his point across (sort of). Take a look…

• Lunch at the tavern again. A nice steak today with a glass of red. Nice quiet place and good food #
• Listening to a crappy dance song where the singer uses the phrase “Voodoo Child” - No one after Hendrix should be allowed to use that phrase #
• Listening to Bowie LP - Ziggy Stardust… very cool #

United Airlines offers in-flight iPhone and iPod Connectivity | The Apple Blog

Over the last couple of years I’ve spent many hours on planes, huddled over my iPod watching shows and movies on the little screen. In fact I watched the first three seasons on Battlestar Galactica (awesome show) in this manner. And almost invariably if you look around the cabin on any flight you will see several people with those characteristic white earphones in their ears. So the above story definitely appeals to me and I’m sure many other travellers. In a nod to the increasing ubiquity of these devices, United Airlines have installed iPod connectors in some of their planes so you can browse your iPod or iPhone and watch or listen to your own content on their screens, as well as keep your device charged. Certainly beats huddling over a tiny screen and definitely good to have more choice beyond the usual in-flight entertainment. Hope this comes to Australia soon…

In other iPod news, I noticed today that you can now purchase some TV shows via the Australian iTunes store. Only a couple of years behind the rest of the world! Hopefully movie rentals will follow. My guess is they’ve finally got their act together and done this because of the upcoming Australian iPhone launch.

• Just got a package and I have no idea at all what’s in it - I like surprises #
• The package was nothing exciting - just free samples of kids vitamins I faxed off for a week ago. At least I know my new home fax works now. #

This movie has kinda crept up on us without a lot of buzz or hype - the new CGI Star Wars movie which will be released on August 14th in Australia (one day before America). I first saw the preview in the cinema just a couple of weeks ago but before that hadn’t heard anything about it. Apparently this will be the lead in to a new series on Cartoon Network.

Here’s the preview which I just found at Hello Internet. As Ben points out it’s a bit strange seeing Lucasfilm and Star Wars with a Warner Bros intro instead of 20th century fox

Nice start to the working week today - nothing too taxing, keeping on time with all the patients. Hopefully this week should be a little less hectic than last week - not expecting as many babies.

I’m going to start making a few brief notes on here about some of the books I’m reading. I never seem to have the time to do a full review but I’ll try and make some quick, one paragraph comments. Of course, as I realised talking to Jen the other day my reading habit may have to be curtailed once I start Uni in a month or so. Trying to fit in 12 hours or more of study a week will be a challenge, and reducing the amount of time I spend reading other books will have to be one of the first changes I make… So in the next month or so I’ll try and churn through as many books as I can while I have the chance

Two books I want to mention today :

1. The River of Lost Footsteps : A Personal History of Burma by Thant Myint-U. Reading books like this makes you realise what a big world we live in and how there are vast swathes of human history that I haven’t even thought of. Well written narrative history with lots of little stories to keep it interesting. Looks at Burma’s history from ancient times to the current regime. Ordered this when it looked like I might be going over there. I’m doubtful that will happen now but it’s still a fascinating read. Hope to get the chance to visit there one day.
2. Arminian Theology : Myths & Realities by Roger Olson. I’ve been thinking a bit lately on Arminianism and Calvinism and this is not a bad book on the subject. Olson does a good job at articulating some of the core Arminian beliefs and debunking some commonly held myths about Arminianism. Along the way he also takes a few good-natured swipes at Calvinism. It’s a worthwhile book to read but I have a couple of criticisms. Firstly it tends to be repetitive as he examines the theology of a range of historical Arminians from Arminius and Wesley down to the present day. Secondly, although he makes it clear what classical Arminians do and do not believe, I didn’t feel he interacted enough with scripture. This may not have been his main aim but for me it would have been nice to have more written on the Biblical basis for Arminian concepts (like that of prevenient grace, for example) and also a more thorough critique of Calvinist exegesis of key passages. Overall though it’s a well written, fairly easy to read, irenic, and generally convincing treatment on the subject. Worth reading for both Arminians and Calvinists and also those who aren’t sure.

Much has been made in recent years of people filling out their religion on census forms as ‘Jedi’

Well here’s what you’ve been waiting for - a documentary examining the inside workings of a Jedi church. They seem like Calvinist Jedis though, “I wish I could tell everyone they can be saved but they can’t. If you don’t have the midichlorians God doesn’t want you - it’s that simple.”

Worth a chuckle - I especially like the bit where Darth Maul goes forward for the altar call

• Just had my 7th baby born for the week. Fortunately this one was born at a decent hour, unlike the babies on Mon, Tues, Wed nights. #
• No drug lunch today and I have some free time so I’m at the pub for lunch - Dutch Smoked Chicken #

Miss Mia’s first travel booking

Originally uploaded by baggas

For some reason I thought this was cute, seeing Miss Mia’s name in print like this

Jennifer and I are going to Adelaide in September for our anniversary for a few days, and Mia will be coming along for the ride.

• Awesome. Finally got an email back from James Cook University and I am in! Will be starting my Masters degree in a few weeks #
• @obrienmb just threatened to shave Luke’s curly hair. His response : “I don’t want to be the pastor!” Sorry mate :o) #
• Lunchtime - Phad Thai noodles today #
• A couple of Amazon boxes always brightens the day… Got some CDs and Books… #
• CDs : Israel Houghton - New Season (still not convinced I like this guy’s style all that much but I’ll give him a bit more of a chance) #
• CDs : John McLaughlin - The Essential (awesome 1970s onward guitarist/composer - rock/jazz/blues/ethnic fusion - brilliant stuff!) #
• CDs : Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild Soundtrack (bought this on iTunes last year and had to own the CD - fantastic acoustic style album) #
• CDs : Sarah McLachlan - Mirroball - The complete concert (this one is for Jen, although I quite like Sarah too. Nice) #
• Books : Bob Sorge - Exploring Worship (this was recommended at a recent music workshop we had at church) #
• Books : A few on Burma, where I have volunteered to go to help out… unsure if that is going to happen or not?.. Lonely Planet Guide #
• Books : Thant Myint-U - River of Lost Footsteps (Burma history); Aung San Suu Kyi - Letters from Burma (from the Nobel Peace prize winner) #

It’s been over 8 years since I’ve been at Uni, and over 5 years since I’ve done any serious study ( that was for my surgical training) - I’ve done my Obstetrics and GP qualifications in the last 6 years but I wouldn’t rate them as being too strenuous.

Well today I received an email confirming that I have been accepted into Uni next semester (starting July - August). I will be studying part time towards a Masters degree in Public health & tropical medicine (MPH&TM) at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland. For non-Aussies, Townsville is a city in the tropics up on the far north east coast of Australia. It’s diagonally opposite Perth on the map 3391 kilometres away (as a rough guide imagine the distance from LA to Washington DC in the United States). Mostly I’ll be studying at home but will probably have to go over there once or twice a semester for short stints. I guess if you have to travel anywhere for study, a tropical city on the Great Barrier Reef is not a bad choice

As for the degree itself the Master of Public Health & Tropical Medicine covers a range of units relating to medicine in the tropics and the developing world. This will help me on future medical missions like my trips to Uganda over the last couple of years to actually have a more solid knowledge base behind me (instead on just winging it!). Also it means I will be qualified to move more into the field of Travel Medicine as part of general practice here in Australia. If I ever get tired of regular GP work and my obstetrics I could go and work full time in a travel clinic. Short of that it’s definitely an area of practice that I want to build and expand as time goes on. Thirdly this degree would be a useful qualification if I was to ever move into more serious or full time international medical, relief or humanitarian type work. From what I hear it’s actually quite difficult to get jobs with the big aid organisations so if I ever went in that direction this degree would be valuable.

Also it looks like I might be able to get 12 points credit towards the course by virtue of having had over 5 years professional medical experience, which would cut a third off the degree. I wasn’t necessarily expecting that so it will be a big bonus if it works out that way.

Very exciting stuff. I can’t believe I’m so keen to get back to study again. After a 6 year medical degree and another 6 years of postgrad study in surgery, obstetrics, and general practice, I thought it would be a long time before I ventured into medical academia again. But I’m looking forward to it. The only question mark is how I’m going to fit this into my already busy life.

It’s been some time since I’ve posted any videos of Mia so here’s a quick clip of her from yesterday. Also enjoy the music, which Luke created (with a little help from me) using Apple GarageBand.

• Work is a little slow this morning, which is not a bad thing as I’m feeling kinda lazy #
• Checking out the new Foxtel HD service, but am hesistant to sign up as it looks like it won’t work with our multiroom setup #
• Note to self : must try and avoid reading Calvinist blogs #
• Nearly lunch time - Han’s Wok is calling… #
• Other people seem to be discovering my noodle place. It used to be quiet but now there’s always a line. Worth the wait though #
• Had to go to the bank but there was no parking - so instead I’m sitting at Waikiki beach with an icecream. Beautiful day! #

In California, a House Divided Stands Strong - NYTimes.com

This is a cool story. The California Governor’s mansion lawn has a mixture of signs supporting John McCain and Barack Obama as Gov Arnold Swartzenegger and his Kennedy family wife Maria Shriver back the respective candidates.

Nice to see that a family like this can have differing political alleigances without it being nasty. But hard to imagine this sort of situation popping up too often. Can you imagine if Kevin Rudd’s wife was openly supporting the Liberal party? Or if Laura Bush showed up at an Obama campaign rally? An article worth reading. I quite admire Arnie’s attitude in the interview.

• My brother just came in to work and gave me a burger. Getting lots of unexpected food this week #
• Just about to watch Speed Racer with the boys #
• Speed Racer : a bit too cheesy although incredible graphics and pretty good action sequences. Lots of Australian accents surprisingly? #
• Also saw the preview for the new animated Star Wars movie which I wasnt even aware was due out. Kids (and me) are looking forward to that 1 #

• One of my patients just brought me a muffin! Yum #
• Listening to an Israel Houghton CD for the first time. After 2 songs all I can say is I hope this gets better… #

• The Exigent City - this is a fascinating in-depth article from the New York Times on the history, sociology and architecture of refugee camps around the world. They also have a good article on the groth of new cities.
• Ben Witherington writes an excellent post on God’s freedom, love, and human free-will. I’ve been pondering some of these issues lately so this is very timely.
• On the US election, this article compares the online presence of Obama and McCain, and this article looks at McCain’s strategy in searching for a Vice President - Google!
• Apple News from the WWDC conference. A better, cheaper iPhone with 3G and GPS, coming to Australia soon (wonder how long I will be able to resist?). An upgraded .Mac service (no trouble resisting that) and a new Mac OSX ‘Snow Leopard’ next year. Read a summary of some of the buzz here. My only disappointment is that I was hoping to see an upgraded version of the MacBook Air with more storage and RAM - guess I’ll keep waiting for that one… until the next Stevenote..

An artist has no need to express his thought directly in his work for the latter to reflect its quality; it has even been said that the highest praise of God consists in the denial of Him by the atheist who finds creation so perfect that it can dispense with a creator.

~ Marcel Proust

• Just mailed off my application for Uni - got tired of waiting for answers to emails. Hope I get a place… #
• Now it’s time for a long overdue haircut #
• Is it wrong to be secretly hoping my son’s soccer practice gets rained out? :p #
• Love getting packages, especially one I’ve forgotten about #

Well last Saturday our back fence was blown down in a storm, but mercifully we missed out on the even worse storms that hit our area yesterday (see this story). I wasn’t really aware it was that bad until I heard the news last night, but apparently there was a Tornado wreaking havoc in Rockingham, with many houses badly damaged and residents evacuated etc. Tornados are something we don’t usually even think about here in Australia - it’s more something you associate with the USA. For example for our friends from Nashville, it was a very real possibility. I’m sure yesterday’s tornado here was still pretty minor compared to the big American ones, but maybe it’s a wake up that we’re not necessarily as safe and cosy here in Western Australia as we feel. We are pretty lucky though - no earthquakes, volcanos, no major storms or floods. Cyclones in the North-West have generally petered out by the time they reach us. I guess the one “disaster” we see with any degree of regularity here is bush fires but even those are usually fairly contained and not catastrophic. Perth is still probably a safer place to live than Kansas after all.

• Changed the colour scheme of my phone to red. Now it feels like I have a new phone. Amazing the difference a little change can make #

• Heading off to Owen’s soccer shortly. At least the weather is a bit nicer this week. #

• Getting mad about smoking & “smoker’s rights” http://tinyurl.com/4fkw4p Wish they would just make the whole stupid habit illegal already #
• Must stop looking at the James Cook Uni website. Frustrated that I haven’t had replies to emails & very keen to get my application in ASAP #
• Also must stop looking at eBay. I’m getting sorely tempted looking at the customized Fender Telecasters - just like the one Keef plays. Nice #

• Obama has finally claimed the Democratic nomination. Hope Hillary will now finally bow out gracefully and let him focus on McCain #
• Just updating my resume as part of my University application. Hard to get any replies to emails from these people though - frustrating #