the birm*

staying regular
a bloke i met once said he only ever read the Bible on the throne.
at first i thought that was a little silly. but i thought i'd give it a go.
so i placed a new testament (a new-english easy to read type) on the back of the bog and pick it up everytime i sit down.
wow
since i've started, not only have i read whole books(after a few excursions) but i've also noticed that the software i download is of higher quality than ever.
is it cause i spend more time there(5-20mins)?
is it cause i'm more relaxed?
is it cause my mind's on something else?
my reading has also been great, as i've been relaxed, in no hurry and comfortably sitting. this has meant understanding things i never had before and grasping other ones in different ways.
so next time you have some friends to drop off, try it! take an easy readable version (the message, level 66, good news...), relax and get stuck into it!
not only will it keep you regular, but you'll feel much better having emptied the garbage and filled yourself with some great soul food!

one for the boys...and girls??
just a wee note on temptation, i know, i know, rather hardcore for this time of day. but consider James 4v7: "resist the devil and he will run from you". obviously the whole problem with temptation and giving into it is cause you can't resist it... or think you can't. so next time you're tempted, think about that verse and say it a few times, then consider walking (or running!!) away from the temptation.

a couple of funny and weirdish things you may take for granted...ok, ok it's a bit long and you may have seen it but some are worth it

EVER WONDER????
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?
Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?
Why is it that to stop Windows 98 or XP, you have to click on "Start"?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing
liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't th ere mouse-flavored cat food?
When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it?
Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes?
Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?
In case you needed further proof that the human race is doomed through stupidity,
here are some actual label instructions on consumer goods:
On a Sears hairdryer: Do not use while sleeping. ( and that's the only time I have to work on my hair).
On a bag of Fritos: .You could be a winner! No purchase necessary.Details inside. (the shoplifter special)?
On a bar of Dial soap: "Directions: Use like regular soap." (and that would be how???....)
On some Swanson frozen dinners: "Serving suggestion: Defrost." (but, it's "just" a suggestion).
On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom): "Do not turn upside down." (well...duh, a bit late, huh)!
On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding: "Product will be hot after heating."(...and you thought????...)
On packa ging for a Rowenta iron: "Do not iron clothes on body." (but wouldn't this save me more time)?
On Boot's Children Cough Medicine: "Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication." (We
could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we could just get those 5-year-olds with head-colds off those forklifts.)
On Nytol Sleep Aid: "Warning: May cause drowsiness."(and...I'm taking this because???....)
On most brands of Christmas lights: "For indoor or outdoor use only." (as opposed to...what)?
On a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use." (now, somebody out there, help me on this. I'm a bit curious.)
On Su nsbury's peanuts: "Warning: contains nuts."(talk about a news flash)
On an American Airlines packet of nuts: "Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts." (Step 3: maybe, uh...fly Delta?)
On a child's superman costume: "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly." (I don't blame the company.I blame the parents for this one.)

if you click on this:
http://lingresua.tripod.com/online/
you'll get an online translation for whatever in ukrainian-english or english-ukrainian!! check it out!

http://www.personal.ceu.hu/students/97/Roman_Zakharii/ukrainian.htm
this is a kinda online dictionary with pronunciation for ukrainian, not bad at all, especially if you were thinkin of goin there...

Stalemate...(project 86)
i sought so hard to attain this gain,
now watch me give this ground away,
what can i do but admit i'm in over my head,
colours fade from blue to dark red,
backed into a corner by my choices,
and i'm hearing the same dark voices,
at the mercy of my desires,
helpless trivial i'm left with
no defences,
stimulus response, repeated failures,
i'm sick,
this sickness fills my senses,
but despite my apparent loss
i see release this stalemate,
my peace.
you will release this
stalemate, you can't move or catch me,
stalemate, the walls built around me,
and as the stain continues to follow i see,
so clearly,
if i would only let go of my tendencies,
then i'd know what it is,
to be free.
i can't win when i indulge this fantasy,
reduced as a pawn lead to misery,
a little detour won't hurt let me change you slowly,
a moment of pleasure but you'll owe me,
all encompassing defeat awaits the day,
i choose to plunge and embrace
this nightmare,
but the night has an end and i see you,
and you see me as the dawn of the one,
who's adopted my ailment, my sickness, my stalemate,
reveals my blindness to my own condition,
stalemate...
still, run away from,
6 seconds of defeat 6 years of agony,
still, stay at home with,
6 seconds of defeat 6 years of agony,
i'm senseless...
...i'll never look back, i'll never taste it again,
i'll never stop, you can't stop me...

challenge


i challenge you to a game of pool ya punter! you know who i mean, that's right. i will kick your sorry little butt on thurs night. BRING IT ON!! (nice site too by the way, except why am i not in the punter's list??)

40 mins!!!

is what it took me to ride home the other day, which is much faster than usual! (10 minutes). i went a different way, over the hills of craigantlet, but still it can't that much shorter! i didi crank it most of the way and there is a fantastic long hill before getting into the city...

Guns 'N' America
wow, just went to see "bowling for columbine" by michael moore. talk about an eye opener on the USA! not that there were any new facts really, but it's sad to see that a lot of the rumours about fear, guns and racism in the US are true!
this "movie" (more of a documentary) was about the difference between the USA and the rest of the world. ie: why was there over 11,000 murders with guns in the US last year and only a few hundred max in any other country? straight away you think it's guns, but then he looked at canada, 7 million gun owners and only a few gun murders.
the attention was then drawn towards the "fear" culture of the US, and how while crime had gone down more than 20% last year, the number of crimes seen in the media had gone up...600%!!!
so the USA is a nation built on fear, and to resolve that you can own a gun for protection in your own home. after september 11, gun sales (obviously one of the top selling items in USA's supermarkets) went up 70% and ammunition sales 140%!
no wonder people in power can drive their nation to war, in fear that they themselves will be attacked.

a balance is what is needed
too often we fail by going one way or the other. what we really need is a balance.
too much of one, too much of the other. each side will claim that if we do get a balance we're neglecting
that side. but the more i live, th emor ei learn, the more i grow, and the more i realise that we really need to
constantly be careful not to take it easy one one of the sides. we need to offer ourselves, and others, positive criticism.
if we don't have a balance how can we be real?
if we don't have a balance how can we grow in knowledge.
yet one without the other leads to dead faith. if we're all heart and emotion we'll eventually burn out from lack of
a solid and renewing foundation. if we're all knowledge we'll eventually die out from lack of emotion, heart and reality.

10 days straight!
well it didn't feel like it, apart from the general tiredness, but when i looked at the calendar twas 10 days since i'd had a day off (since my trip to scotland!!).
so finally i have two days off, bring it on!!
the little lame poem below is just a wee story of our walk up the mournes on sunday, before work. niall, myself and zara (niall's dog). quite a beautiful wee hill.
there was even some surfable waves in the sea below!! a kayak would've been the best.
we took the kite up, but twas way too windy to get it out up top, and not enough wind down below...can you win?

"thomas'"
ever been up it?
well you should.
not as big as don,
but worth a look.
steeper climb,
rounder top,
closer to the surf,
it was.
take a left off the track,
at the ice hut.
and while no steps you will find,
a magnificent view you will see.

the coldest ride yet??
well the other night riding home (friday?), twas so cold that my water sarted freezing over (i had bits of ice in it). my bike had been parked in the laundry at work, which has a constant warm temperature, which means that it only started freezing once i was outside, and it was icy about half way (after 20 mins!!). also, the moisture from the laundry must've gotten into my brake and gear cables cause they froze too! i couldn't release brake once twas on, and i couldn't change down gears if i changed up. i thought twas just a lack of grease or rust problem, but once i got home, it was alright! so there we go, anyone know the temperature?? funny thing was the ride itself wasn't too bad, except for the feet.

The Western Myth
#3 need vs want
ok, ok, another side issue for people with too much time and nothing better to do...
maybe, but it' s also something close to my heart which i believe can lead to a massive change in attitudes, especially in the minds of the youth of this generation and the next (which could leed to a change in the western world!!).
a good passage about this is 2 corinthians 7 to 9. paul talks about why and what we give.
need vs want to me is a crucial subject in the western world especially (cause we have the choice to get what we want on top of what we need...).
once again, it's not a legalistic issue: you cannot be more saved or more righteous than you are. if you are in Christ you are a new person, you're perfect, blameless, innocent in the eyes of God. there is nothing more you can do or can ever do to get right with God.
the needs vs wants issue is just a bit of a wake up call for western worlders.
why do we spend so much on what we want while others don't have what they need?
how can we justify spending all that money on extra pairs of shoes, constant new fashionable clothes, new phones, cars, toys, food, jewelery, cd's, vdo's... the list goes on.
it's obvious that we've been conditionned after years and years of getting what we want that it's just what we do. if we want something we get it. and we can't afford it we credit card it.
when are we gonna start thinking about that kinda stuff?
obviously if you're a pro golf player you'll need new clubs and gear from time to time. if you're a lawyer or an accountant you'll need a new suit. if you're a sports coach you'll need good sports shoes and gear. but there is a line to be drawn.
while we need a lot of things to fit in, most things we just want.
if you're trying to be part of the surf culture because you enjoy surfing and see that you can impact the lives of surfers in particular, you will need a board, clothes, surfwear and so on. if you wanna break into the hip-hop culture, you will need baggy gear, the same brands, expensive shoes and so on. if it's motorbike riders you're in contact with, you'll need a motorbike, riding gear and so on.
i'm not trying to say that we should all be boring, wearing the cheapest clothes, eating nothing but rice, walking to work and living in a one room house. but there is a line to be drawn.
when are we in the western world going to realise that, generally, we can give much more than we do. much much more! once again we shouldn't be giving our leftovers but our firtsfruits, the best part of our resources. it's not a guilt issue, nor should it be. but just consider.
next time you spend your money, just think for a second: do you need these things or just want them? could you be using this money in different and better ways?
need vs want, make it an issue!

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast!!!!!!
i just spent 20 mins pooring my hearty out on the wetsern myth #3 and the stupid computer stuffed up and i lost it all!... just as i saved it cause i thought it was getting lengthy and i didn't want to lose it all!
so anyway, i'll try again and give an abreged version...

stacked it twice...
i was mtb racing last saturday with tim. 8 laps of a short course in bangor park (norn iron, near where i wokr). after the first lap i cained everyone and was in front and thought "what's goin on??". but after the second lap i was in 3rd... fitness (mountainbike fitness) and stacks didn't help! i broke my right pedal strap and my gears were stuffing up. but it was sooooo fun! i stacked it twice at the same spot, once in front of tim. no pain though, just mud, ssooooooooooooooooooo much mud!
result: tim first, i came 4th. but i don't think the price to race warrants racing often!! see yaz

scotland#2
well after a session here i got the bus to Newton Stewart. where i waited for 2 hours, ate a chip (for a £!!!!!) and then got the bus to Bargrennan or something like that.
i then did one of the many walks along the SUW (South ... Walk). along a river, through woods then plantations, more woods and another river. the sky was blue, the sun was shining, the snow was fresh and powdery, which made it harder to walk. at 4:30 i decided to look for a place to camp, knowing the sun wa going down and i'd have an hour or so of dailight left. i had two options: follow the walk i was doing and go the the designated campsite or start another walk towards another campsite and amp whereever if i didn't make it by 5. so i headed onto walk 2.
at 10 to or there abouts i found a nice flat spot on a hill (so it wouldn't flood, as i was walking along floodable parts the whole afternoon). i put the tent up right on top of the track, as it was flat, open and rockless. had some bb with super noodles and a banana shake (warm) for desert. i then hit the sack, twas about 6pm! i was warm but knew it would get colder. was wearing 2 pairs of thermal pants, thermal top, footbal jersey and beanie. it was hard to get my feet warm but i finally did after a while. my down sleeping bag was doing well, and the sleeping mat (thin roll-up type) was great as well. after tossing and turning, breathing warm air in the bag trying head in and head out, i must've got some sleep. but i kept on waking up, turning over. twasn't comfortable, but warm enough, as long as i stayed in the mat!! the ground of the tent was obviously freeeeeeezing! at who knows what time i got up to pee, an dput on my watreproof socks, waterproof pants and fleece bnody warmer, which made me all toasty for a while. i kept on waking up and turning over all night but must have got some great sleep in between. i woke up once and noticed that it was lighter so i thought it must have been morning. i looked at my watch (i had,'t since i went to bed as i didn't want it to stop me sleeping if i knew twas only 8pm, 9pm, 10pm... it was 7:40. fantastic! so i got up, the weather had changed, which i had expected as it had rained a little that night, to misty-foggy and wettish. put some xtra clothes on, shoes and gloves. had breakie (banana flavoured milk with cronflakes and weetbix heated up). packed up and left at 8:45. walked along the trail fro five mins and...typical, the campsite!
i then decided to keep going on that walk (instead of turning off and heading for town) round the lake.
twas up and down through b-ute forest, stopping only to remove layers and get camera to take shots of the mountain deer and their young. wow. but cause it's an ACME disposable camera bought on sale in oz in october for $3 i dunno if they'll come out! walked along the trail robert the bruce ambushed some englishmen and won some battle, then (1:30 later) past his memorial "bruce stone". kept going and made it to Glentrool village with a minute to spare before the bus. phew!
got back to Newton stewart, had another chip (£1!!!!) and got the bus to stranraer where i'm doing this.
i was gonna go for another day, but after walking through the snow and not being too comfy at night i decided i'd do it in summer... or at least with other people, as though i was able to take some time out and enjoy a little solitute and God's fantastic artistic creative ability, it was a little lonely. seeing the weather in the morning (not enjoyable for walking) only reinforced my decision!
but i'll be back. keen to tag along??

scotland here we come!!!
so i get wrorted at the ferry terminal cause i wasn't booked with the bus so i had to pay ferry price as well...
grrrrrrrrr! anyway, not to worry, beautiful day, sun, snow., blue skies.
was gonna go to galsgow and then loch lomond and some hills around it, walking and camping, but i will now remain closer to stranraer due to extra costs (as my glasgow trip is no longer cheap).
so i'm in stranraer using free internet at the library...bring that on!!!
i'm heading to Newton stewart then Glentrool for some walking. it may be good the way it worked out, closer, less travelling, and discovering a beautiful part of the country which i may have never been to had i not badly planned my bus trip.
a managed to purchase a good tent and borrow some gear to cook and stuff. so i'm all set for a good couple of days with extra emergency gear just in case the weather turns sour, which i hope it doesn't!! at this stage it shouldn't but it is scotland!!
i rode to work in the full-on snow the other day, smokes twas fun (and slippery at times). then it started pelting down with it, unreal!!
well i'm gone, hopefully i'll post some more up on my way back.
have a good one!
(by the way on the boat i did a majassive stinkaroony slop in the bog...i think t'must have been the crips i had last night...burnt cheese flavour!)
weeksi