I have a copy of ágætis byrjun and I really liked most of it. (I must admit I have unusual musical taste.) Flugufrelsarinn was one of my favorite songs from that album, and Kronos Quartet’s rearrangement was excellent. There are more details on the rearrangement from the Kronos Quartet web site.

It’s really nice. You should try it. Available from iTunes

Sadly, there is a catch. There is an additional card payment fee which is charged for credit card transactions—up to 1.02% currently. Boo.

• Annual leave is a good thing
• Stores for electrical appliances have an amazing ability to run out of stock at the most inconvenient times, forcing shoppers to wait for weeks for deliveries
• One can clock up many kilometres through shopping for homewares
• Many things can be accomplished with a tape measure
• Ceramic tiles are heavy
• There are “standard sizes” for kitchen appliances
• During a global financial crisis, people eat out at McDonald’s rather than Michelin-starred restaurants
• Theology drives a lot more of our behaviours than we give credit for (see earlier reflection)
• God has an amazing ability to control things, e.g. Genesis 27.

• Insolvency practitioners. An obvious choice.
• Psychologists and psychiatrists. Lots of stressful people around.
• Income protection/workers’ compensation claims investigators. Lots of stressful people around claiming income protection insurance or workers’ compensation.
• Financial regulators. The regulatory cycle runs inversely to the economic cycle.
• Management consultants. Companies generally turn to management consultants if (a) they are making too much money and want some advice on how to spend it; or (b) they are in trouble and want help to turn things around. These days it’s the latter, and I’m told the market is booming.
• Household safe manufacturers. Yes, people need them these days.

Sadly, it’s only available from the United States and Canada.

The ad was very successful—-it won the Grand Prix at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in 2008, and was featured in the Gruen Transfer.

You can watch it at the Cadbury web site.

• Interestingly, the Melbourne Storm was on my flight to Melbourne on Sunday.

• I find the gate lounge at SYD T3 more comfortable and inviting than MEL T1. Perhaps it’s because of the time of day (morning vs. night), or perhaps Sydney Airport is cleaner at the time. Sadly, I don’t fly enough to get access to Qantas Club.

• Skybus is cheap. It’s $16 from Tullamarine to Southern Cross railway station—-a 20 km trip (about the same distance from Epping to Sydney CBD).

• Privately run public transport seems to work well. Or maybe because some hard decisions were made long ago to simplify the fare system.

• Minibars are expensive. That’s why I never use them.

There may be more random observations over the coming days, if I could think of them.

Now I will be spending Sunday night in the Melbourne CBD, so I am wondering:

• where I should go for dinner?
• who with?

Any suggestions?

Our friends at NDCCCS recently held a leaders’ retreat. The topic appears to have been affections (or the heart), and what that means in terms of serving in ministry. The full manuscript of the talks are available from Andrew Hong’s blog.

I am sure you will find this useful.