How often are old songs 'redone'... and how often are they quite different to the original artist's intentions?
Last week, my banana tumble was remade into a delicious trifle (with a hint of banana). It wasn't my original intention for the cake and the whole fiasco was a bit of a disappointment, but in the end we still had something nice to eat.
Often in life things go completely the wrong way, and we can become quite distraught sitting amongst the rubble of our shattered dreams. I know I've felt this in much more significant circumstances than just a silly cake. But if God can remake something beautiful out of us - broken sinners far from His original intentions that we are - shouldn't we also share with Him in this creative flair? I'm sure that we can make something good (but different) out of what's gone bad for us.
Do you have a remake story?
When life goes pear-shaped, make pear-strudel!
Wednesday 21 February 2007
Sunday 11 February 2007
Steff the Chef - Banana Tumble
Another delicious recipe from Steff's kitchen!I call this one Banana Tumble (some sources call this Banana Fall-Apart).
Recipe:
1. Gather ingredients for making a cake (I used banana cake, but you may substitute any flavour as desired to create the entire Tumble series).
2. Proceed to make the cake.
3. Take the cake out of the oven and allow to cool. It's very important that the cake looks beautiful and is near-perfect at this point.
4. Turn the cake tin over and allow cake to fall to pieces on the cooling rack.
Serving Suggestions:
Banana Tumble may be used to make trifle, eaten with ice cream and your choice of toppings, or eaten as a snack on its own throughout the day. If you're creative, try sticking the cake back together with icing, or drizzle melted chocolate over the pieces artistically.
Ratings:
Taste: 10/10
Difficulty: Easy
Presentation: Classy Restaurant Quality
Chef's Note: If you'd prefer an untumbled cake, I suggest using something a bit more hardy than olive oil cooking spray to grease your tin.
Saturday 10 February 2007
From The Inside Out
A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out
Lord let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out
Hillsong United - United We Stand (2006)
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out
Lord let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out
Hillsong United - United We Stand (2006)
Friday 9 February 2007
Snakes On A Plane
The photo just about says it all: I took snakes on a plane (purely so I could blog about it). For those of you who are unaware, Snakes On A Plane is a humorously titled action movie I've never seen (but which I've heard is quite bad), starring Samuel L Jackson and having a somewhat lacking plot involving an assassin, a witness in protective custody, a crate of snakes and an overseas plane trip. Fill in the blanks. The slightly dopey look can be explained by my getting up at 3am to catch this flight!So yes, I got to fly to Brisbane last weekend to visit my grandma in Warwick (and some other relatives too). It was a very short trip, but long overdue (four years overdue, in fact). For those of you operating under the common misconception that QLD = holiday, I regret to inform you that this was not actually a holiday per se. (By my definition, for a trip to be a holiday, you must spend more days at the destination than days you spend [part of] travelling to the destination, the exception of course being travelling holidays, and/or the trip should have no other motives than simply to relax). But it was still nice :)
For those of you wondering what it's like to fly, here's some more photo's taken out of the plane window! (And yes, you're allowed to do that.) The first one is a picture of some hilltops poking through the clouds. Beautiful, isn't it? The second photo was for Dad - he was so excited that we were on a 'new' plane, and wanted a photo of the special, curved wings. Sorry there's no coastal pictures (electronic devices can't be used during descent).
Friday 2 February 2007
The Land Beyond Time
Working title: Of Teachers and Nurses
Today I had surgery - scary! As you might have guessed by the title (and alternate title), there's two major parts to my story. Firstly, the time thing. I went in at 1, and came out just after 4... For a ten minute procedure. I spent most of my time sitting around, alone and waiting, with no clocks to be seen and no watch. It's kind of strange being unaware of the time - I'm normally lost without a watch. Time feels all distorted when you can't track its passing. Eventually, they offered to fetch me a trashy mag to read, which I declined. Boredom is for those who lack imagination! However, after I was given the anaesthetic (major ouch!) I succumbed, and read all about Prince William and his girlfriend of five years - how sweet.
Now, of teachers and nurses... I remember starting uni, particularly prac, and being so shocked to realise how little teachers actually knew! I figured teachers had to at least understand the topics they were teaching (me teaching hockey certainly killed that idea). Another much-trusted profession is nursing - you want them to know what they're doing. I've heard a few stories that rock the boat. Anyway, the nurse was talking about a lesion on my leg (it was on my back). Now I'm thinking, am I going to have both legs when I get out of here?! Thankfully, the theatre nurse at least knew what part of me was being operated on. But before we got there, I was sent to the regular surgery unit, not the day procedure unit (which was under renovations). Upon realising I was not on their list, and so was not requiring an anaesthetist, I was marched back down to the day procedure area, where the banging of the work men's tools could be heard. After the procedure (which was a horrible experience) the nurse (a new one) forgot to photocopy my details and book my appointment. And all up, I had my pulse monitored, was weighed once, had my blood pressure checked twice (with the suggestion of a third time), and had my dressing checked at least three times. It makes you wonder some days.
At least you can't fault their hospitality; I had at least seven people attend to me throughout my stay (plus the doctor), they fetched me a mag, and they continually offered me tea, coffee or juice.
Today I had surgery - scary! As you might have guessed by the title (and alternate title), there's two major parts to my story. Firstly, the time thing. I went in at 1, and came out just after 4... For a ten minute procedure. I spent most of my time sitting around, alone and waiting, with no clocks to be seen and no watch. It's kind of strange being unaware of the time - I'm normally lost without a watch. Time feels all distorted when you can't track its passing. Eventually, they offered to fetch me a trashy mag to read, which I declined. Boredom is for those who lack imagination! However, after I was given the anaesthetic (major ouch!) I succumbed, and read all about Prince William and his girlfriend of five years - how sweet.
Now, of teachers and nurses... I remember starting uni, particularly prac, and being so shocked to realise how little teachers actually knew! I figured teachers had to at least understand the topics they were teaching (me teaching hockey certainly killed that idea). Another much-trusted profession is nursing - you want them to know what they're doing. I've heard a few stories that rock the boat. Anyway, the nurse was talking about a lesion on my leg (it was on my back). Now I'm thinking, am I going to have both legs when I get out of here?! Thankfully, the theatre nurse at least knew what part of me was being operated on. But before we got there, I was sent to the regular surgery unit, not the day procedure unit (which was under renovations). Upon realising I was not on their list, and so was not requiring an anaesthetist, I was marched back down to the day procedure area, where the banging of the work men's tools could be heard. After the procedure (which was a horrible experience) the nurse (a new one) forgot to photocopy my details and book my appointment. And all up, I had my pulse monitored, was weighed once, had my blood pressure checked twice (with the suggestion of a third time), and had my dressing checked at least three times. It makes you wonder some days.
At least you can't fault their hospitality; I had at least seven people attend to me throughout my stay (plus the doctor), they fetched me a mag, and they continually offered me tea, coffee or juice.
Thursday 1 February 2007
PE teachers get on my nerves
For lack of anything better to say, I will regale you with more tales from my physiotherapy - a strange and unusual occurrence in my life at present, since it involves physical activity!
Anyway, at yesterday's session I learnt something very interesting. As some may know, I spent most of high school with PE teachers making life miserable through their perhaps unwitting lack of understanding and compassion for people of lesser ability (some even mocking me, believe it or not). My poor flexibility performance was countered with the inevitably useless advice of performing various hamstring stretches in order to improve. Even though I put in my most diligent effort in this regard, as I did with all areas of my education, there was never any noticeable improvement. Even continuing such stretches during osteotherapy years later proved unsuccessful.
Yesterday I was asked to try a move which required minimal flexibility - and dismally failed, upon which I explained my poor hamstring condition. The answer? Hamstring stretches, of course! But upon performing the 'real' hamstring stretches (not the ones that only stretch your back, as prescribed by my dear old PE teachers), we discovered the limiting factor was not in my hamstrings at all (well, not yet anyway). The stretch-pain was in the wrong part of my leg, for a start. My real problem? My nerves.
So in the end, I could maybe have salvaged my sporting self-esteem a little bit more if my PE teachers could have told me the difference between a muscle and a nerve (surely that isn't medical specialist knowledge?). Then I could have pursued a more appropriate action, improved and achieved. So, the moral of the story, for both PE teachers and the little people alike: Don't assume; seek to understand the real issue.
Anyway, at yesterday's session I learnt something very interesting. As some may know, I spent most of high school with PE teachers making life miserable through their perhaps unwitting lack of understanding and compassion for people of lesser ability (some even mocking me, believe it or not). My poor flexibility performance was countered with the inevitably useless advice of performing various hamstring stretches in order to improve. Even though I put in my most diligent effort in this regard, as I did with all areas of my education, there was never any noticeable improvement. Even continuing such stretches during osteotherapy years later proved unsuccessful.
Yesterday I was asked to try a move which required minimal flexibility - and dismally failed, upon which I explained my poor hamstring condition. The answer? Hamstring stretches, of course! But upon performing the 'real' hamstring stretches (not the ones that only stretch your back, as prescribed by my dear old PE teachers), we discovered the limiting factor was not in my hamstrings at all (well, not yet anyway). The stretch-pain was in the wrong part of my leg, for a start. My real problem? My nerves.
So in the end, I could maybe have salvaged my sporting self-esteem a little bit more if my PE teachers could have told me the difference between a muscle and a nerve (surely that isn't medical specialist knowledge?). Then I could have pursued a more appropriate action, improved and achieved. So, the moral of the story, for both PE teachers and the little people alike: Don't assume; seek to understand the real issue.
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