5 Hilarious Thank God You're Here Performances.

These are some of my favourite Thank God You're Here clips that I found on YouTube. If you haven't seen the show then you really must. Basically it involves a well-known actor, comedian or radio presenter walking through a door into a scene that they know nothing about and they have to make it up as they go along. It's improvisation at it's best!

Matthew Newton as a hoon.



Josh Lawson as an 18th century explorer.



Cal Wilson as a clairvoyant.



Frank Woodley as a Shaolin Temple Master of the Way.



Josie Long as a daytime American soap character.



If you watch Thank God You're Here, what are some of your favourite moments?

If you don't, here's a plug for those in WA. It's on at 7:30pm on Wednesdays on Channel 7/GWN.

Embedding YouTube Clips Into A Blog Post

I have to admit I'm a bit of a dumbass sometimes when it comes to technology and this is probably obvious with the number of times I've asked for technical help on this blog before.

Well techheads, I need your help again :)

I was wondering if it's possible to embed more than one YouTube clip into a single blog post? You see I've found five clips that I want to embed in one post rather than in five separate posts. I've searched Blogger/Google help and YouTube help and I read that I can copy the 'embed code', choose 'Edit HTML' instead of 'Compose' when I create a new post and paste the embed code into it. But it didn't work!

Am I doing something wrong, is there another way or is it just not possible?

Help me pleeeeeeeeeease. Thanks dudes! :)

What Type of Art Are You?

You Are Ceramics

You are open to the world and it's possibilities. You are able to start something without knowing how it will end. You trust your intuition above everything else. Going with your gut often works out. You believe that every day objects can and should be art. The best art allows ordinary life to be more stylish and beautiful.

What Type of Art Are You?

Looks Can Be Deceiving

Netball is back on again and my team played their first game last night. We lost in a close one 20-18. I played like absolute crud, missed all but one of my shots on goal and was so out of breath after five minutes, I felt like I'd smoked a packet of ciggies before the game....except I don't smoke. Go figure!

Next week we play the worst team so we SHOULD have a win but I don't want to get too cocky. Pride comes before a fall. I've learnt never to underestimate anyone and assume that just because they are old, overweight or haven't played in 10 years doesn't mean they aren't a darn good player! I remember playing tennis in Albany against a bunch of old ladies when I was 16 and smirking to my mum beforehand, "I'm gonna thrash them. I bet they can't even run!" Well, I was right about that....they couldn't run...they made me do all the running. They placed their shots so carefully that they hardly needed to move. Crafty old ladies! One of them had a vicious serve with a karate chop action. Scary!

I am hoping our next match will be better and that I'll actually get the jolly thing through the hoop. That'd be nice.

The Birthday That Almost Never Was

The Sedshed turns three today. Happy Birthday dear bloggy :)

And to think I almost shut it down in January....this milestone would never have been reached. I'm off to have some chocolate to celebrate!

In celebration of the Sedshed's 3rd birthday, I'd like you to think back over its history (or for as long as you've been reading) and let me know what you think was the most memorable post. Was it a post that made you laugh? Or did it make you cry? Did it make you angry? Or encourage you? Or rebuke you? Did it change your life? (ok maybe that's a bit extreme hehe).

Please vote by leaving a comment (anonymous if you prefer).

P.S. If I get no votes I'll be very sad :(

Two To Tango

I have a bad habit of starting new 'series' on my blog and then neglecting them. Me bad!

Well, here is the next post in my series on Friendships. In the debut post, I wrote about what I see as the differences between close friends, friends and acquaintances and the struggle that many of us experience with making and keeping friends.

The most major obstacle I have encountered in maintaining friendships is realising that it takes two people to make a friendship work and when one neglects the relationship, there is little the other can do apart from confront them. If they are still unwilling to put effort into the friendship, then really the only option is for the friend making all the effort to let the friendship die. This is painful but it is reality. I've experienced it myself and I'm sure most people have too.

Most people don't intentionally neglect to stay in touch with their friends. Often they just get wrapped up their own issues and the busyness of life. I know I always do my best to stay in touch with people and it hurts greatly when they don't return the gesture. Sure they get excited if I ring or email or want to catch up in person but I know deep down that if I didn't make that move, they never would have bothered.

Friendships take effort; they don't just happen. And if you have a valuable friendship don't let busyness, distance or other friends crowd that out. We need to be proactive and make the time. Unfortunately I seem to be meeting more and more people that say they really don't care if they lose touch with people they were once close to; they just seem to want company and don't care who that may be.

You may have heard some people say that friendships are either for a reason, a season or a lifetime. This may be partly true but I think many people use this as an excuse not to stay in touch with people. If their good friend moves away, it's out of sight, out of mind and on to the next friend. A good friend of mine was very upset when she lost touch with another good friend of hers who she used to work with. When her friend moved from Albany to Perth, my friend sought to keep in touch and for a while it worked. But gradually her friend made no effort at all and my friend couldn't get in touch with her. She even invited her to her wedding but didn't hear back and her friend ended up being a no-show. Eventually she heard through the grapevine that her friend had no intention of keeping in touch because, although she once valued their friendship, she saw them as 'friends for a season' and now there was no point in keeping the relationship going. My friend was initially hurt and offended but gradually she got over it and now she has lost touch with this person.

I've faced similar situations and I know how my friend feels but it takes two to tango and if the friendship isn't being reciprocated, it's time to let it go. I don't mean cut them off or be nasty to them but just stop making all the effort. Painful but reality.

Flying Tiger

I am going on my first 'writing research trip' to Adelaide in early July and after a lot of arm-twisting, my mum is going to accompany me. Since the first part of my novel is set in Adelaide and I've never actually been there, I thought it'd be a good idea to go for credibility purposes! I also have family over there so it's a good excuse to visit them. I am just SO excited! :D

I was looking up airfares and at this stage am leaning towards Tiger Airways. They are ridiculously cheap; it costs the same return fare as what it does one-way with Virgin Blue or Jetstar.

But before I book, I want to hear from anyone who has flown Tiger before. My mum thinks that because it's so cheap it's bound to be dodgy and we'll probably crash. I told her she's being paranoid but I really would like to know what the pros and cons are. I don't care about perks, the basics are fine with me but I do want to know if it's really dodge or not.

So my little flying Tigers, what feedback do you have to give me? :)

Friday Funny

KIDS ARE QUICK

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America.
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America?
CLASS: Maria.
____________________________________________

TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the
floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.
______________________________________________

TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

____________________________________________

TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O
_____________________________________________

TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we
didn't have ten years ago.
WINNIE: Me!
_____________________________________________

TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.
______________________________________________

TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's
cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his
father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand. _______________________________________________

TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before
eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mum is a good cook.
_______________________________________________

TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same
as your brother's. Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir.. It's the same dog.
_______________________________________________

TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking
when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher

The Pendulum: Rebuking and Judging

One of the greatest tensions I feel as a Christian is attempting to walk the fine line between rebuking and judging.

You see, many Christians will say we are not to judge and they will quote Matthew 7:3-5. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye”, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

They are right of course; judging is for God to do, not us. We are all imperfect and how can one imperfect person cast judgement on another?

But then you get the other extreme; that we must NEVER speak up against another person’s sinful words or actions because that is judging. The problem with this view is that since we are all imperfect, we can never correct each other because it will make us hypocrites. Therefore, we get no guidance or correction from one another and everyone is too afraid to speak up against wrongdoing for fear of being labeled ‘judgemental’.

Rebuking is not judging. We are called to rebuke one another out of love and concern for one another’s godliness. That’s one of the reasons we are part of the church and not just individuals. We need each other to encourage and also to rebuke. 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 says we are on occasion to put unrepentant offenders out of fellowship but with the hope that they will stop doing what they are doing and will be welcomed back again.

The trouble is I often don’t know whether I am rebuking or judging. I guess the key test is whether I’m doing it out of love for that person, that I want the best for them, but quite often I’m doing it out of anger and hurt. So I guess that’s judging. It is very, very hard that’s for sure.

Am I the only one who’s felt this tension?

Bible Verse of the Day

Those of you who regularly read this blog may remember this post I did on relating to non-Christian defacto couples who want to stay at our place with both grace and truth. After praying about it, God lead me to these verses and I think they pretty much answer my questions.

What do you think?

I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."
1 Corinthians 5:9-13

Suffering Verse

My mother-in-law emailed a verse about suffering a few months back that she herself had found helpful. It made me cry!

Chance has not brought this ill to me;
It’s God’s own hand, so let it be,
For He sees what I cannot see.
There is a purpose for each pain,
And He one day will make it plain.
That earthly loss is heavenly gain.
Like as a piece of tapestry,
Viewed from the back appears to be,
Only threads tangled hopelessly;
But in the front a picture fair,
Rewards the worker for his care,
Proving his skill and patience rare.
You are the Workman, I the frame.
Lord, for the glory of Your Name,
Perfect Your image on the same.

Respectable Sins

The title of this post may have made you stare in horror or at least look twice. Respectable sins?!? There is no such thing!

It's actually the title of a book I recently read and plan to review....part of my vow to do more book reviews in 09.

Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges comes with the tagline Confronting the sins we tolerate. It sold out remarkably quickly at the Women's Convention last year which shows that perhaps I'm not the only thing thinking that the Christian community really has watered down sin. Bridges also wrote The Pursuit of Holiness (which I haven't read) and apparently holiness seems to be his trademark writing topic. In other words, it is clear from Respectable Sins that he cares greatly about how Christians live among themselves and in the world.

When I first saw this book, my first thought was the 'respectable' people in churches. Church leaders, conservative old people....these are the people who are meant to be the godly and mature ones, the ones the rest of us are supposed to look up to and desire to imitate. But often I have been horrified when these 'respectable' people start bitching about others behind their backs, criticising and tearing others down, making coarse and inappropriate jokes etc. I'm left thinking, well, you aren't so respectable at all and I wonder whether they actually see what they're doing as sin....or if I did the same thing, if I would be quickly rebuked.

That's the whole reason behind Respectable Sins. It's confronting the sins we tolerate. The things we see as minor or even neglect to call sin. Bridges points out that Christians have become so preoccupied with pointing the finger at the world and thinking we are good because we don't murder or commit adultery that we have lost sight of the need to deal with our own subtle sins.

Some of the sins he discusses are:

• Anxiety and Frustration
• Discontentment
• Ungratefulness
• Pride
• Selfishness
• Impatience and Irritability
• Lack of self-control
• Judgmentalism
• Envy and Jealousy
• Anger
• Sins of the tongue
• Worldliness

It is heavy book (subject-wise) and I suggest that if you want to read it, you approach it not with the casualness I did. I admit I approached the book certain that it would be the perfect tool to batter over the head of people I see as annoying hypocrites....but I came away convicted of my pride and that the book was as relevant to me as it would be to anyone else. It is a book that will humble you and none of us really want to be humbled.

Jerry Bridges doesn't write from a position of moral superiority. Rather, as the book's blurb says, Jerry writes not from a height of spiritual accomplishment but from the trenches of his own battles with sin. He actually uses examples of sin from his own life in each of the chapters.

With what I've written so far, you may be thinking that this sounds like a depressing book and that you'd rather save yourself the guilt-trip. But it is a book not without hope. In the opening chapter, Bridges discusses what it means for Christians to be 'saints'...when it seems we are so often the opposite. He emphasises the work of Jesus on the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in believers. So often I get frustrated because I cannot conquer a certain sin, it's like a neverending cycle. We are not alone; the Spirit is working in us even when we can't see it but we need to co-operate with his work. I actually think it would be good to have these chapters at the end for encouragement as well as at the beginning.

I don't agree with every little thing Bridges writes but overall it is a book I highly recommend and a message that Christians desperately need to hear. For we were saved to love and serve God and one another.

If you have already read the book, please leave a comment about what you thought of it. If you'd like to borrow it, just let me know and it may be arranged.

Get On Your Soapbox #13

On Friday night, my dad arrived to stay for the weekend. We had dinner and then Duncan had to go back to work to continue seeding. At 8:30pm, Dad and I sat down to watch the Eagles' game, aware that we were watching a delayed telecast. I have no interest in finding out advanced scores; I prefer TV over radio anyday and I sit and watch matches to the end when I can....win or lose.

At half-time, I got a text message and I automatically opened it, assuming it was Duncan telling me that he was going to work later than 10pm which he had estimated finishing by. It wasn't Duncan.....

It was two guys we know (lucky for them they shall remain anonymous). The first part of the message made very little sense. It was random dribble and at first I wondered if the guy that sent it was drunk (although since they are both Christian, I assumed not). Basically it seemed that they were hanging out together and the last bit of the message said.....*So-and-so* told me to text you to tell you the weagles lost.

To say the least, I was absolutely furious. There was no point watching the last half of the game now. It would be boring knowing the result either way. At first I told myself, Ignore them. Ignore them. But then I thought, No, I have had enough! So I sent a text back which said:
Well maybe instead of being such a smartass you should have realised that I'd be watching the game and now there's no point since you've given away the score.

The reply I got was:
Ouch. That was feisty. Sorry to have put a downer on your evening.

Pfft he wasn't sorry at all and he calls ME the feisty one. I thought that was mild compared to what I was planning to write, mate! To make things worse, the one who sent the text doesn't even follow AFL (the one who told him to send the text but was too cowardly to do it himself is a bitter and twisted Dorks' supporter). They obviously had nothing better to do on a Friday evening than spitefully ruin a game that I was looking forward to watching. When I told my dad, he said, "That was stupid and immature." And these guys are supposed to be mature, godly Christians!

So now I had nothing better to do than go to bed. When Duncan came in, I told him what had happened and asked him if he'd be pissed off if he was planning to watch a delayed telecast of a Wallabies' game and someone texted him the final score. He admitted he would be very annoyed!

The next morning I received another text from that guy in a much more gentlemanly tone, wishing me a happy birthday and apologising for his thoughtless comments. I have forgiven him and it is over.

Lesson to anyone who thinks it's funny to ruin endings for other people.....it's not! That goes for sports matches, book and movie endings and final episodes for TV series. A friend of mine who lives over east got in big trouble for posting the result of a reality TV show on Facebook when it hadn't yet aired in WA. A lot of people were angry at her and she was sorry but that was a careless slip of the tongue. When it's deliberate just to ruin things for others because you know they'll be about to watch it, it is a whole different story. I got so annoyed when I was reading the final Harry Potter book a couple of years ago because a certain person kept deliberately coming up to me and trying to tell me the ending even though I kept telling her I didn't want to know! You know what this reminds me of? Kids going "I know something you don't know na na nana na." Pathetic, immature and childish.

Just because you don't care less about what they're watching, leave them alone to watch it. As much as I can't stand the Dorkers, I don't go texting scores to their fans who I know are currently watching the match. That's just nasty. So if you're one of those people who get their jollies out of ruining such things for other people, I suggest you go and take a long, hard look in the mirror at the sad, spiteful little person looking back at you!