October, 2005:

While we were saddened to miss out on Friday’s pillow fight in the city, there was someone there gathering photographic and video evidence.

Gary from Diaries of a History Maker was there to report on the chaos. He’s had some problems with trying to upload the images so he’s asked me to put some pictures up here.

First there was the calm before the storm.

Then came the battle.

After that it was time to assess the casualties. Unfortunately, not all the pillows made it home.

You can see larger pics of those above by clicking on them.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

I have been appalled by all the terrorist attacks we’ve witnessed over the past few years. I have sat in front of my television wishing we could turn back time and stop these barbaric acts. I have tried to understand how anyone could justify mindless violence like that. I’ve been angered that anyone could believe that killing innocent civilians is a way of carrying out the work of God.

The Bali bombings in particular hit Australians very hard because many Aussies can identify with those who are suffering. Bali has been a holiday destination for many thousands of Australians and so there is a feeling of being personally violated. There is a connection between many Australians and the Balinese people.

I’ve never been to Bali but I know just how that feels right now. The bombings in New Delhi a couple of days ago have touched me differently to all the other terrorist attacks. The places where the bombs were detonated aren’t all that far from places that I know. I can imagine the chaos. I can feel a small fraction of the pain of the people who have suffered at the hands of the terrorists. I’ve met hundreds of Indian people. I count dozens of them as my friends. Not a day goes by when I don’t wish that I could return to India for another visit. I yearn for the sounds, tastes, smell and sights of India. I especially yearn to be among the wonderful people of India again and so to see someone striking out at them makes me angry and sad.

The Indian bombings may not be the work of the usual suspects but at heart they are just the same. They have been carried out by people who believe they have license to behave like spoilt little children who strike out at others when they don’t get their own way. There is nothing rational, right or good about what they are doing. They are not adding anything to their cause.

I will pray that the bombings don’t continue and that the cowards who were responsible will be swiftly brought to justice.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

James really did have a super birthday yesterday. He was very impressed with turning 7.

One of the gifts we gave him was a DVD of some very early Superman cartoons. They were first released back in the 40s.

Of all the shiny new stuff he was given, his first priority was to put on this budget priced DVD. I guess that we shouldn’t have been surprised. He is after all ‘Jimmy’ Olsen; Superman’s best friend.

Superman looked a lot different back then and it was interesting to hear the opening of the episodes. Even back then he was faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings at a single bound. But in those early cartoons he was fighting for truth and justice, not truth, justice and the American way. I guess he still had a Krypton passport. He must have taken up US citizenship some time later.

With everything we had to do yesterday we were hardly at home but he still managed to see a fair bit of the DVD. He got up very early this morning and watched the last of the episodes.

I wonder if he’ll be flying around the house with a superman cape anytime soon ….. just like I did at his age.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

James turns 7 tomorrow, so today we picked up his best friend from school and headed off to see Wallace & Gromit – The Curse of the Were-Rabbit for a second time.

We got ourselves great seats and watched several other young families wander in to watch the plasticine pair.

Before too long the lights dimmed and it was on with the show. We watched a couple of cinema ads and then on came the previews. We were quite annoyed that they showed a preview for an M rated film. It’s not only bad taste to show an M rated preview at a kids flick, it’s also illegal. Some kids near us turned around and buried their faces in the backs of their chairs. The movie they were advertising was quite scary and violent.

After something a little lighter they showed an MA rated preview. Very bad form. “Should I go tell them off now?” I wondered. After another M rated preview we all thought the nastiness was over. That was until they started showing the full version of The 40 Year Old Virgin.

I was up and out of the cinema fairly quickly and tried telling the girl at the candy bar that they had the wrong film on in Cinema 2. “Oh no. It’s just a feature before the film.” I disagreed and she asked me to speak to the usher who had just arrived back on the scene. I hurridly told him my tale and he was about to set things right when another parent burst out through the doors. He was saying something about the wrong film being on too. Apparently he wasn’t keen on his very young daughters watching a middle aged man wake up and take a leak, larger than life, up on the big, silver screen.

About a minute later the film slowed down and ground to a halt.

Two or so minutes later the usher appeared in the cinema to apologise and to tell us that there had been a problem with the projector. Not quite how I saw it. I’m sorry but it would appear to me that the problem was not the projector but the projectionist putting the wrong reels on and then having a late morning nap.

Finally, some 5 minutes after that, the big screen lit up again with some G and PG rated previews. We finally started watching our 11:00 a.m. movie at about 11:37 a.m.

I thought they’d at least give us all some popcorn for the inconvenience.

Posted by Rodney Olsen