Please spend a few minutes watching the video.
Then, if you want to do something real, click here.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Teenage Affluenza – World Vision – 40 Hour Famine
I love flying. I’m afraid of heights but I love flying.
I generally don’t care what kind of aircraft I’m in as long as it lands the same number of times that it takes off but I wouldn’t mind trying out the Boeing 787 Dreamliner which has finally been unveiled in the US.
Boeing already has orders for 677 of the craft which is their first all new jet since airlines started flying the 777 in 1995. The Dreamliner incorporates a lot of carbon fibre components, making it lighter and more fuel efficient. If you want one, it’s likely to set you back over a hundred and sixty million US dollars. Depending on how the seating is configured it will carry between 210 and 330 passengers.
To unveil the new aircraft, Boeing put on the red carpet treatment for around fifteen thousand people at their factory north of Seattle.
While I’d love to try all the wonderful new features that the new plane boasts I am prepared to wait until they’ve run all the test flights that are planned. We can expect to see the Dreamliner in service around May next year.
What are you like with air travel? Are you a nervous flyer or do you enjoy being up among the clouds? I hate to admit it but I even enjoy airline food. What about you?
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Boeing 787 – Dreamliner – Flying
The votes are in and according to over a hundred million voters, I’ve only been to one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
What better date could there be than 7/07/07 to announce the new seven?
Millions of voters flooded the New Seven Wonders website to have their say on the most remarkable places on earth. Yesterday the results were announced in a lavish ceremony in Portugal. The international show included award presentation appearances by Hilary Swank, Ben Kingsley, Bipasha Basu, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neil Armstrong and Bertrand Piccard. Guests were also treated to performances by Chaka Khan, Jennifer Lopez, Jose Carreras, Alessandro Safina, Joaquín Cortés, and Dulce Pontes.
The winners were the Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, Brazil’s statue of Christ the Redeemer, Peru’s Machu Picchu, Mexico’s Chichen Itza pyramid, The Colosseum in Rome and India’s Taj Mahal. Some of the finalists to miss out were the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, Stonehenge and Australia’s own Sydney Opera House.
I’ve been to the Taj Mahal twice so at least I can say I’ve seen and touched one of the wonders. I visited the Taj for the first time in 2003 and then again on a rainy day in 2005. If the Sydney Opera House had made it through I could have claimed two of the seven.
How about you? Have you been to any of the New Seven Wonders of the World? Do you agree with the official results? What wonder would you like to have seen in the final seven?
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: New Seven Wonders of the World – Taj Mahal – 7/07/07
Let the fun begin.
The world’s greatest annual sporting event gets underway tomorrow and I’m looking forward to three weeks of amazing cycling action.
The Tour de France is a wonderful display of of supreme athleticism. Some people have said that it’s like running a marathon every day for 21 days.
This year’s event will start in London and finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Between those two cities riders will endure the agony and experience the ecstasy of pushing their bodies to extreme limits with excruciatingly tough mountain stages and technically difficult individual time trials.
On Sunday the 29th of July we’ll toast a new winner but anyone who makes it through the event, whether they’re first or last, will be an absolute champion.
We’ll thrill to the chaos of the sprint stages and then feel our muscles ache as we see the riders climb mountain passes while they suck in every bit of air they can.
21 teams, each with 9 riders, will make up the 189 competitors for the 94th Tour de France.
Millions of spectators will line the route to see the race live. Many millions more will watch events unfold on television around the world.
The Details
Running from Saturday July 7th to Sunday July 29th 2007, the 94th Tour de France will be made up of a prologue and 20 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,550 kilometres.
These 20 stages have the following profiles:
* 11 flat stages
* 6 mountain stages
* 1 medium mountain stage
* 2 individual time-trial stages
Distinctive aspects of the race
* 3 mountain finishes
* 2 rest days
* 117 kilometres of individual time-trials (including the prologue)
* 21 Category 1, Category 2 and highest level passes will be climbed
I’ll be looking out for the Australian riders to make a big impact on the race this year, particularly Cadel Evans, Michael Rogers Stuart O’Grady and Robbie McEwan.
Bring on the late nights in front of the television.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Tour de France – Cycling – Sport
When the Andrew Denton documentary God On My Side was broadcast on Australia’s ABC TV earlier this year, many people saw Phil Cooke as a voice of reason amongst some of the more unusual characters interviewed at the National Religious Broadcaster’s Convention in Dallas, Texas last year.
Phil Cooke is one of a rare breed. He’s a Hollywood producer with a Ph.D. in Theology. His blog is considered as one of the most insightful resources on the web on issues of faith, culture, and media. Through his company, Cooke Pictures, Phil advises many of the largest non-profit and faith-based media organisations in the world. He also speaks at workshops, seminars, and conferences around the world.
I spoke to Phil as part of my morning programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM today.
We chatted about his work and the media in general as well as Andrew Denton’s God on My Side. Was Denton trying to discredit Christianity? Was he fair with those he interviewed? It was great to get Phil’s opinion of the documentary.
Phil had a lot of great insights on the most effective ways for Christians to harness the power of the media in its various forms. One thing that came out very strongly a number of times in our discussion was the need for people who want to share their faith story to understand the culture they’re trying to reach.
If you want to hear the interview just use the media player below.