Dragons or Dinosaurs?

I've just read Robert's blog titled "Evolutionists have it wrong so why is their doctrine still being taught to little children?" - Here.

Angry Jesus seemed to like the ideas in this post and wrote - Here.

The Curmudgeon (from The Curmudgeon Inc.) entered the fray and demanded to know where Robert got his ideas from. Robert mentioned a guy called Derek Isaac.

I did a bit of research.

I think Robert might have been in fact referring to a chap named Darek Isaac.
I suspect this because Darek is into dragons and dinosaurs and this seems to fit what Robert is interested in.

So who is Darek Isaacs?

Darek Isaacs

See Darek in action - Here.

Darek is a creationist. I found another clip - Here.

Make of it what you will. I found this piece about Darek's book The Extinction of Evolution:

"The Extinction of Evolution explores what the world would be like if the theory of evolution were actually true. What it reveals will surprise you. Evolution, implemented to its logical conclusion, has severe ramifications for humankind. When one rejects the foundational truth of God and embraces Darwin’s alternative to our origins, a disastrous chain of events is triggered. As you dive deeply into this worldview of evolution, you will be exposed to the most frightening environment imaginable, where the rape, murder and exploitation of the weak are not to be punished but to be applauded. In the misguided words of Charles Darwin,let the strongest live and the weakest die. After traveling through the abyss of evolution, a miserable philosophical failure, The Extinction of Evolution brings you back to a place of hope where Christ stands above all as the Creator of this remarkable thing we call life."

I couldn't find a biography of Darek, but we do know that he is a creationist who seems to take the bible pretty literally. His thoughts about dragons, for instance, seem to come from what he discovered in the bible.

In my humble opinion this brings us back to step one - you have to believe that the bible and the christian god are true before you buy what Darek is saying.

Conclusion:
Robert, in his post, says,
"Some clever New Zealander took a sample of lava that had cooled from one of the Taupo volcanoes over a period of ten years in the 1960's and sent it off for dating.
The reply came back that it was three million years old!
In fact it was just going on 60 years!"
I guess we'd need to know more about this story:

• Who reported it?
• What was the bigger picture to this story?
• Who did both tests?
• Does this mean that all such tests are wrong?

Personally I can't get past the idea that believing in a christian god is based on faith. If the original premise is wrong, then everything that follows has no foundation. 

I think I could confidently say, "Christians have it wrong so why is their doctrine still being taught to little children?"

I look forward to your comments.

A man needs his helicopter.

Some rich guy in Herne Bay, Auckland, is upset because the local council will only let him take off from his helecopter pad three times a week. The is evidently because of the noise it creates for neighbours. The poor fellow says that, among other things, he needs the helicopter to get to golf.

Poor chap!

I heard this on the radio today as I was driving to visit an old friend who is terminally ill. 

Maybe the guy can't afford a car because he spent all his money on a helecopter?

Or maybe he's just a spoilt twat?

The Gaza Strip.

No, I'm not talking about this place.

The Gaza Strip is what I call our property in Lower Hutt. We are the only residence in our neighbourhood that doesn't have a cat. Quite a few properties have two.

These are cats.

The cats are territorial but our property is like no man's land - hence the Gaza Strip title.

Cats come here to fight and leave their mark.

Yesterday we had a heat pump fitted and the electrician needed to go under the house, where we have plastic insulation laid. When he came out his actual words were,

"Fuck there's cat piss everywhere!"

Today's job is to design and build something to block the hole.

Alternatively I could start pissing under these cats' houses until they got the message.

Looking scary.

Some people like to look scary.

Some adults like to dress up.

There are various forms of dressing up.

This guy is just out to

have a good time.

This guy probably wants to

scare the shit out of you.

Why do some grown up people want to look frightening?

These guys are trying to look scary

to win a game.

This guy is doing his best

but it's not really working.

This guy just wants a group

of kids to shut up and listen.

I saw three bikies this morning while I was out doing some recycling.
My first thought was, "These guys are adults who like to dress up."

Lower Hutt.

I moved to Lower Hutt from Bahrain when I was fourteen.
I've lived here ever since.
So why would you call a city Lower Hutt?
Obviously because there might also be a place with the same name a little north and
South Hutt somehow makes the place sound a bit rough.

The Hutt River

So where does the Hutt part of our city's name come from?
I decided to do a little research.

Here are some facts about the area:

• Petone was the site of the first formalised settlement of the New Zealand Company in 1840.
• Britannia, Wellington’s first European township, was established on the banks of the Hutt River in February 1840.
• The first immigrant ship, the Aurora, arrived 22 January 1840. Maori from the nearby pa assisted the settlers to build their homes on Pito-one Beach. These settlers established New Zealand's first bank and newspaper.

Among these first settlers were two brothers - Tony and 'Big John' Hutt.

'Big John'

Tony with his wife around 1852

It is not known how John got the name 'Big John'. He was the eldest in a family of ten siblings and probably got the name because, when they were very young, he was taller than the rest of the siblings. Tony Hutt was the third child to be born to Mr and Mrs Hutt.

Both boys were ambitious and had come to this new country in an attempt to better themselves. They were always looking for opportunities for self advancement and the story goes that the Hutt river was named after Big John as a bit of a joke. There is no existing record of why the settlers thought this was funny. 

Stokes Valley - another humurous thing near the Hutt River.

The township of Britannia was flooded (by the humerous river, but not quite so funny that day) and Tony Hutt decided to build a town of his own. Again, as a bit of a joke (boy these Hutt boys loved a joke) he added the word Lower, probably as a reference to his taller brother. 

Tony married Elisabeth Benton and stayed in Lower Hutt where he opened a bank and built a golf course. Big John moved north. He cut his own hair and inadvertently invented a new hairstyle that was to become popular in the northern part of the valley.

Big John was also the first settler to use a cart pulled by eight horses. This might be a leap of faith but one can almost imagine that cart leading to a type of car that became popular in this area many years later.

V8

Big John never named the settlement where he made his home but, probably by default, it became known as Upper Hutt. Not much is known about his later years. It seems that he liked bloke things like fast horses and sport and he might have played a bit of guitar.

Recently the council started referring to Lower Hutt as Hutt City. 

I don't know why they did this but it creates a big problem for Upper Hutt.

Should Upper Hutt now change its name?

What's the point of having an upper if there is no lower?

I'll leave you to ponder this point.

Very excited...

...to be part of the Bass Bagging Confederation!

I'm fourth from the back.

A 3rd Testament?

It wasn't long ago that Angry Jesus was talking about a 3rd testicle.

READ HERE

Now it's a 3rd Testament - an addition to The Bible.
Well this Crisp guy seems excited about the new book plan.

Maybe it needs a better name that THE THIRD TESTAMENT?
The bible writers should have thought about a trilogy before they settled on the titles Old and New.
Drum kits that have three tom toms sometimes call the small tom, medium tom and floor tom.

Would this new testament be like the small tom or the floor tom?

It might depend on whether or not it outweighed the other two on wisdon, on not.

If it turns out to be the best testament (so far), I like the name

THE FLOOR TESTAMENT.

The three legs each represent one

member of the Holy Trinity.

Who is the best god?

I know a guy called Robert who would probably say, "The one true God."
Why doesn't everyone believe in the same god?

Which of these pictures best represents 'god' to you?

Spell it out.

The kindly father who smokes too much.

Woman god with cow.

God who works out.

The Holy Trinity.

Boss God.

Okay, there are many more gods but this will give you an idea of how many you have to choose from. Or not.

Gloves and when to wear them.

Things you need to understand about gloves:

• They can keep your hands warm
• They keep your hands clean
• They can protect your hands
• They can be worn as a fashion statement.

Protection and warmth

Warmth

Protection and keeping hands clean

Fashion

However, there are times when gloves are not a good option:

• When going to the toilet (unless they are rubber gloves)
• When playing the violin
• When making love (especially not rubber gloves)
• When threading a needle
• When changing strings on a violin
• Then cleaning your teeth
• When eating fish and chips (with your hands).

It's fair to say that rubber gloves function differently than most other gloves.

That just about covers gloves and when to use them.

Back from Bahrain.

I've just been taking a break, back in Bahrain, catching up with the wider family when Richard (of RBB) rang.

Doha - always good to visit.

He said that there had been a lot of demand for me to get my blog running again. He even offered to fly me back, which was very nice of him.
So, here I am, back in Lower Hutt and writing.

I didn't have a bass to play back home but I did fool around on a few local instruments.

And here I am at a local jam.

That's me on trombone marching from left to right.

Jamming is a bit different in Bahrain. People like to dress up and move around.

Well, I might leave it there for today because I'm feeling a bit jet lagged.

It feels a little strange to be talking English again. Thanks again Richard (of RBB) and let's hope that RBB2 & RBB3 get underway again soon as well.

Okay, I'm back in town...

...and ready for some serious blogging.