Teen Celebrities in the News: Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Luke Benward

Luke Benward: Actor, Singer, Teenager!

Although he is only 13 years old, actor and singer Lucas Aaron “Luke” Benward is well on his way to becoming a household name.

Disney Hannah Montana Keeping it Real, a DVD Review

When I was offered the opportunity to review Disney Hannah Montana Keeping It Real, a DVD with five episodes from the popular television program Hannah Montana, I must admit, I jumped at the chance. Here was my chance to be culturally relevant!

Does Hannah Montana Make You Sick?

Last Tuesday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Peanut Corporation of America issued a safety recall of Disney’s Hannah Montana Peanut Chocolate Granola Bars due to possible salmonella contamination.

The Jonas Brothers: Clean Fun for Your Teens and Tweens

If your kids are into the Jonas Brothers - a boy band who gained their popularity through the Disney Channel - your kids are in good hands.

What Did Barbara Walters’ Interview with the Jonas Brothers Reveal?

Barbara Walters interviewed The Jonas Brothers om February 22, 2009 for “The Barbara Walters Special” on ABC on Oscar Night. What did her interview reveal about America’s most popular singing siblings?

Spring Break

For the break, I decided to take a few SCA friends up to Santa Barbara to go wine tasting a la Sideways the movie. We ended up going to only two Sideways destinations: Solvang Restaurant, home of the abaelskivers, and Kalyra Winery, an Australian themed winery where Jack falls in love with Stephanie. We also went to Rideau Winery, which was a New Orleans themed winery, whose customer service was horrific (they wouldn’t let us keep the glass, like in other wineries) and where their food was better tasting than some of their wines. We finished our wine tour at Alisal Cellar, a nice underground alcove away from the dehydrating sun. Heeding recommendations, we drove to Santa Barbara to eat at a small French restaurant called Petit Valentien, possibly the best deal in town with $18 entrees and under $10 appetizers. You could eat frog legs here!

That trip was the highlight of my spring break. Unfortunately after that day, it’s been bad news after bad news. Without going into too much detail, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around what happened while trying to finish my edit for my first project. It’s hard to focus when my mind and heart is elsewhere. Logistically, I’m having to take care of my younger sibling while everything gets straightened out so once school starts in two days, I have to take on a few more responsibilities. My birthday is around the corner but this year I just don’t feel up to celebrating the way I did last year. It’s just one of those years that has pendulum-like ups and downs and I just want to NOT feel, if that makes any sense.

what does discipleship look like: 2

I first want to appologize for not posting this more promptly. Grace and I have been on the road for 2 weeks now and I have not had internet access. So right now I am sitting in the prayer room here in KC and have a brief moment to bring up some questions and thoughts. I hope that this proves fruitful in our lives. I thank all of you for you love and commitment unto the Lord.

Jesus said… “Go and make disciples. Teach them all things”

my first thought is what is “all things” and are we teaching “all things” in our churches.

I look at the ministry of Jesus, God incarnate and I ask what did Jesus do? Why did He do the things He did? What did His disciples do? Why did the do the things they did?

Jesus: Preaching the Kingdom, Casting out evil spirits, healing the sick

disciples: Preaching the Kingdom, casting out evil spirits, healing the sick

This is what His disciples did because this is what He taught them, and what He told them to do.

I see that there is great opposition in the western church when addressing these areas of faith, but I fear that the church in the west is not functioning as Jesus declared we are to be.

We have the most churches, seminaries, teachers, etc… here in the west, but we do not have one single transformed community. We have gathered knowledge, but we have yet to encounter on a corporate level the TRUE KNOWLEDGE of GOD that leads us into an encounter with the eternal One.

It is my desire with these posts to stir up a conversation of brothers and sisters who realize that something isn’t right and we must get back to the gospel that Jesus came to preach. The gospel of the Kingdom.

I pray that we would not be a people who “deny the power of God” (2 Timothy 3.1-5) but that we would be a people who desire to see God come in His glory and heal our land. That we would be a people who submit ourselves to His word and His Spirit. That we would see the greatness of His power released in our lives and in our land.

God reveal to us Your heart in the precious name of Jesus we ask… lead us into truth.

Welcome to Lyall Chittleborough’s site. I think I am the only person of this name, in the world, but let me make clear that I am the bloke with literary and artistic interests who has waltzed much of his life in South Australia as a lecturer and teacher in the field of English literature. I now reside on a broad acre residential forest property in the delightful Adelaide Hills of South Australia.

I am still building this site and intend to offer a number of services related to my personal competences, which though developed through considerable experience are in need of exercise.

At present it is proposed to offer:

a. Literary Counsel service

This is for aspiring authors.  As a published author, I can offer suggestions as to how your typescript might be enhanced, increasing the likelihood of it being acceptable to publishers.

b.  I also intend to offer an Occasional Verse writing service for people who wish to give significant celebration to somebody or some event which warrants more than a conventional recognition.  This will involve consultation regarding the person or event which is to be celebrated in verse so that the poem can be a unique endorsement.

c.  I also wish to showcase photographic products which will be utilitarian  articles which feature attractive examples of my photographic artistry.  Currently there are Table mats for sale at Gallery M in Marion South Australia but I wish to make them available through this site.

d.  A gallery of my paintings and photographic work will also be displayed.

e.  Book sales of my two novels, DISSENT and ANNO HOMINIS - The Age of Humanity, poetry and other works  will be promoted through the limited presentation of sample chapters and representative selections.

Contact me if you are interested in any of these areas.

zircon@senet.com.au

Australia Advertises the 'Best Job Ever'

A rant I forgot to post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufsl5p8gtIM

Once again, Pat Buchanan demonstrates that he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about when it comes to race. While there are plenty of items here to criticize Buchanan (and in many cases, general white thinking on race and this country), Dyson addresses a lot of them, albeit while suffering from technical glitches in the transmission of his rejoinders. However, near the end, Buchanan starts saying things to the effect of “America is the best country for black people”.

Well, I’m not going to argue with that. Dyson doesn’t really notice it, but I think this statement highlights what is probably the biggest issue black people will continue to have with Whites for years to come. This statement perfectly captures a deep misunderstanding of the current state of race relations and demonstrates that people just don’t understand what exactly is injust about racism.

Perhaps I can illustrate the problem with this example. Buchanan is essentially saying, for black people, you can either go elsewhere (other than America) which is pretty bad for you, or come here (America) which is just bad. Since America is just bad, we are the best, because everywhere else is pretty bad. Given that we are the best, black people should be happy and focus on working out their problems themselves, because the rest of us (whites) no longer have anything to self correct.

You can see the problem here. Black people DEMAND equality to whites. We don’t want to live somewhere that is the “best in the world” for US. We want to live somewhere that is the best in the world. We are not satisfied with the status quo. We want to have status in America, be treated in America, have opportunity in America, equal to a white person. We are not satisfied with having status, treatment, and opportunity that is better here than anywhere else. That’s not good enough. Because it doesn’t take much to see that as much as white people “treat us nicely here in America”, they still treat themselves much better.

It is so obvious to me what that simple sentence conveys and it is amazing that Buchanan can say it and it not occur to him what it means. Perhaps it’s because I’m black. . . I guess there are some things that will continue to boggle my mind. All this being said, I commend Buchanan for the courage to speak out the way he does. (*note, I don’t quite like the title of that video. I don’t think Buchanan is racist, I think if I could have a day to talk with him, we could clear up a lot of things). Because by doing so, he educates the rest of us on what whites are missing when blacks talk about racism and our struggles and problems within the community and by understanding that disconnect, we can work towards having a more fruitful discussion between blacks and whites.

PINAYspeak Announcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kamalayan Kollective presents

PINAYSPEAK: DIALOGUES FOR ACTION AND HEALING

SAN DIEGO, California – March 9, 2009 – Kamalayan Kollective presents PINAYSPEAK: DIALOGUES FOR ACTION AND HEALING, a one-day community-building intensive for self-identified Pinays and their allies. PINAYspeak will be hosted at the University of California, San Diego Cross-Cultural Center on Saturday, April 25, 2009.

Named after our Pinay-created space for personal growth, empowerment and dialogue, PINAYspeak will include workshop sessions, speakers and dialogues in a community-centered effort to explore and narrate the stories and experiences of Pinays. Topics will include but are not limited to: the ideology of Pinayism; the intersections of Pinay experience with relationships, poverty, sexism, lesbianism, homophobia, militarism, imperialism; and Pinay motherhood. Through various ways of knowing and sharing, both critically and creatively, attendees will engage in the artistic, the spiritual, and the material as ways of grounding, understanding, reclaiming, and constructing new language for the Pinay’s social reality.

PINAYspeak: DIALOGUES FOR ACTION AND HEALING

Date and Time: Saturday, April 25, 2009; 9:30AM – 6:00PM

Location: University of California, San Diego Cross-Cultural Center, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093

Fees: Free Admission and Free Parking