Gruesome Accident!

I was out in the bush at a barBQ today playing a game of tennis... then I heard a bang and children screaming!! I ran out to the road and see children crying, full of blood being pulled out of a small car. The car crossed a road and did not realize that a motorbike was passing... it was a 100Km/h road!! The biker smashed into the side of the car and flew meters into the air. I know it is gruesome, but when I went to see him I nearly fainted... his leg was almost off... pieces of bone along the street!!! almost dead... A horrible site to see. One of the children in the car was all blood, but the paramedics (which arrived after about 10 minutes in ambulances and helicopters) did not really worry about her! Man.... Makes you think!!

Ahhhhhhh!

I had a fantastic 3 days in Melbourne. I went to visit a few friends there and had a good, relaxing time. It was a long, enjoyable drive there and back (2 hours each drive at 110 Km/hr). After spending 2 hours at an impressively equipped gym there with some friends I attended a Pentecostal church service last night - what a fantastic experience!!! Beautiful singing and worship, and a great tattoo-covered preacher! I think I have so much to learn from these guys!! This morning I woke up to a healthy, fat-free bacon and poached egg breakfast, and after visiting a mega shopping mall I headed back home to Bendigo!

Off to Melbourne!

Thanks for the video feedback!! Its been a busy few days at Catholic College. I'm now soon off for a great adventure. I'm driving solo to Melbourne to visit a few Maltese friends for a few days. I'm excited... need to prepare a good music compilation, sit back, chill and enjoy the riiiide!!

New Music Video!

Here is a home-made music video of my latest single "What do you say?" compiled by a seminarian in Malta... please leave your feedback on the comments link below!

Today and tomorrow are very special days... my dad's and my bro's birthdays!! Happy Birthday to both of you!!!

Fruit Salad

Sunday... the busiest day for the Church!! Woke up, had breakfast, went to pray then to mass. This afternoon we had our 4th youth meeting which went really well! God is good!!

In between these things I decided to make a simple fruit salad:)

1. 2 Grapefruits (1 chopped up, one squeezed)
2. 3 Oranges (2 chopped and one squeezed)
3. 4 Apples (chopped)
4. Gin (1/4 of a glass poured evenly over fruit)
5. Mix well and put in fridge for a few hours before serving with a bit of fresh yoghurt - it should serve 3 to 4 people!!

Divine!!

More Music Downloads!

Ok... So here is something new!! A new and easy way to pay-per-download! You can now download my latest singles for a few cents - including one never-heard-before song called "Glory to You". Just click HERE or on the pic, then once on the page click on 'Music'! This may soon replace the need to produce CD's ;)

Had a good relaxing day... most of it spent organizing upcoming meetings and having Skype conversations with some of my friends (in Canada, USA and Malta), then I went to a family BarBQ.... fantastic company and food! I'm now off to get some sleeeeeeep!!

Awesome!

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome! This is the only word I can use to describe the last few days. Youth meetings over the weekend, working with teens at Catholic College and yesterday on a whole-day retreat with 17 year-old College guys and gals and today giving communion to old people with dementia... what a lovely bunch of people. Honestly, this experience here in Australia is giving me a love for humanity!

On a High!!

What an incredible day! After spending the day with the bishop yesterday I woke up for work today. I animated 3 classes today - speaking for 3 full-lectures of 75 minutes each. I spoke, I acted, I danced and I sang! I was being fed by their energy and enthusiasm and just loved it. I'm still on a high!! Woah!!! After the lessons I went fishing with some of the students... in their break they are given the option of fishing in the nearby lake/dam. Nice!! After that I had 3 meetings!! Tomorrow I have a day retreat with the students.

Listen to the songs!

You can now listen to my latest song What do You Say, and other tracks online at PureVolume.com. I'll soon have my previous album More of You available for pay-per-download!!

I went for a long drive today... just to relax after spending the morning recording a new song I wrote for a Melbourne gig!! More 'bout that a little later tho!! I'll be going for another long drive tomorrow (3 hours), for a funeral with the bishop.

Free Hugs!!

Saw this Video... Made me smile!!

It's a Seminarian's Life!!

Today was easy to handle... chilled administrative work, then a bit of shopping, cooked some extravagant omelets (which looked horrible) for me and Fr Alex (vice parish priest), then baked some bread (I took a picture of it-> and 'photoshopped' it a little). [Yesterday I also cooked a Mediterranean pasta for us.] Then I went to mass and was told I had to play and sing!! I was unprepared... and I have to be prepared here as they sang ancient hymns and I donno many of them. But three courageous young girls and one guy came to the rescue. I sang and played along with them. After that I went out for a piping-hot pepperoni pizza (notice alliteration) and now I am stuffed and ready to laze by the TV!! It's a seminarian's life!!!

Heatwave!!

Its been a hot tow days. From summer in Malta to a hot, dry summer here. The people are a little anxious at the beginning of the summer because of the drought! The rainfall here has been well below average for the last 10 years. With not enough water to feed the animals, and no water to put out the increasing number of bush fires you can't really blame them!!

Here is an image of today's local newspaper ->

First Day 'Teaching'!

This was my first day at Catholic College. I went to five classes to introduce myself and answer questions about the things I said... and translate some phrases to Maltese for their entertainment. The age group was from 13 to 16 year old boys and girls. I loved it, though because it was so hot today I got a tad tired. After College I rested for 1/2 and hour and went to the gym and then had a meeting. I'm now off to do some night-time grocery shopping with Joe (Parish Priest).

Cruising!

It was a hot, sunny Australian day which I spent cruising on the Murray River on a steam boat with the elderly people of the parish!! I came back feeling totally exhausted, but it was worth the while. It's as though I stepped into history for a day.

Tomorrow will be my first day at Catholic College... I am nervous and excited at the same time!! After that I have a meeting to plan the next Teen Talk (Sunday's youth group) meeting.

All Dressed Up!!

I had a good, relaxing day yesterday!! Woke up late and then chilled out catching up with little nothings. Today... Responded to some urgent emails and then attended a funeral of a 99 and 1/2 year old man. The parishioners were impressed to see me in my cassock (pic). After that I attended a few long meetings... one at the Catholic College, and the other was a finance meeting here at the parish. It's amazing how organized and professional these guys are!

Tomorrow I will be going on a bus tour to a village a few hours away where we will be taking a trip on a steam boat... will try take a few good pics!!

A Good Day!

This was a good day. A very good day!! I played a song (Only By Grace) at a few masses in the bush (Countryside) and then played at a meal for a group of 60 people. After that I prepared the last few things for the youth meeting and at 4:45pm the youth started arriving to our pre-meeting jamming session. We were 13 in all - thank God... a few more than the last week! The meeting went really well!

Now I'm off to watch my Sunday movie with the priests in the house... I love Sunday nights! Tomorrow I will sleep in and relax!!

CD Marketing!!

Today saw the unofficial launch of my CD Closer here in Australia. I think I make the same mistake over and over. I sing a song that is not on the CD (I Surrender) during a public 'performance' and that is the song that people want!!! What to do? I think I will get the song they want out as a single. I have so much to learn about performance and CD marketing!!

The day went well... had lunch with the bishop before getting lost with the car. I have been writing a few songs lately too... I am riding a muse-wave at the moment. I will be beginning work teaching at Catholic College twice a week as of next Thursday... yet another exciting venture.

New Article!

Another jam-packed day! Meetings, a lovely Chinese meal in a beautiful country house and more meetings... then a workout at the gym, and another meeting after that. The last meeting was interesting - a group of 8 people meet with me every 5 weeks to give me feedback, making sure I am living up to he Papal document Pastores Dabo Vobis on my work here and support wherever I need.

I added a new article called "Do it Scared!" to the articles section of my website. Here I write about not letting fear stop you from reaching for your dreams.

Field Trip!

Thank God for medicine!! I feel much better today, though I need alot of sleep. Today was the feast of St Francis, so I went to one of the two parish schools here for the blessing of the animals... they brought their pets to school to get them blessed;) After that I went around the classes giving the kids some lollies (Australian terminology for 'sweets'). I sang the song of St Francis for them - Make me a channel of your peace. In the afternoon I went to a mega agricultural tradefair with a priest of the diocese... It was HUGE!!! Tractors as big as buildings (pic), massive amounts of animals and shearing shows (ref to 3rd pic of naked sheep). Some of the surrounding fields were converted into a runway for the farmers with private planes! Wow... nothing like the traditional Maltese farmer!! After that I went to a youth group in the city - loved it!!

Under the Weather!

I was a bit under the whether today... one of those days when you wake up tired... and with a bit of a cold. The day was busy nonetheless!! I began my day with my daily prayer time, went to the city centre to meet my Aussy spiritual director/confessor, then off to visit the Poor Clares (Klarissi) nuns, whose monastery is close by. Some administrative work after that (Youth meeting e-mails and planning), and then I rested and went cycling. I was temporarily re-united with my bicycle for some exercise. Going to have some supper now and then off for an early night!!!!!

H2O Songwriting!

Monday... a relaxing day for me. I spent most of this day in my room writing and recording a song for next weeks Y4J H2O weekend. I used a new midi Keyboard console I just bought to add some orchestration to the song. After resting in the afternoon I went to the gym and then went out to a pub for supper with some of the local priests - I was the driver for the evening! After supper we had some coffee and watched 2 episodes of Fawlty Towers. I'm now off to sleep... a busy week ahead!

Satisfying!

What an intense 2 days! Meetings, masses, meals, driving around! I loved it... The youth meeting went great... 9 people turned up which is great!! We sang, ate and discussed. Thank God... the nerves I had before and during this meeting were enough to kill me, but as usual, I can now see that it was just unnecessary tension. God sent two angels (Ronda and Marcia) to help out! The bishop called on my mobile during the meeting... that was cool!

Yesterday I met with a Bendigo seminarian Jake (pic). He a great guy. I had heard so much about him, as he worked in this parish before me. I am now off on a well-deserved rest to watch the movie Poseidon.