As I mentioned recently Merril and I went to the movies to see “Hoppers” the latest Pixar film. 
I was so glad to see Pixar back at the movies rather than streaming on a service I have no intention of getting.  Because of where they were I have missed a heap of Pixar releases in recent times.
I admit I am a great fan of their movies.  I would not miss anything when they came out at the movies.  For many years they had not had a flop.  I loved Cars, Finding Nemo, Toy Story 3, Wally. 
Apparently Hoppers cost about $150 million to make and had made over $330 million at the box office.  It had a “like” rating of 94% of both the critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes
Hoppers basically sees them back in form again.  I read a quote recently that said, “perhaps imagination is just intelligence having fun.”  To me these movies are kid’s stories of great imagination incredibly well done.  Another quote regarding imagination I read said, “one of the virtues of being very young is you don’t let the facts get in the way of your imagination.” It is said the best sort of kid’s movies entertain adults and kids alike.  To me Pixar movies are continually like that.
Going to the movies was a different experience than I have known. Though the emptiness of the session was not unknown.  But this was a first. Merril and I were the only ones at the session.  We had looked on-line and a few others had booked but for the actual session Merril and I were the only ones there.
Getting our ticket was different to what I have known too.  There were no people to buy tickets from.  Instead, we interacted with a machine to purchase our tickets.  Maybe that is the way of the future but people are definitely more interesting.
All in all it was like the great escape. No matter how big tv screens get I will always enjoy the experience of the big screen and sharing it with other people.  Ok so the other people were missing for Merril and I but we loved being there.

Unbelievable.  I read a term this morning I really like.  It was “Rumours of another world.”  I thought I would look up who said it.  Turns out it is the title of a book by a guy called Philip Yancy that got over four stars in “Goodreads”.  It makes me want to get the book and read it.
A site called Grokipedia contained a synopsis of the book. The paragraph I really related to was “Yancey invites readers to tune into "rumours of another world"—subtle hints of the transcendent embedded in ordinary life—and promises that greater awareness of these signs can lead to a transformed existence marked by beauty, purpose, freedom, and authentic faith. The book unfolds across three broad parts, which explore the missing clues to the supernatural in the natural world, the signs of disorder as evidence of a fractured yet meaningful reality, and the practical challenge of living in alignment with both worlds simultaneously.
Why I really liked what I read there is because it is my approach and what I look for in what is around me.  I am incredibly fond of quoting a line from a song that says, “I’m not one who’s got it all in place telling you what you should do, I’m just one ol hungry beggar showing you where I found food.”
Why something like that stands out to me big time is I have no desire to come across as dogmatic.  I am on a search like most I know and am happy to explore “rumours of another world.”  What I have found sustains me and I share it not as something to force down a throat, but as something another is safe to partake of if they choose.
I guess it is why I like the phrase from another song (and perhaps Easter is the most appropriate time to share religious images) “on the altar of a common place, I find the glory there.”
My faith to me cannot be only a studiously studied thing accessible only to intelligentsia.  It needs to be something accessible and appropriate to all - from the most knowlegible to what many regard as the simpleton (I see myself as somewhere in between both).
It is why at times I can be gardening or even washing up, and I have a real sense of another world.  My heart skips a beat and though, as is stated above, the world still is a “fractured yet meaningful reality,” I glimpse something I have found to be true and want more of.
 

Here we are on Sunday again.  Easter Sunday.  We have a baptism this morning.  Three people. I will be in the pool for one of them.
Yesterday afternoon Merril and I assisted someone setting up the pool.  I sure am glad they knew what they were doing.  I felt a bit bad with them doing what they did.  They go to hospital regularly and get treatment.  But he is our “MacGyver.”  That was his nickname in the army.  He is good at doing lots of things.  He built a whole room for people to use at his place.  I have been there and it is great and has air conditioning and all.
I reckon I am a great helper.  I will assist big time when I know what to do.  I make sure  the environment is kept tidy as we go.  I reckon my gifting is that rather than being the one who does the carpentry or whatever work.  I am there to make the job easier.
It can be sort of embarrassing having Merril really good at doing carpentry type work.  One of her favourite subjects at school was metal work.  She really looks into things as to how they work and does it.
Good for me though.  Merril often does stuff behind the scenes which ensures things work and I do what I need to on the back of that.  I reckon we make a good team.  In fact we call ourselves “team Kuskie.”  That is not when we are calling ourselves the “Dodgy Brothers.”
We did that yesterday afternoon.  In the morning we went to a mate that is at a market who makes burgers.  He and his wife do it and they had a helper yesterday.  Ok they were in a New Zealand rugby jersey and I was in a Cowboys shirt but all was good.  No fights broke out.  Another friend was making coffee and has a coffee van.  They had help as well and the coffee was exceptional.
When we came home, we started clearing the shed.  We have had it to do for so long and we actually made a start yesterday.  I inherited many of dad’s tools (he was manager of a timber yard)  Merril says they would have been good for building the ark.  I am hoping to do heaps of clearing what we will never use on Easter Monday.
But we need to do today first.  There is the baptism and then dismantling the pool. All in a days activities.  I think when we get home today it will be a veg until tomorrow.