Photos: Intersection - Toulouse/France - Sep 2009

Victor Hugo Markets - Toulouse/France - Sep 2009

Photos: Intersection 2 - Brussels/Belgium - Sep 2009

Intersection - Brussels/Belgium - Sep 2009
Another Intersection photo. A variation of this. Enjoy the red poles as well as the people (who look like the poles) waiting at the pedestrian crossing.

RPA Tribute to the late Professor Chris O'Brien

RPA Tribute to the late Professor Chris O'Brien (Now available from here)
Professor Chris O'Brien passed away on Thursday evening, 4th June 2009. This tribute is from the conclusion of the RPA episode which aired on Wednesday evening, 10th June on the Nine Network.

Jenny and I watched this when it aired on RPA on Wed 10 Jun 2010. Jenny that afternoon had received a phone call confirming her suspicions that she had a brain tumor. She rang me at work to tell me and I quietly shed tears as she explained the details to me. We all knew this was going to be different. It was the progression of the cancer that she feared most.

Joanne was not able to watch this episode with us - I can't remember why - but I had it recorded on my PVR, and Jenny and I thought we would play it to her at some stage.

Late the next day we saw Jodi (Jenny's Oncologist) in a corridor meeting at the St George Cancer Center. She had the brain scans and we saw a large tumor on the left side of Jenny's brain.

Jenny and Jodi - St George Private Hospital - Mon 22 Jun 2009
Things progressed quickly from there and on Wed 17 Jun 2009 Dr Davies performed a 4 hour operation at the St George Private Hospital to remove the tumor. Six days later on Tue 23 Jun 2009, a day before Jenny was scheduled to return home, her heart failed and we almost lost her there.

The next six days were very difficult and Jenny was unable to move by herself. This resulted in a significant build up of fuild in her lungs. I was called to the Hospital at 9:15am on Tue 30 Jun 2009. All I was told was to "hurry". I rang David to tell him that he should call Joanne at School and get her to come to the Hospital as quickily as she could. As I approached the ICU, I thought I needed to call Jodi, Jenny's Oncologist. No need to, as I rounded the corner, I could see Jodie and when I saw her I knew what had happened. She hugged me with tears in her eyes and told me that Jenny had passed away - Jenny's lungs had failed from a massive pulmonary hemorrhage and she left us at 9:16am on Tue 30 Jun 2009.

I said to Jodi I had not expected it to end this way. For some time I had thought we would have Jenny at home for a final few months of caring for her as she quietly left us - just as Jenny and Joanne had done with their mother. Jodie told me you can never tell how it will end and that for Jenny "it started with the lungs and ended with the lungs".

Though Jenny never met Chris O'Brien face to face, they were rather well connected in many ways, not just through their cancers. Jenny was the Sutherland Shire Relay for Life Survivor Representative in 2007 and she spoke to a large crowd at the Candle Ceremony on the day of the Relay.

Relay for Life 2007 - Jenny - Survivor Representative - Sylvania Waters - Sat 28 Apr 2007 (picasa)
Geoff, Jenny, Grace, Lynn, Betty, Thomas, Grant, Joanne and David - Relay for Life 2007 - Jenny - Survivor Representative - Sylvania Waters - Sat 28 Apr 2007 (picasa)
The next year, Chris O'Brien was the Survivor Representative and it was his turn to speak at the Candle Ceremony. We almost got a photo with him after his talk, but he was in a dinner suit and had to rush off to a Charlie Teo Foundation (Cure for Life Foundation) Dinner.

The last talk Jenny gave was on the 1 April 2009 at the Riverview School in Lane Cove. The talk was given to approximately 200 Year 9 and 10 boys. They were mesmerised and inspired by her story of hope, courage and strength. Jenny was also touched by the fact that the guest speaker they had a month earlier was Dr Chris O'Brien, a person she felt quite connected with. He made sense to her through his own public journey with cancer.

Geoff, Jenny and Joanne - Riverview School - Wed 01 Apr 2009
On Fri 3 Jul 2009, as Joanne and I readied ourselves for Jenny's Funeral on Mon 6 Jul 2009, we found a spare moment and I played this video for Joanne to finaly watch. It was a moving moment.

Geoff and Joanne - Kirrawee - Fri 03 Jul 2009

Photos: Intersection - Brussels/Belgium - Sep 2009

Intersection - Brussels/Belgium - Sep 2009
Another Intersection photo. Saw the Red poles first and then got really lucky with a red bike passing by within moments.

Any Given Sunday - Inch By Inch Speech by Al Pacino

Al Pacino's Inch By Inch speech from Any Given Sunday
The background music is "Peace", by Paul Kelly, on Soundings in Film

One of my team mates from Prague 2009 had this on his Notebook. Before we got off the Bus at the race site for the 200m races, he played this to the Team. I enjoyed it and it seemed to do the trick. Somehow we squirmed into 3rd place in the final for a completely unexpected Bronze. Thanks Rick. Just a memory from Prague 2009.

Rick Lambe and Gary Quartermain - Senior Open 200m Final Presentation - Racice/Prague - Fri 29 Aug 2009
Inch By Inch Speech by Al Pacino

I don't know what to say really.
Three minutes
to the biggest battle of our professional lives
all comes down to today.
Either
we heal
as a team
or we are going to crumble.
Inch by inch
play by play
till we're finished.
We are in hell right now, gentlemen
believe me
and
we can stay here
and get the sh*t kicked out of us
or
we can fight our way
back into the light.
We can climb out of hell.
One inch, at a time.

Now I can't do it for you.
I'm too old.
I look around and I see these young faces
and I think
I mean
I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make.
I uh....
I pissed away all my money
believe it or not.
I chased off
anyone who has ever loved me.
And lately,
I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror.

You know when you get old in life
things get taken from you.
That's, that's part of life.
But,
you only learn that when you start losing stuff.
You find out that life is just a game of inches.
So is football.
Because in either game
life or football
the margin for error is so small.
I mean
one half step too late or to early
you don't quite make it.
One half second too slow or too fast
and you don't quite catch it.
The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They are in ever break of the game
every minute, every second.

On this team, we fight for that inch
On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us
to pieces for that inch.
We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch.
Cause we know
when we add up all those inches
that's going to make the f*ing difference
between WINNING and LOSING
between LIVING and DYING.

I'll tell you this
in any fight
it is the guy who is willing to die
who is going to win that inch.
And I know
if I am going to have any life anymore
it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch
because that is what LIVING is.
The six inches in front of your face.

Now I can't make you do it.
You gotta look at the guy next to you.
Look into his eyes.
Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you.
You are going to see a guy
who will sacrifice himself for this team
because he knows when it comes down to it,
you are gonna do the same thing for him.

That's a team, gentlemen
and either we heal now, as a team,
or we will die as individuals.
That's football guys.
That's all it is.
Now, whattaya gonna do?

Macau 2010: Intention and Reflection

Intention & Reflection by Drew Ginn (7 May 2007)

What does it mean to have conscious intent?

To be fully engaged and intentionally focused is a critical ingredient for improving performance.

Maintaining a clear focus when everything becomes hazy with fatigue and stress is certainly some thing I practice.

It is something that I work on while engaged in any activity, in fact that is the greatest part you can practice it any time.

Being clear about what, how and why creates a purposeful performance and intention is that capacity to transfer thought in to action.

It is easy to switch off and go through the motions, but to stay present and aware is a challenge, at least initially.

That's why I love training by myself sometimes, it enables me to practice finding that clarity and to apply thought or mental image to action.

Reflection is important to ensure that what you intent is realised and it is upon reflection that insights are gained about how to improve each session, each stroke, each race and each season.

Clear intention is like a laser. It penetrates through the power of unity. A diffused athlete is more likely to under perform than an athlete who is clear, driven and focused.

Another blog post that I keep coming back to read.

Now that we are back from Macau, it is a good time to reflect on what was achieved and how it was done ..

CCWC Mixed 500m Final (Video Screen) - Pacific Dragons/Lane 2 - Macau/China- Sat 31 Jul 2010
Premier Mixed 500m Final - Macau/China - Sat 31 Jul 2010
CCWC Mixed 500m Final - Pacific Dragons - Macau/China- Sat 31 Jul 2010
Premier Mixed 500m Medal Presentation - Pacific Dragons/World Champions - Sun 01 Aug 2010
Pacific Dragons Premier Mixed 500m Team - Back (l-r) Geoff Eldridge, Norman Joe, Rachel Mosen, Kerry Davenport, Darren Ma, Todd Skeels, Craig Stewart, Justin Spake, Michal Hrcka, Suzy Kong, Annett Happich, Mark Hall, Lisa Green, Stuart Young, Toby Wilson, Graeme Bacon Front (l-r) Michelle Ng, Helen Papin, Christian Happich, Matt Spies, Michelle Hone, Nicola Frowen, Di Morgan, Paul Smith, Christophe Pistoni, Julia Ryall, Kathaleen Burrows - Macau/China - Sun 01 Aug 2010

Photos: Intersection - Shanghai - May 2010

Intersection - Shanghai - May 2010
Just another intersection photo. Could say there are some Jeffrey Smart influences in seeing this photo. Was firstly, drawn in by the Red Car and Front Red Sign. Then was pleased to see the receding Red Signs as well as the Blue Signs. All came together nicely. The most complicated version of the colour theme photos I have posted so far.

Another and closer view ..

Intersection/Another view - Shanghai - May 2010