The Home of DingoPop

I dont know what is so great about this place.. i hope you can tell me..

The role of The Joker was seriously played marvelously well by this man. From playing roles such as a young peasant wanting to follow his dream in becoming a knight - Sir William Thatcher/Ulrich von Lichtenstein (A Knight's Tale - 2001), to this gay boy - Ennis Del Mar (Brokeback Mountain - 2005), to this fabled romantic man branded a fornicator and love machine - (Casanova - 2005), I really think he couldnt have pulled off being The Joker. Now i say, give him an Oscar!!

PILGRIMS & ATTENDANCE

• 70,000 international pilgrims took part in Days of the Diocese throughout Australia during the week before WYD08
• 150,000 attended the Opening Mass at Barangaroo and CBD sites
• In excess of 400,000 people attended the Final Mass at Southern Cross Precinct
• 500,000 people came out to welcome His Holiness on Thursday 17 July on the Boat-a-cade, Official Arrival at Barangaroo and Motorcade
• 223,000 people registered for pilgrim services during WYD08 (110,000 international pilgrims + 113,000 local pilgrims)
• Over 170 nations were represented at World Youth Day Sydney 2008
• 168 international flags took part in the Procession of Flags at the WYD08 Opening Mass

AUDIENCE

• WYD08 events were watched live by an estimated international TV audience of 500 million, with TV and internet audiences combined reaching 1 billion
• XT3.com, the WYD08 official online social networking site, is expected to attract 225,000 pilgrims as a result of the event
• The World Youth Day website received over 500,000 unique users from Saturday 12 July to Sunday 20th July with the biggest spike in hits occurring Thursday 17th July.
• WYD08 online streaming received over 250,000 visits during the event period, watching events live all around the world
• Top countries watching online streaming included USA, UK, Italy, Canada, Spain and Germany
• There were 2,000 accredited media for WYD08

ACTIVITIES

• 450 Youth Festival events took place during the week from Tuesday to Sunday in over 100 venues
• 30 large national gatherings took place during WYD08
• 134 international pilgrims from 58 countries were part of the International Liturgy Group (ILG), as well as a representative from each Australian State and Territory. The ILG undertook the main duties of the liturgies including readings, offertory procession, altar servers, testimonials, flag bearers.
• In Terrey Hills, more than 350 cardinals and bishops from overseas enjoyed a lunch hosted by the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell.
• An average of 2,500 pilgrims walked through the Vocations Expo every hour
• Catechesis was delivered at 235 locations across Sydney in 29 different languages
• The WYD08 Choir consisted of 300 members, the WYD08 Orchestra was an 80 piece orchestra
• 1,000 priests heard confession during the WYD08 week

JOURNEY OF THE CROSS AND ICON

• Once the Journey of the Cross and Icon reached Wollongong for the 15 Day walk, it had travelled nearly 80,000km around Australia
• The Cross and Icon visited over 400 Australian communities during the 12 month pilgrimage around Australia
• Nearly 400,000 people touched the Cross throughout Australia
• The WYD Cross is 3.8m high and 1.75m wide, weighing some 40 kilograms
• The WYD Icon is 118cm high and 79cm wide, weighing some 15 kilogram
• 4,000 pilgrims took part in the final day of the Journey of the Cross and Icon on Monday 14th July when it travelled on a Manly Ferry before being walked through central Sydney

PILGRIM SERVICES

• 6,000 blankets were donated by Qantas to pilgrims from across Oceania
• 37 lucky Burmese pilgrims overcame VISA difficulties to finally make it to Sydney for WYD08
• At the WYD Big Aussie BBQ, 220,000 slices of bread were consumed ? if laid end to end, it would cover the Sydney Harbour Bridge 21 times
• 100,000 pilgrims slept in 400 schools and parishes
• Over 12,000 pilgrims stayed in Sydney Olympic Park throughout the week
• 40,000 were billeted as part of the WYD08 HomeStay program

PAPAL FACTS

• The Pope's flight to Sydney took 19 hours and 45 minutes
• The Pope's flight home will take 21 hours
• From Rome the flight travelled a total distance of 16,500 kilometres
• The Pope will fly back to Rome on a Qantas flight, stopping off Darwin for a brief refuelling
• The Pope sent six daily inspirational text messages
• The Pope met six native Australian animals from Taronga Zoo when in Kenthurst - a wallaby, koala, python, lizard, baby crocodile and an echidna
• 12 lucky young people lunched with the Pope on Friday 18 July. This included Australians Craig Ashby from Sydney and Teresa Wilson from Melbourne
• 24 people were confirmed by the Pope at the Final Mass including 14 young Australians and 10 international young people
• The Pope lunched with 50 current and retired Australian Bishops in St Mary?s Cathedral House
• The Pope kissed four small children during his Motorcades

VOLUNTEERS

• 8,000 WYD08 volunteers assisted during WYD08
• His Holiness held a special event to specifically thank the volunteers at the Domain prior to his departure

CLERGY

• There were 4,000 priests and deacons, 420 Bishops, 26 Cardinals and one Pope present at WYD08
• 500 special WYD08 chasubles for the Bishops and Cardinals were made
• 4,000 stoles were made for the priests
• 1.1 million communion hosts were made for the WYD08 Masses

FOOD

• 25 million food items were ordered for WYD08
• 3.6 million meals were distributed across approximately 400 venues during the week
• 215,000 meat pies, 360,000 lamingtons and 100,000 litres of Dairy Farmers Milk were consumed

SERVICES

• 400,000 people attended the Final Mass at Randwick Racecourse and Centennial Park
• 235,000 faithful attended the night time Vigil at Randwick Racecourse.
• Over 200,000 pilgrims camped at Randwick Racecourse overnight in anticipation of the Final Mass
• 232,000 candles were used during WYD08
• 100 actors took part in the Stations of the Cross performance
• 4000 toilets were in use at the Southern Cross Precinct

so many mixed emotions.. depressed.. sad.. upset.. happy.. content.. excited.. hmmmmm.... *scratches head*

Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at the church, the
Pastor and his eleven year old son would go out into their town and hand out Gospel Tracts.

This particular Sunday
afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go to the
streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside, as well as pouring
down rain.
The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, 'OK, dad, I'm ready.'

His Pastor dad asked, 'Ready for what?'

Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go out.' Dad
responds, 'Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring down rain.'

The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, 'But Dad, aren't people still going to Hell, even though it's raining?'

Dad answers, 'Son, I am not going out in this weather.' Despondently, the boy asks, 'Dad, can I go? Please?'

His father hesitated for a moment then said, 'Son, you can go. Here are the tracts, be careful son.'

'Thanks Dad!'

And with that, he was off and out into the rain. his eleven year old boy walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel Tract.

After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet and down to his VERY LAST TRACT. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a tract to, but the streets were totally deserted.

Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell, but nobody answered. He rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but still no answer.

Finally, this eleven year old trooper turned to leave, but something stopped him. Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch! He rang again and this time the door slowly opened. Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly asked, 'What can I do for you, son?' With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that *JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU* and I came to give you my very last Gospel Tract which will tell you all about JESUS and His great LOVE.'

With that, he handed her his last tract and turned to leave. She called to him as he departed. 'Thank you, son! And God Bless You!'

Well, the following Sunday morning in church Pastor Dad was in the pulpit. As the service began, he asked, 'Does anybody have any testimony or want to say anything?'

Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her feet. As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her face, 'No one in this church knows me. I've never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband passed on some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart that I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live.

So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof, then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted I was about to leapoff, when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, 'I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.' I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly. I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this be? Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me.' I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.

When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes, for there on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you! The words that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead, TO LEAP TO LIFE as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU.' Then he gave me this Gospel Tract that I now hold in my hand.

As the little angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel Tract. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more.

You see---I am now a Happy Child of the KING. Since the address of your church was on the back of this Gospel Tract, I have come here to personally say THANK YOU to God's little angel who came just in the nick of time and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in hell.'

There was not a dry eye in the church. And as shouts of praise and honor to THE KING resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was seated. He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Probably no church has had a more glorious moment, and probably this universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love & honor for his son. Except for One!

Our Father also allowed His Son to go out into a cold and dark world. He received His Son back with joy unspeakable, and as all of heaven shouted praises and honor to The King, the Father sat His beloved Son on a throne far above all principality and power and every name that is named.