Is Google Too Powerful?

A few weeks ago Matt McGhan sent me a video about Google taking over the world. I posted it to my blog (he noted that I didn't give him credit for it). The response I got from friends was "That's funny. Not likely, but funny."

Now Businessweek has joined the ranks of those pointing out the gaining strength of google in the world. This is a fascinating read. You should check it out.

Is Google Too Powerful?

My friend...

This is my friend Anythony. He and some other members of our Arts team went to Acquire the Fire this weekend in Norfolk to see what is always the best in worship, drama, and media. We had a nice dinner at a seafood place downtown. Anthony wanted to take a picture of his fish because it was so attractive. He thought he would look at it later and admire it, long after our Norfolk trip was a distant memory.

I thought that was pretty funny so I took a picture of him taking a picture of his fish.

I don't think I've ever taken a picture of my food before. Maybe I'll start doing that.

Separated at Birth?

Does anybody else think Gretchen Wilson and Jennifer Knapp are the same person?

Rodney Atkins - Watching You

My Favorite line - "Lord, Help me to help my stupid self"

Comcast, Fox, and an unexpected loss

My wife and most of my friends have lived on the edge of their seats for the last couple of weeks. Will Comcast cancel Fox? Or, more to the point, will Comcast cancel American Idol?

I for one do not care. I'm a Netflix guy and I watch shows a few seasons after the fact. That way I never have to watch commercials and I only get the good stuff.

So I honestly don't care much about Idol. I thought it was smooth sailing.

Lately I've found that I get much more entertainment from Country Music videos. Whether you like the music or not, the Country Music guys do a great job of writing songs about life. And I have become quite a fan of GAC over the last few weeks. Perhaps the best part is that videos are 4-5 minutes long, and whenever you feel like you've had enough you're done. You turn off the tube and go to bed. There's no "I have to find out what happens to Buffy" when you really didn't like Buffy anyway.

And then it happened. Two nights ago I have 20 or so minutes to unwind at the end of my day. I turn on the TV, and .... No GAC. Just a blue screen on channel 70.

My first thought was - "Oh No! Jim! You pulled the wrong plug!"

But surely it was just something about that channel. It would be back the next night.

But it wasn't. Same story last night. 20 minutes. Surf-surf-surf. No GAC. Very sad.

I called Jim this morning. He was not available for comment.

So for now I have no GAC. IT's very sad. No "Studpid Boy" (what a great guitar solo!), no"Before He Cheats", and my personal fave - "Watching You" by Rodney Atkins.

Chipper Injured .... Again.

After another injury to my namesake Chipper Jones yesterday in Spring Training, I came across this blog from the Atlanta Journal Constitution. My apologies to them for ripping it off. Their apologies to Hemingway for the paraphrase.



“The Braves cannot lose.”
“But I fear the Mets of New York.”
“Have faith in the Braves my son. Think of the great Chipper.”
“I fear both the Phillies of Philadelphia and the Mets of New York.”
“Be careful or you will fear even the Nationals of D.C. and the Marlins of Miami.”
“Tell me about the baseball,” the boy asked him.
“In the National League, it is the Braves as I said,” the old man said happily.
“They lost today,” the boy told him.
“That means nothing. The great Chipper is himself again.”
“They have other men on the team.”
“Naturally. But he makes the difference.”
“I would like to take the great Chipper hunting,” the old man said. “They say his father was a hunter. Maybe he was as poor as we are and would understand.”
“But I must have confidence and I must be worthy of the great Chipper who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bunions in his toes. What is a bunion? He asked himself. Un espuela de hueso. We do not have them. Can it be as painful as the spur of a fighting gamecock in one’s toe? I do not think I could endure that or the loss of the eye and continue to fight as the fighting cocks do. Man is not much beside the great birds and beasts. Still I would rather be that beast down there in the darkness of the sea. Unless sharks come. If sharks come, God pity him and me. Do you believe the great Chipper would stay with a deer as long as I will stay with this one? he thought. I am sure he would and more since he is young and strong. Also his father was a hunter. But would the bunion hurt him too much? I don’t know. I never had a bunion.
I need a pencil for that. My head is not that clear. But I think the great Chipper would be proud of me today. I had no bunions but the hands and the back hurt truly. I wonder what a bunion is. Maybe we have them without knowing of it.
Don’t think old man. Sail on this course and take it when it comes. But I must think because it is all I have left. That and baseball. I wonder how the great Chipper would have liked the way I hit him in the brain. It was no great thing. Any man could do it. But do you think my hands were as great a handicap as the bunions? I cannot know. I never had anything wrong with my toes.

A great beginning

Several months ago I had a brilliant idea. Brilliant! It began with a minor annoyance.

Every morning I have to leave the house at 7:30 to take the kids to school. Then I turn around and go back home. There’s no time to start a project. My wife has already started her day. I can grab a cup of coffee and sit down but before it’s cooled off enough to drink it’s time to head back out the door again.

So here’s my brilliant idea. I can drop of the kids at school, go straight to work, and have a full hour before anybody gets there. I can read, make an effective plan for my day, and do some of the things that get lost when you get caught up in firefighting and a never-ending task list.

So since August I’ve been coming in at 8 every morning very effectively. I’m always the first person here in the morning. Here’s the problem. I haven’t been using that time in the way I designed it to be. First of all it seems that even at 8 there are always people who need to be helped and they will find me if I am at the church office. Second, the preschool workers begin to come in and they often have issues. Third, and perhaps biggest, is that far too often I face an overwhelming task list that looms over my head. I find myself unable to make myself read or look ahead or plan when I know what needs to be done next and how daunting it is. So I just get started on the work day. Next thing you know, that planning hour in the morning is gone and I am left with just a very long work day that leaves me drained and unenergetic.

But today was different. Today I came in, closed the door, didn’t check my email or the phone messages. I still had a couple of interruptions, but I found that my attention goes where I allow it to go. If I check email first there will invariably be some kind of crisis that needs to be resolved. Same with the voice mail. It wasn’t a crisis until I heard the message, but once I know the situation exists, it takes my mental energy.

So I decided ahead of time to make today different. I reminded myself how behind I was in my reading. On to chapter 4 of Cloud’s “9 Things You Simply Must Do”. The whole chapter is about the thing that is holding you back. The infected tooth. The thing that drains you, that keeps you from your best. It robs you of your focus. His first advice is to deal with it. He spends a large part of the chapter convincing us to deal with and resolve our issues – get them off the plate – so we can focus on what’s important to us. I’m nodding my head in agreement when he gets to the next part, which is to never let them happen in the first place.

A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. - Proverbs 22:3


I have to say it’s been a great morning. I’m on track, on schedule, and at peace.

So the decision is made beforehand. You’ll understand if I don’t get to your email until 9:00.