A fine farewell

This will be my last entry at pastorjoey.blogspot.com.

I have a new blog up and running. I am also working on another site that I will reveal once it gets going.

Here's the address:

pastorjoey.gaccblogs.com

Hope to see you there!

Where have you gone, Bill Bailey?

I know. I haven't posted for a while. I'm sorry. It would be longer still if it weren't that I'm tired of answering the question "Why haven't you posted?"

Peer pressure. That always works.

The posting will begin again soon. It's just that ...
I'm working on a new site. I'll tell you about it soon. But it's almost done. I've been spending my "off-hours" time on it. And since that's the same time I use on this blog, well, you know. There just aren't enough of those "off-hours" to make it all happen.

So I have this pet peeve. I hate it when I go to a web page and it says "Site under construction". And then you go a month later and it's still under construction. Why do that? Why not just go with what you have? Why tell us you're going to have something up and running one day?
But I feel like I owe you an explanation. If you've stuck with me thus far, through Gangsta Gummies and Animal Cracker Escape Artists, then I owe you a little explanation.

It's not an excuse, mind you.

So what's the picture got to do with the post?

Nothing. It just reminds me of home. Thank you for your patience.

Willow Creek Leadership Summit

The Willow Creek Leadership Summit is coming in just a few weeks. I am extending an open invitation for any of our arts ministry members to join us this year.

This is an outstanding conference fr building your leadership skills and your business skills. The speakers are of an international scale quality. And many employers will not only give their employers the time off, but will pay for the registration.

Registration for this conference is $165, but the church is subsidizing the cost by $65. That leaves a cost to you of $100. And remember, many employers will reimburse you this cost. But even if yours does not, I have never heard anyone who went who thought it was not worth every penny. Trust me - you will not be dissapointed.

Here are some of the speakers: Bill Hybels, Colin Powell, Michael Porter, John Ortberg, Floyd Flake, Carly Fiona, Warren Bennis, Richard Curtis, and Jimmy Carter.

If you think you may be able to go, please let me know by July 20th.

You can check out the web site for the conference yourself here:

Willow Creek Leadership Summit

A dark night at the office

This morning when I came into the office and by force of habit went straight to the coffee pot. I mixed my starbucks blend, filtered the water, and measured just the right amount of half-and-half. But just as I was reaching for the cream, I noticed something awry.

It appears that the animal crackers had been busy during the night. Somehow they had broken through the bag and were making their escape. When I turned on the light they all froze. One of them was in mid-break from the bag.

I put them all back in the bag.

They exist for a purpose. They would live out that purpose.

Well, except for one. The camel. Apparently he had been going for water, and he didn't make it.

No wonder they're endangered.

Creativite Videos That Don't Bleed to Budget

I once asked a video producer, "Can't we do a video without spending so much money?"

"Not this one."

Somehow it feels like sometimes everything costs too much money.

Is it possible to put together a video that doesn't cost a lot of money but that is still effective, entertainming, and excellent?

Below I've linked a short blog post that I came across this morning. It includes two low-budget videos that you'll never notice are low budget because they are so engaging.

Maybe they'll spark some creative ideas.

Fun Little Movies: Content That Works :: Mobi-lize :: Programming

Elwood - The New World's Ugliest Dog

This is fresh news, folks. The video starts out a little slow, but suffer through the first 20 seconds or so. And especially check out Elwood's tongue and his - um - sound effects at the end. Classic!

And for those who are interested, here are a couple of the winners from previous years.

Willow Arts Conference - Day 1 Session 1

Session 1 of the conference began with Dewitt Jones, a photographer from National Geographic. This wasn't the kind of presentation that you walked away from with a ton of new head knowledge. It was inspiring.

His topic was "What's Right With the World". He opened with a discussion about how National Geographic takes a different approach than many of the magazines that are on the shelves. Their desire is to photograph what's right in the world. They have certainly succeeded over the years. And he attributes that to the fact that no one ever throws away a National Geographic magazine.

"In some houses, the walls would just collapse if you took away the stacks of those yellow magazines. Over the years they've become support columns for the building."

Then he went on to go through a presentation of photos that was absolutely breathtaking. The audience gasped at one picture after another.

For me, it brought to mind the limits of creativity. You wouldn't think that a photographer would have the most creative job in the world. What can he create, apart from building a set? He just captures what's in front of him. But isn't that what art is? It captures the world around us? It presents the things the we as artists observe?

I believe that artists in general see things that others do not. And then they have the ability to communicate that vision. That's what makes them artists. With picture after picture, he showed us beauty that many of us would have missed. I wish I could share all or even some of them on my blog. There are a few that you can see at his web page:

http://www.dewitt_jones.com/

Then he said one thing I found simple but profound. He showed us a picture of a bird, singing its lungs out. The picture to the right is not his, and it really doesn't do the point justice. In his photo series, he did an outstanding job of capturing the energy and passion of this tiny bird, putting his entire body into a song. When the crowd finally quieted their approval, he went on to say "When I saw this bird, I had to take the picture. He was giving the song everything he had. He didn't sing because he had the answers to the world's problems. He was singing because he had a song."

I'm sure I won't be able to convey the effect of that statement in a short blog post. But it spoke to me. Much of modern art is trying to make a political statement. It has its own agenda. Even in churches, artists too often are trying to make a sale. And in so doing, they lose their authenticity.

We have song writers in our church who are waiting to have a poignant message to deliver before they write their song. But they don't need it. The best songs don't need to provide an answer.

Listen to the song of David in Psalm 119:81-88 (paraphrased in THE MESSAGE)

I'm homesick - longing for your salvation

I'm waiting for your word of hope.

My eyes grow heavy watching for some sign of your promise;

how long must I wait for your comfort?

There's smoke in my eyes - they burn and water,

but I keep a steady gaze on the instructions you post.

How long till you haul my tormentors into court?

The same concept goes for any kind of artwork. The paintings that go down in history are not political statements. They are expressions of the world around them. The film that sticks in your head is not the one that wraps up in tidy fashion. It's the one that speaks truth into your consciousness and won't let your mind go.

Truth communicated has power. It can't be escaped. It can't be set aside as can a message with an agenda. Truth brings about change. It sets free. (John 8:32)

So to the artist within me, my take away is this: stop trying to solve every problem in the world. That's God's job. Mine is to draw the attention of the audience of the world to the One who can do something about it.

Entering Willow

Last year Willow had a great session called "From Street to Seat" which was all about producing a theme at your church that impacts people from the street all the way to their seats.

Willow did a great job at the arts conference with this concept this year. They had brought in street performers from Chicago, who were performing outside as you were walking in from your car and inside in the lobby as you were browsing and getting ready for the conference.

The guys above were bringing back motown. Three part harmony and a guitar. Priceless. Then as soon as you get through the door there's a guy playing the blues on a sax.

This was a touch of class that made the week even more memorable from the very beginning. This of course is in addition to the greeters that help you every step of the way to make sure you know where you're going and what you need to do to get started. Without these staff, I believe things would not be so stress-free as we began the conference. They are a great model of the importance of greeting at a church service. I think we were greeted by at least 10 people before we finally made it to our seats.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. We had three people with us that had never been to Willow before. I think they were all impressed right off the bat before anything even got started.

The registration process was incredibly smooth, too. To think how quickly they processed the thousands of people that were attending this conference, all arriving at the same time. I can't help but contrast them to the hotel where they were overburdened by three people who wanted to check in at the same time.

Amazingly, there were no computers involved in the registration process at Willow. That is, at least not when you're picking up your materials. I think if it were at our place we would have bent over backwards to get a computer involved. It has to be faster, right?

That's what the hotel thought.

When we got to the table to get our registration materials, there was NO line. We walked right up to the table, got our stuff in a matter of seconds, and we were on our way.

Way to go Willow.

Day 2 - Breakfast, anyone?

6:00 AM came early on Wednesday. I was exhausted. But I had to get up early. Starbucks was calling. It's a shame that Starbucks is sort of out of the way of breakfast and of the Willow Campus. Not that it would stop me. It just means that everybody else has to get up earlier.

Then there's Apple Villa. This has got to be my favorite breakfast place in the world. Other people may think me strange for that kind of statement, but I am in love with this place. I've always loved breakfast anyway, and I rarely eat breakfast when I'm home. But when I go out to breakfast I like to go to a little mom-and-pop diner with a lot of atmosphere and plenty of selection. And this place has got it all. Great service. Great selection. Great food. I could eat there everyday. And during the few days a year that I am in South Barrington, you bet I do. Apologies to my staff, who think my excitement for this place to be a bit overboard. I went there every day last year, and I will do the same next year. Still haven't gotten there early enough to try the 20-minute pancakes, though.

Red Rood Inn

And then there was the hotel.

Last year we stayed at the Red Roof Inn. Someone **ahem** had a typo on the itinerary sheet and called it the "Red Rood Inn". We made fun of said person for the duration of the week and kept referring to our evening accommodations as the Red Rood Inn.

Perhaps it was prophetic.

We decided to stay there again this year because their rates are good and the rooms were all recently remodeled. I get there to check in. Here are your two keys.

"Excuse me? Two keys? We have three rooms. "

"We only have you down for two, sir."

"But I have three. Here are the reservation numbers." (I keep excellent records.)

"I'm sorry, sir. We have down that one of those has been cancelled."

"No way. We canceled some of the other rooms, but we were certainly left with three. I have the conciliation numbers right here."

"I'm sorry, sir. It appears that our corporate office has made a mistake. You only have two rooms. And we do not have any more rooms that we can give you. We are completely booked up."

"You have nothing?"

"Nothing. In fact, it looks like we have just had three more reservations made over the Internet while you and I were here talking. And we do not have any rooms available for them, either."

"You mean there are going to be other parties coming in here tonight expecting a room and you are not going to be able to accommodate them?"

"That's correct, sir. We're sorry. There is nothing we can do for you."

"Can you recommend another hotel in the area that may have space?"

"No, sir. They will most definitely ALL be booked solid."

"What about in another town? Is there a Red Roof Inn within about a 30 minute drive that has rooms available?"

"No, sir. Nothing."

We left in a huff. We still had not eaten anything but Gummy Bears, and the bears were still grumpy. It was late now. About 10:00. That is, 11:00 our time. I went to the car and explained the situation to my teammates. We started making phone calls. Luckily we had brought along a cellular card for the laptop, so there was Internet access in the car. After making quite a few calls, it became apparent that we weren't getting in anywhere that night.

My friends at the office had said that we should go to Portello's and try the hot dogs. Chicago style. And loaded. So we did. We got there just as they were locking the doors, but I didn't even notice. Alan and Kevin both said that I needed to get the Jumbo Dog, two of 'em, loaded.

I got to the counter and they said they were out of jumbo dogs. I would have to get the regular size. I didn't much care. I was still thinking about where I was going to sleep for the night. I got the regular dog and wolfed it down while I clicked away on my computer.

I was a little uneasy about eating a dog that late at night with peppers on it. And the fresh tomatoes threw me off as well. But I have to say that it was outstanding. I wish I had the time and the peace of mind to enjoy it, but c'est la vie. The peppers didn't cause much problems. Apparently the bears rendered them harmless.

We finally decided there was nowhere else to stay. My wife and I split up for the night and shared rooms with Tori and Matt, respectively. When I got back to the "Rood" I was able to get another hotel for us for the remaining nights, thanks to Priceline.com.

And there was evening, and very quickly there was morning. The first day at the Willow Arts Conference.

More Road Blocks on the Way to South Barrington

Waiting for a later flight is not so bad when there's gummy bears involved. Even if they're gangsta gummies. Of course it would have been better had there been Starbucks too, but one can only hope for so much change in the world.

Our flight finally arrived. Apparently things were going tough in New York because lots of other flights were getting canceled and the air lines were trying to buy off people en route to the Big Apple. Nobody offered us anything.

The airplane that finally arrived was small. Really small. When the call came, it was something along the lines of, "Zone 1 please present your tickets for boarding."

One guy gets up.

"OK, everybody else may board."

That was me and Matt and Tori. OK there were a few more, but it was small. Conditions were cloudy, so the ride was a bit bumpy. I started reconsidering whether I should have eaten all of the gummy bears at once on an empty stomach. After an hour in the air, I was no longer wondering. It was a bad choice.

Finally we get to O'Hare. My friend Lisa had gotten us an outstanding deal on a rental car. Some rental place we've never heard of. On the receipt there were instructions that you MUST call them when your plane lands and they will come pick you up. So we waited on our bags to arrive at baggage claim, and I called them. They said they would be there in a few minutes. Out we go to the pickup station just outside of the baggage claim area. The National Bus goes buy. Enterprise. Budget. Another National. Another Budget. Enterprise. Enterprise. No "Ace Car Rental" anywhere.

Where are these guys?

After 20 minutes, I started to get restless. Were they that far away? I called them again. "Where are you guys?"

It was hard enough to understand the guy with the thick accent anyway. I think all people who deal in the service industries should be required to speak Southern. But I just couldn't hear him on my mobile phone with all the rental car busses whizzing by - none of them carrying an "Ace Rental Car" logo, by the way.

Finally I was able to make out what he said. We were in the wrong place. We needed to go to the Central Transport Station.

What the heck is that? And where is it?

Go back in side the baggage area, and follow the signs.

I went back into the baggage area. Every sign had directions to the Transport Station. Every one of them were pointing in a different direction. Finally we settled on one, went down an escalator, and into an underground tunnel walkway. It was fairly well lit, sort of like a subway tunnel. But there was nobody else anywhere around. Not a soul. We walked for 10 minutes, following the directional arrows. It felt like the airport was long behind us. Once we rounded a turn and there was a lonely man playing the sax. I could see why he was playing the blues. This place was depressing. And he couldn't be making much money. Maybe he just got lost down there so he started playing.

I started to wonder if we were in the sewar system beneath the city.

Finally we came to some elevators that led us up to ground level. We were in what looked like a bus terminal. We walked through the waiting area and out the door, and there was a very kind man standing in front of a white van that said "Ace Rental Car". We all started to cheer and clap. He loaded up our luggage and whisked us away from The Matrix.

Off to the WIllow Creek Arts Conference

My day in the office was tough on Tuesday. Last year's conference was so wonderful and so impacting that I wanted to jump on the flight at noon just so I could get to South Barrington. But somehow in my excitement I forgot rule number one: "Nothing of value comes easily."

I did in fact leave early just to make sure there was ample time for whatever things can go wrong when you're flying. We got there a couple of hours before the flight was to leave. There wasn't a long line at the security check point. Everything was going to go very smoothly and with little stress.

I walked through the metal detector. No problem. I went to the end of the carry-on retrieval line. Uh-oh. The big butch looking lady is scowling. No offense. I'm sure she's very nice. When she's at home playing with her children or something. Right now, though, she's mad. Just let me get my stuff and go. Where is it? My trays haven't come out yet. Oh no.

"Did somebody leave a laptop in their bag?"

Yes, that would be me. How was I know that the principle strategy of terrorists was to hide their laptops in their backpack? I didn't know that there was a new rule that laptops had to be placed in a separate tray.

"Sir, we're going to have to pat you down. Please step to the side."

What? Pat me down? I don't think so.

But it turns out that Bertha's job was done. Her job is just to call out the violators - the potential terrorists. It's Sargent Sumo's job to do the extensive search.

It really wasn't so bad. After all, I had set aside plenty of margin time to allow for unforeseen problems. We went in to a Plexiglas room where all the other travelers could see my bag being ransacked and me being searched. Mothers hid their children from my view as they went by, but it really wasn't so horrible. And my bag now has a clean, fresh pine scent.

So on we went to the waiting area. And wait we did. For 45 minutes or so. I was intent on my book on Emergent Worship when there was an announcement on the intercom system. I thought I heard the word "Jones" in there somewhere, but I ignored it. A minute or two later, I heard it again. My wife said, "Did they just call us up to the counter?"

"Of course not, dear. There must be a hundred Joneses in here."


I don't think there were even a hundred PEOPLE in there. We were, after all in the Richmond Airport. But she insisted. And about that time Matt McGhan popped up.


"Hey - did they just call us to the counter?"


"What?" I said. "They said 'Jones'. There's got to be a hundred Joneses in here."


"No, they said 'Passengers Jones and McGhan, please report to the US Air ticket counter."


Then my phone rang. Anthony. "Hey - the reason they're calling you is because we got you moved to another flight. I got you on a direct flight, so you'll have an extra hour in Chicago tonight. Aren't you happy? You'll have to come to the front ticket counter."


"You mean the front of the airport? Past Bertha? No way. I'll take the layover in Philadelphia."


"You'll have to come back up here to the front counter."


There's got to be another way. So I went to talk to the lady at the ticket counter for my flight. "They just paged me up to the front. Do you know what that was about?"


"Um, no." She said. "Let me call and see." She picks up her phone. "Looks like you've been moved to another airline. You'll have to go back up front."


"Past Bertha," I said.


"Who's Bertha?" She said.


But her smirk told me that she knew exactly what I was talking about.


Back up to the front. There's Tori and Anthony. They've already gotten our tickets. Anthony had us moved over to the other flight. I guess it would be good to get there earlier and not have to have the layover in Philly. The attendants were going right then to get our luggage. They'll be back in a minute.


No they weren't.


I don't know how long it was, but it felt like an hour. We stood up there at the front desk, not knowing if they had forgotten about us or not. We asked "How long is it going to take?"


"They're trying to get it for you now."


No they weren't.


Ten minutes later she walked out to go get the luggage. Ten more minutes later we had it in our hands. Then we had to stand in line at the United Airlines line to check our bags. Again.


Off we went to go back to the concourses again. Oops. There's security. But now I knew better. I took my laptop out and put it in a grey plastic bin all by itself.


**Ding**.


"You and your travel companions have been selected for additional screening."


It appears that another thing terrorists do is to change airlines at the last minute. Bertha seemed to have an accomplished look on her face.


After it was all said and done, we finally got to our seats. The flight was delayed. It seemed we were going to have to wait after all.


So wait we did. It was a good time, really. Here are some pictures of Tori and Matt. Matt looked like this pretty much the whole week.



Tori looks relaxed, but I think she was just posing for the picture. Me on the other hand? After the trama I had endured I needed some gummy bears. Since I had plenty of time to burn now, I bought some from the store in the airport.


Really? $35 for a little bag of gummy bears? OK. Sounds reasonable to me.


These were interesting gummies. We called them "Gangsta gummies". They were all deformed and had holes in them. Still worth it, though.

Who Would You Be Willing to Kiss If You Were Getting Paid?

For those aspiring actors and actresses among us, there are some lines you should not cross in persuing your career...

From Nascar Sunday

Here's our first video taken from morning worship service. We are working on putting together a plan that will allow us to review these on a normal basis for our own evaluation purposes.

This was a lot harder than I thought to get these workable for web. But it was worth the trouble. In the coming months we will be working on starting up a GACC church blog, that will include video and audio. Posting this is part of that testing process.

The video itself takes up a lot of room, so if we were ever to do anything web-based, space will be an issue. Even posting one song took quite a large amount of time to get it going.

Microsoft Surface - The Possibilities

Another quicker video about "Microsoft Surface". This one is a commercial. I have to stop watching these things.

Microsoft Surface - Exclusive Review

Pastor Kevin caught this on Good Morning America this morning. This is one of the most amazing pieces of technology news I've seen in a long time. If I had one of these, I wouldn't need all the monitors!

The Seven Worst Communication Habits

Great article on Bad Communication -

The CEO Refresher - The Seven Worst Communication Habits

Ever feel like you have a piano falling on your head?

Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat minor.










A little musical humor there.








No, it's funny.








Really.

Why I'm Hot - For My South Side Friends

For my South Side Friends, who never got to see this video. Try to get past the eye candy in the mirror scene in the middle of the video.

Double the Dwight Schrute

My favorite character is Dwight. This is classic!

Sometimes It Doesn't Matter Who Gets the Credit

Two Canadian geese decided to fly south for the winter. A frog was sitting next to them as they decided this and he decided he wanted to go as well. The geese laughed and said "you're just a frog- you can't fly!" The frog knew that he didn't want to stay in the cold, so he thought and thought and thought.

"I got an idea!" the frog said. He found a long stick. "You two hold this stick in your claws and I'll hold on to the middle."

"With what?" the geese asked. "Your little hands could never hold on to a stick!"

"With my mouth" said the frog, proud of his idea.

So the geese put the stick in there claws, the frog clamped on with his mouth and they began to fly south successfully.

A day or two later, a crowd of people looked up and saw the two geese flying overhead, holding a stick with a frog holding on in the middle with his mouth. Someone in the crowd exclaimed, "What a brilliant idea- I wonder who thought of that?"

The frog proudly exclaimed "I did!"

Oh This is Just Great

According to this article, even if you're thin, you may be fat. In fact, 60% of thin men are fat.

Discovery Channel :: News - Health :: Thin People May Be Fat Inside

Ten Independent Artists You Should Know (Fall 2005) - Music

The article below is from Christianity Today, one of the most read Christian Magazines both online and in the archaic print form. This is a writeup they do a couple of times a year about new artists to watch out for.

Take a look at the second artist down. Her name is Marie Miller, and she just released her first EP a couple of weeks ago. Last week her first single debuted on Air1's charts and on the national Christian Music charts. This week it's gained 6 spots and it is sure to gain more.

"So what?" you ask? Well, she's coming to GACC. I was looking at doing this song "Cold" for our opening day of the next series, and I was having a hard time finding it in my traditional spots (because it's so new). Then I find her MySpace and find out she's from Virginia. In fact, she's just a couple of hours from here. So I call her up and **Voila!** she's coming to do her song on May 27.

She just "heppened" to be have that date off and she just "happens" to live 2 hours up the road.

Ain't God Great?


Ten Independent Artists You Should Know (Fall 2005) - Music

Check out Marie's web site at mariemiller.net

From Saddleback

I came across this video this morning, from Saddleback Community Church. It posed an interesting question for discussion.

For worship, is it too far? Has the attention been distracted from God and on to those on the stage? Or is this simply the next step in worship that is relevant to seekers who have had little exposure to church?

The Inside Track - September 2006 - From the Editor

I think one of the things our Arts Team does extremely well is the way we come together for Big Sundays like Easter, Christmas Eve, Friend Day, and Nascar Sunday. We also come up big when the community needs us to like after Hurricane Katrina and for the VT memorial.

But what happens after that? Certainly we have done a good job of putting together services that are good enough to make people want to come back. But is there a back door? And is it standing open?

This is historically the point where Arts staffers say, "I've done my part. The offense has scored. After that, it's the defense's turn." But what about our part?

First, I hope you'll spend 3 minutes to read this article. (It's short).

This article came in an e-newsletter I get called "The Inside Track".

The Inside Track - September 2006 - From the Editor

Then, for discussion, two questions:

1 - Do we do a good job helping people to form relationships once they join the arts ministry?

and

2 - Do we do a good job of providing low-commitment, easy-to-plug-into positions for new people to join the Arts ministries? In other words, we just had a ministry fair. How hard is it going to be for those people to get plugged in to our ministries? Are there difficult hurdles for new people?

Amazon for everyone!

I have this relative. And they have a birthday coming up. And I hardly ever see them. And there's nothing to buy for them.

Here's my theory. Everybody in the world should get an Amazon.com wish list. It's so easy - you just click on stuff you want and click "Add to my wish list". Then you make sure your amazon profile is up to date.

Next thing you know, you start getting cool presents that you really want in stead of knit sweaters and pink bunny suits.

Why wouldn't everybody want to do that?

Oh well, I hope cousin Larry likes his pink bunny suit - with the ears and the feet. And he better wear it to our next family get-together!

Pipe Dream, the sequel

Here's another video of "Pipe Dreams". This one is the sequel to the one posted below. Different tune, and different views.

Renewed Love

OK, after weeks of lusting after the new iPhone, I have decided to renew my vows to my LifeDrive. Liffy and I had had a falling out of sorts when she refused to play Rhapsody To Go files, and when she stopped synching with my home computer. I think she was still mad at me for leaving her behind and alone in Jim's car for a week. Imagine - not being recharged or sync'ed for a FULL WEEK.

I guess she had reason to be mad at me.

As to the other issues, we're working them out. The important thing to remember is that any relationship takes work. And when there are problems, you can't just ignore them and hope that they will magically go away.

Oh - and never lust. That's important, too.

Fantastic Music Machine

A friend of mine emailed me this video today. It was listed as a manufactured music machine. Turns out it's all animation, but even so it's impressive to a video production guy like me. Check it out here.

Oh - and an advertisement will load before the true video. I'm not responsibile for whatever they try to sell you. Nor do I get paid any commercial endorsement royalties for it. But I should. ;)

Freakishly Large Hand of Jesus: Good Friday? Lord have mercy.

Interesting story about how the Good Friday service could have gone...

Freakishly Large Hand of Jesus: Good Friday? Lord have mercy.

Amazon.com: Amazon Current's Amazon Blog

My friends and I have all been lusting over the iPhone since its existence was first mentioned. Here's an article that says it might not be worth the price tag. But then again, maybe it will.

Amazon.com: Amazon Current's Amazon Blog

At any rate, it's a pretty hefty price tag. $650? Plus the subscription fee? For that price, I may elect to continue to carry my iPod, my lifedrive, and my cell phone. It only comes in 4 GB and 8Gb storage capacities anyway, and my LifeDrive has 4. And I think my LifeDrive does every bit as much. Provided it's coupled with my phone. And the video iPod comes in 80GB versions. How much video could you put on an 8GB phone? Not so much. So it seems it wouldn't really place the video iPod. (Not that I have one of those.)

Sure is pretty, though.

Anway, I'd be the guy to leave it behind at a hotel somewhere.

The point at the end of the article is that the iPhone will do well despite that the technology isn't all that new - it's just better. There were mp3 players before the iPod. Apple just did it better. Better interfaces. Easier to get to your information. More user-friendly.

But it would make me cool.

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.

My posting

I can't believe I'm getting negative feedback because I didn't blog for a day. ONE DAY! My phone is ringing off thehook because I didn't blog yesterday.

Well here. Now I've blogged. So Stop calling me, Mom!

The reason I haven't blogged is because I'm worried. I heard a tale that Google is taking over the world. Their databases are logging every blog and they know everything about me.

For a while I thought maybe I shouldn't post that story here, because then they would know that I know. But then I figured out that they know anyway. They probably have taken over control of my web cam in my office and they know what I'm thinking right now.

So anyway, at the risk of having them shut down all my computers, here's the link. Just take my advice. If you go, do it from somebody else's computer. Then at least it will be their computer that "spontaneously" explodes one day when they least expect it.

http://www.masterplanthemovie.com/

Worship Train Wreck

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This is hillarious. It's from a church called Addison Road and is a short recording of a train wreck praise song from their Sunday Morning service. It's about 15 seconds long. Trust me. You'll love it.

Phreaky Phriday: Holy is the …

You know how, sometimes, you totally forget to take your guitar capo off between songs?