Recent Music

A recent list of music that I'm looking into. -- Stuff that catches my ear.

Music Spreadsheet

Britney Spears dream

Last night Britney Spears and her husband were in my dream.
I saw them at Wal-Mart.
To hide, she doesn't wear makeup in public. However, people still notice her. But they're not fans, they're friends. They all hug when they meet.
Her mom lives near here.
She apparently knows a lot of regulars from The Annex, hey, she knew "Danimal".
Her husband doesn't talk much.
She knows my good friend Kelly, I guess they grew up together or something.
We all went out to eat together. And guess what... I'm a better tipper.

I told my good friend Stacey all of this. She asked if I'd been smoking crack.

Show & Tell

Look what I have!
El Nacho Libre - Special Edition WITH MASK!

Redesign company website

::complaining::

So I'm in the office at work now.. which is better than the factory floor.

But, they've given me the task of redesigning the company website.
After 1 week of working on the overall look, and not having any pages up, they got impatient.. I'm now told to just put the new banner/menu over the old content.

The old website was done in MS Frontpage, it's about 90%-95% microsoft bloat.
Full of XML and other MS generated crap to control formatting.. needless to say, it only views correctly in IE.

My boss created it in frontpage, and used absolute positioning on EVERYTHING, so things are lined up in relation to the browser window.

So, when you put the content into the new template, it's completely screwy, on any browser.

This old website is worse than complete crap, it's a nightmare. Yet I'm expected to rework this crap in a short time.

Someone said there's fast, cheap, and good.. you can have two of the three..
so true.. if you had all three, that'd be revolutionary.

'Good' just flew out the window.

Here's a screenshot to give you a feel of what I'm supposed to edit.



it might as well have been laid out in a publishing program and saved as a pdf

Sept 13, 2006

Wake up and smell the roses.
Wake up and smell The God.

I declare this over the family of my good friend.
No more deception. No more ignoring the facts.
It's time to wake up. It's time to acknowledge.

NOW is the time for great faith.

NOTHING is more important.

In accordance with the will of The Father.
May it be so.

ATL

Yeah, loved it.
Worth seeing.

website

New word

Please do not ever chortle at me.

What kind of American English do you speak?

I don't usualy post things like this, but linguistics is something that I love.
When I meet someone from a different area, I usually ask them what words they use.
This is a cool hobby. ≠ lame

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

15% Yankee

10% Upper Midwestern

5% Midwestern

0% Dixie

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

What about...?

quote
"...and sadly, in our churches today,
Emotion has been confused with unction,
Ability to communicate has been confused with Revelation,
And man's projects have taken the place of God-given vision. ..."


Original article here

Identity, purpose, it's not in man's opinion

The lyrics of this song keep coming to mind over the past several days.
I felt the need to hear it.

Nichole Norderman - Legacy - Woven & Spun album

Nichole Nordeman - Legacy wma stream, hope it works, untested.

Lyrics: here

Really, read the lyrics, they're the whole point of this post.

Story Time

I don't want to blog about anything current, so I'll dig up something from my Journal:
-unedited-
6/26/06

Maybe self denial for the sake of itself isn't right/best/good, but maybe it's somethign that when done for kingdom's sake, can position us for greater things/service. Maybe pain, persecution, aren't what to strive for, but they do make fertile soil for faith/spiritual growth/-unintelligible script-
On one hand they go with the territory. But they also are signs of it?
They're definitely not the focus. We do recognize them, but not focus or strive on them or we miss the point. Loving people, Loving God. We're not sadists.

Suffering for Christ is a privelige, but not the prize. And with more love for Him, there's less fear of or maybe less priority given to escaping pain.
- Rework this sentence.

Care

Some things I care about.
Some things I thought I cared about, I don't really care about.
Some things I thougth defined me, I don't care about, and they don't definte me either.
And that's cool.
I also care about new things.

Fear of Girls

I'm getting over it. I'm leaps and bounds ahead of where I was only a few weeks ago.
I'd almost say I'm over it already, but I'm sure there's a few wrinkles to iron out.

Deception

I challenge you to find sin without deception.

Freedom

God always gives you more then enough rope to hang yourself with.

But He doesn't tempt you to hang yourself.

He believes in you before you "deserve" it.

Intel Macs

Intel mac? I'll be buying one.

It's 2 months after installing Windows XP over Windows 2000
Already the desktop (explorer) is crashing daily.
I expect it's a registry problem.
I refuse to buy 3rd party software to fix an operating system that should just work.

I'm actually holding off on buying CD/DVD burning software because I'll just buy a mac version later.

And now that the intel macs will install windows, I'll buy one of those.
Hopefully I'll never need to install windows.
Just insurance.
Good riddance to Microsoft.
They disgust me.

Lack of Comments

A handful of people from my community (church) are bloggers. Oftentimes, they have wonderful posts that I would expect to spark a great conversation.
In person, I am sure conversation would ensue.

But on the blogs, comments are sparse.

I wouldn't see this as a problem if I thought that only 2 or 3 people were reading the blogs. But I know there are more.

So, what are the reasons that more people don't comment more often?
Would having a community (church) blog help?

I'd like to have an international community/audience on our blogs. But I'd rather keep a local focus.

Maybe having a common blog would make posting comments more comfortable?

If people disagree with a post of mine, I'd rather they comment and we discuss, than they hold back.
It's just not fun to post something you consider is deep or meaningful, and nobody comments.

Maybe more people would do this on a community blog.

Maybe a blog that was a combination of Blog, IRC, and Instant Messaging:

• The post/comment format of a blog.
  
• The community prescence of IRC, but not the short message entry length, or disorganization of cross talk.
  
• The quick response of IM notification when there is a new post.
  

Something that encourages deliberate, organized, low-latency conversation, with a communal feel that immerses you in conversation.

About me.

I am SO messed up.
Ugh!
And it just makes me love God more.

Can you hear me now?

Verizon dude comes to DeKalb, IL

What's The Deal?

I've been pensive lately.
I haven't slept well in over a week.
I feel physically rested enough, but not mentally.
My nights are full of dreams.. too much thinking during sleep..
What gives?
I've had a lot on my mind lately, but that's nothing new.

Scanner Photography

So a guy converted old box cameras to work with a modified flatbed scanner.
It takes pictures... www.scannerphotography.com
All of his pictures are greyscale, and not very refined.
but can a scanner take a really nice looking picture?
I might try. I have an old and probably already broken scsi flatbed scanner sitting here. a cheap usb one would be nice too.

music video idea

Free idea, comment if you want, steal it if you want.

Music videos. Since I have nothing better to make videos of, I could take a cool song from iTunes, take my camera, go around and shoot a video for it.

Right now I'm thinking maybe a Portishead tune, maybe at night, maybe near the student center.

Oh, and the music track will be on main speakers, ambient sounds will be on the surround channel.. just as soon as I build a surround encoder board, or find software to do it.

a nice, portable, mp3/wav recorder that has xlr inputs and solid state recording (maybe SD cards?) would be great for this. and for films in general.

a wide angle lens, and waterproof camera housing would be good too.

≠

Comfort:
  ≠ safety
  ≠ happiness

I hope someday to more fully understand their relationship to each other.

Riddle

In the Three Stooges short Some More Of Samoa, there is a line where Curly says: "Beat me, Daddy, down to the floor."

Word.

Something I didn't blog about.

A few months ago the IRC channel I would frequent broke up.
With tempers and egos flaring, it all changed forever. All due to a prank/attack on a channel operator's website.
I took this as my cue to leave. I figured I would never go back.
I haven't.

Now this may sound like nothing special, but these are people I have been talking to, usually on a daily basis; on and off for the last 6 years or so.

It was a very hard thing to leave. But I have. And I haven't gone back.
And I'm still decided that I won't.
I never posted a blog about it. I only did now because I was reminded about how bored I am when I'm up, and online, and there's nobody to talk to.

Dog

It's been rainy for two days, and Ralph has been wet and smelly.
I refused to let him in my bedroom to sleep last night. Same thing tonight.
I feel bad for him, but he's way too smelly to handle.
This has got to be a record. Poor dog probably thinks he's not loved anymore.
OH WELL!

Posture Update

I'm still correcting my posture.

Minor event

I met with some friends of mine at the bar and one of them starts having a burning sensation in her throat during a dart game. She's sitting down drinking water, I come over to ask her what's wrong. I offer to pray and she says, "Yeah, that'll help."
Can't say I blame her. I said something like, "yeah, well, you never know."
I'd really like if God would answer my prayers for healing with an immediate "Yes" more.
I should probably read another Bill Johnson book.

Nothing important

I'm making a conscious effort to correct my posture.

Og Mandino

I just read The Greatest Salesman In The World.
I watched a Matthew McConaughey interview by Barbara Walters tonight and he said that book changed his life. They even held up a copy on camera.
And more importantly, Greg, a previous pastor of mine mailed me a half dozen books by Og Mandino, and recommended that I read them.

I started on one, but never finished..
But this was the celebrity endorsement that tipped the scales.
I went to the bookstore at 10:30pm and read this book in one sitting.
It's good stuff. I'll be reading it over the next few months so I can remember it.

Perhaps this will help me to break out of my pattern of.... underachievment and defeat

Cars

I really love cars. Every once in a while I'll be driving, and see a rare sportscar, and I'll be reminded that I love cars.

I especially like cars that weren't officially imported into the US.

So... If I get a great high-paying job.. and if I think it's ok to spend money on such a thing.... I would really like to buy a Pontiac Solstice GXP in 2007.

Good Question

"...has any society, in the history of the world ever managed to legislate itself out of a moral decay?..."

This is a great, concise question.
I found it on another blog, the commenter was talking about Dr. Dobson.

Valentine

"Hilarical!...",

says Kelly V. of the Preparatory Post

"I think this one tops 'em all!..."

--Cindy of the Vineyard Vibe

"3 Stars!",

Proclaims Chris, Editor of Fictional Publication!

I received a heart-shaped potato for Valentine's day.
Here's the story.

Windows Media Format 6.75 MB

Yes, I realize it's large.. But it's worth it.
Download it anyway.

Dilemma

After watching Frontline: Sex Slaves I'm left wondering what I should do.

Violence against slave traders? Probably not. I don't have authority, and that's not Christian.
Go to the victims of this, or the people of the soviet bloc, preaching God, the truth, hope?.... Whatever I can do to make opportunities for people to know Him and have their lives changed?
I can't guarantee anything, I can't conjure up God on demand. I can talk about him, I can pray that He'll make himself known to these people.

Somewhere in the film or on the website I heard that the people in Moldova are so poor, 80% are below the poverty line, living on $30-$40 a week.
And that their own view of human life is so little that they would sell themselves into prostitution for money, or to send money to their families.

That's not to belittle their poverty or desparation, but that was basically a quote.

I'm not saying God will pay their bills, but there has to be another way.

I don't even know where to go with this.

How can my life make a difference? Why am I here in America, with wealth and opportunity? If I can't save the world by force, can I help Jesus save it with peace?

New Word

Kelly, who filmed "Mall Trip" with me taught me a new word today.
Hilarical; she called me it.

Sour Milk

Ryan just couldn't resist!
3.2 MB Windows Media Format
Unedited version available here (2.7 MB Windows Media Format) which you may like more.

What Time Is It?

Thanks to Ryan for the catch-phrase

Ralph Opens doors

This could be good or bad.
I taught Ralphie to open doors

Windows Media Format .5 MB

Comfort

The main reason I hold back, and why I think most people hold back from doing what is best is comfort.
Especially in this country. People don't expect pain or discomfort, they fear it, they avoid it.
Some people expect it.
God never said we wouldn't have pain or trouble if we came to Him. He did say He would be with us through it.
Fear, fear of discomfort is not an excuse.
And comfort is a cheap trade for God's plan.

If Money Was No Object

So, Mindy, a new girl at church asked me a question when we went out to lunch 2 weeks ago.
Something like "If you could do anything you wanted to today, and money was no object, what would you do?"
After a minute I gave my reply. "If money was no object, assuming I could have this same deal any day from now on, I would go on a missions trip."

If money was no object, money wouldn't even matter. And you could go surfing in Hawaii, or go to the moon, fly a fighter jet, anything.

Money would lose all value. You can do whatever you want. You might not want to do what you thought you would. Why go to the moon today when you could do that tomorrow or next week. Or you could do everything you could think of for a year straight.
Eventually only intangible things would have real value.
And of those, the only intangible things that would have real value are eternal things.
God things.

So what would I want to do if money was no object? A missions trip sounds nice.
Showing people God's love sounds good.

What would you do?

God's plan for all of us.

Maybe His plan for all of us is clearly and simply laid out in the Bible.
Maybe we are to sell our stuff and give to people as they have need, love people, go out and spread the Gospel. And probably other stuff I've forgotten to include.

What matters?

So, I was talking with Jonathan on the phone today for an hour.
Jonathan wants to live with other Christians and sell everything he owns, and give to everyone as they have need. He also wants to go out and love people as Jesus did.
Now, I dont speak for him, but that's what I think he's into.

Jonathan knows Andrew.

Jonathan wants to go sell everything he owns, and wants other people to do the same.
He wants to do it in anticipation of giving to others and living a true Christan life.
Some people (myself included at times) want to wait to hear EXACTLY what God says for me to do at any given moment.
But maybe he already said what to do in his word (the Bible).
Jonathan wants to do everything to get ready, leaving the last step up to God.
I don't think he's necessarily wrong, maybe he's right.. maybe he just wants to pursue God.
Maybe doing what you know to do in anticipation of His plan IS pursuing God.
More on what God's plan for all of us may be in my next post.

Andrew - Compartmentalizing Faith

Andrew - Compartmentalizing Faith

Windows Media Format 2.28 MB

Watch it, it speaks for itself.

God Pizza Distribution

This time we took Ryan with us to give out free pizza to the bar patrons outside Otto's.



Next time we'll tell him to keep his big mouth shut!



(just kidding, it's a joke picture, he's not been arrested)

Oh, Happy Day!

I have a new chance of life.
God is good.

New Insult

I call people a 'Garden Weasel'
It's great, it's like a weasel, or a garden variety of weasel or an inept gardening tool.
Either way it's a put-down, and it's funny.

If you don't think so, you are a garden weasel.

Snowmobile

The sled rides again!
and only needed $5 in parts!

WOOHOO!!

Elevator pic

Click to see the big picture. Elevators with chrome ceilings are cool!

Had a dream last night

It was so detailed, it could have been a movie.

I wish I had it all on videotape.

It centered around a house, there were bad people coming from the woods and cornfields, and dark lawns surrounding. They wanted to kill us, us being me and a family, I remember one of the kids looked like Dewey from Malcolm in the middle.

In the end, the cops finally showed up, but they weren't very effective. They drew their weapons, but I had to tell them, as I had told others, that you needed to think like the people attacking.. They were hunting, so you had to hunt them.
The usual defensive action wasn't working.

Strange and very cool thing was that during the dream a person went missing, and at the end of the dream, there is a 2nd scene where you get to see where they were, and what their story was. They were actually in the house, with another sub-storyline.
What was so cool about the dream was that the characters that were gone for different parts of the main dream were shown later, and their part of the story was revealed.

What made all of that stand out was that it was a non-linear dream.
and the weaving of the storylines was perfect. That's why it was screenplay-worthy.
It was really a mastery of writing if it were written in a book.

At the very beginning of the dream I actually looked back from the story and I and another person were actually reading pages from a book, we were commenting on the author, and how expertly it was written.

At the end of the dream, the house itself blows up, one of the enemy was in the house and made a suicide explosion. I think Dewey was in the house too.

I was a character in the dream, but I didn't make any actions that really changed the outcome. I was being hunted, I was part of the family, but I wasn't scared, I just felt duty.

I hope it recurs, I'd love to make a screenplay out of it.

Corrections

Oh, look below, I corrected the errors in my previous posts about 3D movies

Newest 3D movie

I adjusted the parallax (where the two cameras converge)
The first video I made had infinite parallax, the cameras never crossed.
On this latest one I made them cross at about 3ft.
Go Here
and click on cross_crop.mp4
Video 2.45mb Mpeg4

Fun at the mall

Went to the mall with my friend Kelly from Carbondale.
This was fun!
Video 3.15mb Windows Media Format

3D Movie

I've made two 3D videos. I haven't had enough time to perfect it, but it works.
To view the video you must cross your eyes until the two images become one.
Well, one in the middle, and two ghost images on the sides.

Try it out on this image.

The movie is a 9MB Mpeg4 movie. Available Here
Quicktime 7 will view it.
I suggest downloading it to disk, give it a shift-click and it should download.
cool, eh?

3D update

I was able to get closer to completion of the basic deisgn.
The rig is still not built, and will probably only be good for outdoor shots when it is completed.
The angles are just too extreme, and the rig will likely be a box the size of an window air conditioner.

SUCK!

so I guess I'll have to reverse engineer a pair of USB logitech quickcams

=\

Fun with Forks

MPEG-4 movie ~800k
On second thought, let's not talk at The Junction, it's a silly place.

5 a.m.

So I slept about 2 1/2 hrs. I woke up at 5 am.
It sucks to be awake at 5 am.

When I was a kid, about 11 yrs old, a girl from my church was killed while on a field trip at O'Hare airport.

She was younger than me, I forget exactly how old she was, I think about 8.

She was a friend-- really the younger sister of a friend of mine.

I remember thinking to myself, before the accident, before she died, that I could never picture her growing up, growing old, or ever getting married.

I don't think I thought that same thing about anyone else I knew then, and haven't thought it about anyone to this day.

Sometimes I've wondered if I'd die young. Not like tomorrow, but say before I hit 40.

I don't know.
I suppose it doesn't matter.

Her name was Rebecca... Becky.
Out of all the kids at my church then, heck, even the adults, she stood out to me as the most godly, the most like Jesus.

There was this *good* inside of her, it was strange and well, good.
After she was gone there was something that makes it harder and at the same time easier to rationalize. It sounds cliché, but she was too good for this world. Her oddness (said with love) was to me some kind of indication or explanation for why God called her up.
That *oddness* is an indecipherable clue. I can't use it to make a case of why she should or shouldn't have been taken away, but you sense there is a significance to it.

I wonder why she was sent here, sent to live just a few years, bringing joy while she was here, and pain when she left. Who was she sent to affect?

When I think of myself dieing young. It's not because I think I'm the same caliber of Christian. I believe she was a truer reflection of Christ than me, mostly.
But then, I don't think I'll die tomorrow. ;)
And who's to say I'm a lesser Christian? I can't judge that.

Under The Overpass

Just read this book, it has been inspiring. I love it, it reminds me that things like this can and should be done.
Under The Overpass
It's about two guys who spent 5 months on the streets living with, and being themselves -- homeless