Groovy Sputum

LOST

Did you watch LOST tonight? Was that the best episode ever or what! They have written many neat, weird, quirky twists into this series, but the whole time/mind travel thing was really cool. I have to say that I think that this is my favorite episode so far in the whole LOST experience. There have been like 80 episodes, right? This one is by far the top of my list.

For those of you that don’t know, I started watching LOST when the network was running re-runs between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2004. I just happened upon the first episode and told Valerie about this new show where a bunch of plane crash survivors were on a strange island with polar bears and stuff. She watched episode 2 with me and we have been hooked ever since. It is the only show we watch.

The thing that makes it so unique is the character development. So many shows anymore are all plot or just use sarcasm or filthy humor as the basis of the show. LOST lets you into the lives of these people and you begin to understand them, see yourself in them, and realize that they are not much different than yourself in a lot of ways. Sure they survived a major plane crash and are stranded on a tropical island with a bunch of strange Others who have lived there for a while and there are these crazy hatches everywhere and no one from the main land seems to know the place exists, but other than that, they are just like you and me. Oh, and they had to push a button every 108 minutes or the world would blow up…and these certain numbers keep popping up everywhere…and everyone seems to have murdered someone in their previous life…other that that, they are just like you and me. That’s why the show is so good.

The Greatest Sight In Sports & Dresses

I couldn’t sleep last night and was flipping through the channels which is dangerous, I know. As I flipped, I began to see some of the most unbelievable things I have ever seen. They weren’t incredible daredevil feats or mind boggling surgeries or one of a kind musical performances (although, Stevie Wonder on BET was awesome). They were the words spewing from the mouths of the individuals commenting on events that occurred over the weekend.

The Oscars were last night (didn’t watch) and I started my channel surfing after they were over. Apparently, this “red carpet” thing is a big deal because there was show after show after show reviewing what the people were wearing when the stepped out of their limos. Are you serious? It wasn’t just one show either. There were many, many, many HOUR LONG special shows that dealt EXCLUSIVELY with what movie stars were clothed in. Here’s the kicker: these no-name losers had the gall to categorize these actors as either being “glam” or a “sham”. Are you serious? Now, I am not saying that some didn’t look better than others (can you really expect Bette Midler to look the same as Heidi Klum), but they all looked very nice. These commentators went on and on and on about how good this make up was and how horrible these shoes were and how cute this handbag was and what this person could have done better with her hair. Are you serious? Why is this even on my tv? I always thought the Oscars was about the best in the movie industry. Apparently not.

The other amazing thing was the following quote:

“This is one of the greatest spectacles in professional sports!”

He wasn’t talking about the Super Bowl trophy presentation. He wasn’t talking about the Stanley Cup presentation. He wasn’t talking about the Masters green jacket presentation. He was referring to the B.A.S.S. Classic fishing tournament trophy presentation. Are you serious? You think a guy with a dorky mustache holding up two fish by the mouth wearing a bowling shirt with a gazillion logos on it (most of which are for snuff or bait) sporting a mullet is the greatest spectacle in professional sports? What is the world coming to? He went on and on about how this guy made a great catch and how that guy regretted using this lure and how this other guy is one of the best up-and-coming pro fisherman. Are you serious? Dude, you have got to start watching SportsCenter because fishing isn’t even a sport.

Needless to say, I now feel like I have seen it all. The height of vanity. The height of delusion.

Groovy Or Sputum

I have been working feverishly the last few days ripping all of my CD’s onto iTunes so I can fully enjoy my new found iPod while I am working. This has been a tiresome activity, but I have been able to get reacquainted with many artists and songs that, at one time or another, I really liked but had somehow forgotten about. I have also discovered a number of things about my music collection and myself that I thought I would share.

1. I am very narrow minded in the music that I purchase. Most of my CD’s are the singer/songwriter type who primarily play the guitar.
2. I really like Chris Rice. I already knew that, but the last few days has confirmed it all the more.
3. I really don’t like Michael W. Smith. I have nearly every one of his albums for some unknown reason. I think it is a throw back to my formative years when my older siblings listened to him. Other artists from the early 80’s are not really around anymore (can you say Petra, Whiteheart, Bryan Duncan, and D&K) but Smitty just keeps putting out the albums. I guess I feel obligated to keep the collection going, but I really don’t like him.
4. Finally, I realized that I don’t have much new music. I have a lot from my college years (mid to late 90’s) and I have kept up with my core artists (Rice, SCC, Fernando, Switchfoot, Bebo, Jars), but I have not ventured out much like I did in my college days.

So, I have a project for all of my readers (that’s about 11, in case you’re wondering). Take a look my current mix tape playlist and give me some feedback. Which artists are groovy? Which ones are just plain sputum? Based on what I am listening to now, do you have any suggestions for new albums? I will probably do my annual Sound & Spirit subscription soon and want to freshen up my music library.

The Blog That’s Not A Blog

Sunday was supposed to be our launch of the new church website, but due to many things, it has been put off until March 2nd. I think that date is pretty solid, mostly because Pastor Mike announced it from the pulpit on Sunday, gave out the web address, and said it would be up on that day. I figured that I would spend some time explaining a few things about the site that I think are rather unique.

When you think of a blog, even a church blog, you typically think of a Blogger or WordPress layout: a header image that changes with the seasons, one large column with the 5 or 6 latest posts, and a side bar filled with widgets and such. This is fine for a personal blog, but it’s not what I had in mind for our church site. I wanted to have an area where we could put static data (like service times, a map, statement of faith, etc.) but reserve the majority of the page area for posts. Here’s the catch: I wanted to display a number of posts from a variety of categories on the page in a way that readers could see them all.

After investigating many themes available for WordPress, I found that 99% of them don’t separate posts based on category nor do they display posts in multiple places. Then I discovered the phrase magazine style theme. After a Google search with that phrase, I found a number of themes that would do what I wanted. They all are built primarily for newspapers or magazines that display their info in separate categories. Some of my favorites are The Morning After, Mimbo, Structure, and Grid Focus. Others I found are Gridlock, Visionary, and a number of themes by Upstart Blogger.

After trying a few, I finally settled on the Mimbo theme due to it’s classic styling and use of custom fields. If you are a Seinfeld fan, you will recognize the name. Funny stuff. Anyway, I made a few changes to the sidebar and the CSS file, but not many. The first thing you see when you go to the site is the latest post from the pastor. Below it are the three latest testimonies as well as the latest post from the children, youth, and adult categories. The announcements are in the top right corner and are actually posts with only theirs title showing. The nice thing about this is that they show up on the page as bulleted lines, but are sent as posts via the rss feed.

When visitors come to the site, they have access to 12 posts from 6 different categories as well as navigation and special event banners. This is exactly what I wanted. A traditional blog format shoves all of the content to the bottom or the archives and the viewer has to search for the content they want. With a magazine style format, the viewer always sees the latest post from each category, regardless of when it was posted.

The static info that rarely changes is confined to pages and can be accessed via the drop down navigation bar at the top. The titles showing are the parent pages and the drop down choices are children of those parents. The only pages that will change much will be the events. I am planning to create a new page for each special event we have and then link the side banner ads to them. When the event is first presented, it will be written up and categorized into either the children, youth, or adult areas as a post. As the event approaches, I will create a post in the announcement category so that a reminder is sent to any one subscribing to the site feed.

So, that’s it. I think the overall visual appearance is nice (conservative, yet modern in a techie way) and it functions the way I had it in my head. I would love to hear what you think about the concept and design. We haven’t gone live yet, so who knows, maybe something you suggest will be worked into the final product!

Lost And Found: Update

The lost CD has been found!

Apparently, Steven Curtis Chapman wanted to get better acquainted with Brandon Heath because they were both in the same jewel sleeve in my car CD case. I want to thank iTunes for this discovery as I found the lost CD while I was loading my extensive SCC collection onto my computer. I think this may have been one of those Iamdrivingandtryingtochangecds instances where I got it wrong, or it could have been one of daddy’s little helpers trying to be “helpful” by putting a CD away before they could read. Either way, I am happy to be grooving to BH once again.

Lost And Found

Have you ever heard the CD by Brandon Heath called Don’t Get Comfortable? I did…once. I can’t find the dang thing now. I had it last fall and somehow in our move and sorting of stuff, it has been misplaced. Actually, I am not sure if I actually lost it or if I let someone borrow it and it has not been returned. I have that habit myself (of not returning things) and I completely understand the shame of trying to return something that you have had so long that you forget why you borrowed it in the first place. Why don’t we do this: I’ll give back your stuff if you give me back mine. We’ll have our own little amnesty program. Seriously, if you have my CD, I want it back. Really.

That’s the lost part of this post. Here’s the found part:

My sister persuaded my mom to purchase an iPod shuffle last fall in hopes that it would liven up my mother’s commute to and from Mansfield. The purchase was also designed to aide mom in leading music with the kids at church. Why lug 20 CDs around when you can dump 500 songs on a machine the size of a pack of gum. Sounds logical to me. The problem is, mom misplaced her Apple wonder. We I have been scouring the house in hopes that I might find the little green thing and put it to good use. Well, on Tuesday evening, I came across a little brown paper bag in mom’s closet that contained said iPod. When I plugged it into my computer to see if it still worked, I noticed that the device was named “Carol’s Pod”. I quickly erased the contents, restored all the settings to the factory defaults and renamed it iGroove. I should have named it iFound since, you know, I found it. I have spent the last few days loading all my music into iTunes and grooving while I work. I have been pretty pleased with my find.

Now if I only had some Brandon Heath to listen to.

T-Minus 5 Days

I met with Pastor Mike last week and showed him the initial build for the CFAC web site and he really liked it. I thought about providing a link for you to check it out, but because the content is just gibberish, I decided to wait until the site is up and running to reveal it.

Some of you may be wondering why I appear to have an obsession with WordPress. Well, when I first investigating CMS (content management systems), I realized that there were many to choose from. I had a list of criteria that the CMS needed to have, and as I began to investigate the possibilities, a few platforms really stuck out. Here is what I was looking for:

1. Open Source (i.e. free)
2. Well supported and tested
3. Large community of users for support and the sharing of layouts & customizable features (because I an not that creative)
4. Built on an open source database (again, free)
5. Easy to use login and user interface (if it is too difficult to change, the site will never be updated)
6. Blog ready, but not necessarily blog only
7. Able to be self hosted with my domain name (I didn’t want third party ads or logos on the site nor did I want my domain name to be whatever.blogityblogblogblog.com)

Based on these criteria, I narrowed my choices to Joomla! and WordPress. They are nearly identical platforms and fit my criteria to a tee, but I eventually chose WordPress because of the out-of-the-box blog features. Although Joomla! can be used as a blog, there is much more set up and customization involved to get there.

The more I have used WordPress, the more impressed with it I have been. It uses MySQL as it’s database and runs on Linux servers. It uses the scripting language php to access the database, although some programmers have complained that it is not a true php, but a modified version of it. I honestly don’t care because it is fairly intuitive and anyone with the slightest bit of scripting background can figure out the syntax. WordPress also has a huge following of users and that means tons of extras like themes and plugins (a small program that provides an extra service not normally preformed by the CMS). The main WordPress site also has a large resource area to assist people like me in customizing.

In my research leading up to our church web site, I came across many churches using all kinds of blog software. In my opinion, those running Joomla! or WordPress were by far the nicest. They just seemed to strike the right balance between and online billboard and an online community. I think that is really what I am going for. Too much of either and the site becomes a static ad or simply a church forum. I am not interested in either of those.

So, we are set to go live on Sunday. When you see it, I hope your reaction is, “Wow, that doesn’t look like a WordPress blog.” I am planning on explaining what we did with the layout in a future post, so stay tuned for more!

The Flywheel

My family watched a movie called Flywheel last evening and, although it was not the greatest production, cinematography, or acting, I really enjoyed it. It was produced by a church. The same church, in fact, that produced Facing The Giants. Flywheel is the story of a used car salesman who is not very honest in his dealing and is having a rough time in his personal relationships as well. He ends up giving his life to Jesus and trying to live in a way that honors God. This means selling cars at an honest price and also going back to those he had cheated and offering a rebate to make things right.

The thing I liked about it was that the situations and outcomes are not that far fetched. In some inspirational movies, the “miracle” that occurs is not at all believable (Because Of Winn Dixie, comes to mind). Good story, but not believable. Flywheel is. I have seen the hand of God work in ways such as this and it is neat to have it portrayed in a real way, a way that isn’t over exaggerated, and a way that is not intended to mock or ridicule.

Watching this also made me think of the times that I have seen God move and do mighty things for ordinary people. Many time, those mighty things happened to my parents and I saw them happen in our home as a child. I really want God to do those kinds of things for me, not because I need them, but because I need my kids to see Him being faithful. I can think of no better way for my faith in the Lord to be transfered to my children that to have Him be faithful in my life. This is a challenge sometimes, especially in light of some of the things I believe He is calling us to do with our family and home. My faith is not very strong sometimes, but I pray that He will remain faithful and show Himself strong in spite of my weakness.

Ford: Found On Road Dead

A few weeks ago, when it got really cold, my van wouldn’t start. It was a Sunday morning and I thought it was just due to the cold and that I might need a new battery. I hooked up a set of jumper cables to mom’s SUV and after a few minutes, Moby started.

We went to church and when I tried to start it up afterwards, it did the same thing. I turn the key and all I heard was a click. We tried to jump it without success, but when a guy from church crawled under and tapped the started, she fired up.

Later that night we were at a friends house for dinner and, sure enough, it wouldn’t start. We tried to jump it and we tried to tap the starter, but neither worked. Finally, we took a screwdriver and placed it across the two starter electrodes, effectively hot wiring the starter. It fired up and we thought we had figured out the problem.

I screwdriver started it on Monday and took it to the Ford dealer because it is still under warranty. I told them what the problem was expecting them to replace the starter. Well, they didn’t because it started for them every time they tried. I left it there all week hoping it would get cold enough to not start, but it never did.

I am a bit upset because according to Ford, once 36k turns on my odometer, the towing, labor, and parts are all on my dime if this happens again. That will happen in about 500 miles.

So, I am hoping it gets cold enough tonight for my van not to start tomorrow morning. I know, it sounds crazy to want your vehicle NOT to start, but I really want this fixed and off my mind. The only way that can happen (and have Ford pay for it) is for it not to start soon.

Stuffing The Stuff

We started watching Andy Griffith last fall with the kids and wound up going through the first two seasons in about 8 weeks. Then, we started in on The Waltons and devoured the first two seasons of that in a little over 10 weeks. Now, we are into the first season of Little House on the Prairie. We just watched the 4th episode.

I have noticed a few things as we have been vegging in front of the tube. First, I enjoy not seeing commercials with my kids. Actually, I notice this more when I try to watch anything on network tv with my kids. I know there are rules as to what can be shown at what time, but whoever makes these rules sure isn’t trying to raise Godly kids. It’s embarrassing.

The second thing noticed is more of a historical observation: people tend to be happier the less things they have. The author of The Waltons is always mentioning how he and his family had nothing growing up, yet they were always happy and really didn’t notice their lack of stuff. I read a report on a news site the other day about how depression is at an all time high in the U.S., yet people are more affluent than ever.

Now, I am not saying a kid living in the street is in paradise, but I do think that the excess stuff of this world chokes out much of life’s joys. The abundance of stuff we have also tend to warp our thinking so that we are pre-occupied with self-gratification. We become self centered creatures who seek more stuff so that we can be entertained.

If you compared my life with that of others in this country, you would say that we live modestly. In fact, some would question our ability to provide even the basics of life with my salary. The reality is we have TONS more stuff than the average family dreamed of even 30 years ago. The biggest thing we have is the ability to access information and entertainment media. And there is an endless supply.

I haven’t yet decided how I am going to respond to these observations, but I feel that there is a change coming. Really, this is an extension of my thought in this post, just a different angle. I guess I just want my kids (and myself) to cherish relationships and people more than entertainment and things. That is very difficult to teach in this day and age. We have already started to cut down on tv and computer time, but I feel like more is needed. Maybe the change needs to take place with me rather than just with the kids. I’ll keep you posted.