RevMcGator

Moving Day

2009-06-09T16:12:00.003-04:00

We're moving.

After much preparation and many long hours, we're not fully ready, but it's time to make the move anyway. Our time here has been good. We've enjoyed it. But now it's time to go.

Did I mention I'm talking about this blog? This, my 238th post on RevMcGator, will be the last. While this space will continue to exist - just because - head on over to our new space - SarcasticMonkeys.com. All 237 previous posts from RevMcGator are there. And a brand new post briefly explaining the move will greet you.

This has been a goal of mine for awhile. In fact, anyone that has visited my Twitter page has seen the new website address on my Twitter background for the last several months.

Come on over. We're still getting organized, unpacking boxes, hanging curtains and stuff, but we hope you'll like it. Bring the family.

(So long, Blogger!)

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner [Mc]

2009-05-29T20:43:00.007-04:00

The last week has me thinking about vision, and not in the metaphorical sense that churches and ministers often talk about. You might have seen my Tweets or Facebook status about what has happened, but here's the whole story.

Several weeks ago - and I won't get the timing of events before this week exactly right - our friend, Annette, told Trudi about a contest in the newspaper from a local ophthalmologist with a prize of free Lasik surgery. Trudi has talked before about how much she would like to have that done, but it is quite expensive. As much as she would like to have it done, she also loves me [:)] and asked Shae to write a nomination letter to get me into the contest.

They didn't tell me they were doing this. Here is Shae's letter:

"My dad has worn corrective lenses since he was a kid. He's never complained, except for muttering under his breath when he lost his contact on the bathroom floor or when we found a picture of him in his third grade "Harry Potter" look... which is not good, since he was rocking those owl-eyed specs decades before the little wizard ever existed. He's been a good sport about getting short-changed in the eye department, but when my mom read the blurb in the News-Press about this prize, we both knew we wanted to win for Dad.
So we did a little digging. I've never seen my Dad budge without his contacts or his glasses. From the moment he wakes up, he's wearing something to help him see. I knew his eyes were bad, I just didn't know how bad until we called his eye doctor. As it turns out, my poor father has 20/400 vision, plus an astigmatism. According to the doctor, without corrective lenses, he can't see a hand in front of his face. I may be eighteen, but I still haven't lost the sense of seeing my dad as a superhero who can fix anything, so it was a shock to hear that without those clunky lenses, he would be considered legally blind.

I'm nominating my dad because I love him and because, frankly, he deserves it. He's been a pastor since 1990. His job is to help others, whether they're a long-time member of the church or just a visitor passing through. He's wonderful at his job, but he's even better as a dad. He gave us his sense of humor, his values on right and wrong, his love of chocolate, and his brown eyes. I love those eyes because they're his eyes... and mine. He's done so much for everyone else, so I would love to be able to do this one thing for him. Please pick my father, Reverend Tim McDaniel. Let him ditch those Clark Kent spectacles, so everyone else can see the Superman that we see."

Okay, obviously she stretched it a bit. I'm not Clark Kent, Superman or even Jimmy Olsen. Although, I might be close to Jimmy. However, the part about my eyes is true. Without glasses or contacts, I can't focus beyond about six inches. Other than that, it kind of sounds like I'm a doddering old guy. Which I might be.

Anyway, the Giving Eyes contest is offered by Collins Vision and Dr. Michael Collins. He is a rather young-looking doctor who specializes in Lasik surgery. Ann, a very nice lady from his office, called in late April to say that I was one of four finalists. She was very excited for us and seemed to be really impressed by Shae's letter.

The next thing to be done was to be examined, to find out if my eyes were eligible for the Lasik procedure. My appointment was yesterday, May 28. To prepare for the appointment, I had to go for a week without my contacts, wearing only my glasses.

Wearing my glasses is annoying, because they aren't up to my current prescription, and wearing them is just bothersome anyway, but I was happy to do it, because of the possibility of winning the contest.

At the same time, I went into this without much expectation, not because I didn't want the prize, or because I doubted that I might win. Recently I was reading Dan Ariely's book, Predictably Irrational (see the link on my sidebar), and he was talking about how we are prone to acting in certain ways, especially when we take "ownership" of things. There are good results to taking ownership, and there are not-so-good results, especially when we take ownership of things that don't belong to us. The funny thing is, we can easily take ownership of things ahead of time. That's the whole basis of advertising, getting the consumer to picture themselves in ownership of what they're trying to sell.

I didn't want to "own" a prize that wasn't mine. As a result, I kept my expectations down. Paradoxically, I fully expected to win. I can't explain why, other than I thought Shae's letter was really good and I had been told that the other finalists had been self-nominated.

Yesterday I went to the Collins Vision office, where I was treated very nicely and got to meet Ann, Dr. Collins, and the rest of the office staff. Dr. Collins' assistant ran several tests on my eyes, and he remarked that I seemed well-qualified for Lasik.

The last thing he did was dilate my eyes and sent me out to the waiting room. As I sat there, a tall man came in and announced himself to the receptionist as Gary Danielson. For those that don't know, he was quarterback of the Detroit Lions back in 1976-1984, and currently is the lead analyst for CBS Sports' Southeastern Conference football broadcasts. Both of those things are important to me, since I am a Lions fan since before he was quarterback (Greg Landry) and I really enjoy his commentating (along with Verne Lundquist) on the CBS broadcasts.

How cool, I thought. I wanted to say something, but didn't really want to bother him, especially since I didn't have anything particularly interesting to say. In the end, I left him alone, since no one else in the waiting room seemed to know who he was. I did Tweet that he was there, though.

Eventually I went in and met Dr. Collins, who was very nice, and he did further tests on my eyes. These were the most painful. He had to shine very bright lights in my eyes, which with my eyes dilated, was like poking the sun in my eye.

After he was finished, he confirmed that my eyes were suited to Lasik. However, my left eye, which seems to be my dominant eye, is weaker than my right eye. He said that he doesn't think my left eye would be able to be fully corrected to 20/20. Because I am at the age where my close vision isn't perfect, he would normally fully correct my dominant eye and leave the other eye less than fully corrected for distance so that I wouldn't need reading glasses. But, because of the weakness of my dominant eye, he wouldn't suggest that for me, choosing rather to fully correct both eyes.

This morning, bright and early, Ann called. I was chosen as the winner! She said the surgery date would be July 10 for what normally would be a $4900 procedure, but will be free to me. This is an advanced Lasik procedure that is $1000 more than their regular Lasik.

The problem is that I am scheduled to leave on July 11 for National Bible Quiz Finals in St. Louis. Ann said she would check with Dr. Collins, because a post-op check-up is necessary. She also mentioned that they had checked online and found my Twitter account. They saw my Tweet about Gary Danielson, which they thought was "cute", and hoped to get an autograph for me.

Later, she contacted me and we've set the date. Unfortunately, my trip has messed up the July date, and surgery is now scheduled for Friday, September 4th. It's disappointing to wait, but it'll be great when it's here.

That's the story. I'm a winner. I'll keep you up-to-date here. God is good to me.

Useful, but not used [Gator]

2009-05-26T13:40:00.000-04:00

Back to my iPhone.

No, that's not a movie with Justin Long reprising the role of Marty McFly. (Though, presumably, Steve Jobs would be Doc.)

Neither is it the mythical Back to My Mac application that somehow never gets me all the way back to mine.

No, you see, a few posts ago I began a look at all the applications that are on my iPhone. Apple was approaching the one billionth iPhone app sold through the App Store, and I'd like to think I was a part of that.

Much has happened since then. The billionth app was sold. My iPhone died. It was my third, so iPhone #4 had to be reloaded and resynced. I traveled a lot. The Celtics beat the Bulls in 7 games. I listened to many podcasts. I found a need for flatulence applications.

But I'm back on topic, and ready to show you Page 8, and the 10 apps that are currently there.

See, that's the thing right there. Four weeks ago, when I began this series of reviews, I only had 8 apps on page 8. That's what happens with the App Store. There are so many interesting and useful apps, so many of which are free, it's easy to go into app-overload. In the meantime, some that were originally on the back 40 that is page 8 got moved up, and other apps got moved to the back. So, before any more apps get shuffled around, here is...

Page Eight
As the post title says, these apps might be useful, they're just not being used by me often enough for them to be nearer the front page. But, like an old belt, they might come in handy sometime, so I'm not ready to put them in the Trash just yet.

YouNote is a neat little utility that allows you to capture notes, pictures, recordings, doodles, or web pages inside this app. These can then be backup and/or restored to/from your computer using a desktop app. Both apps are free.

Scrooge & Cratchit is a free e-book from author Matt McHugh that is written as a sequel to Christmas Carol. I thought it was a very interesting way to follow-up the original story, exploring what the natural progression would look like if Scrooge had really had as much of a change of heart as it first appeared.

Stitcher is a free app that bills itself as "personalized audio" and tries to pass itself off as a radio station aggregator, ala AOL Radio. It is actually nothing more than a podcast aggregator. Once upon a time, that was cool, but since podcasts can now be downloaded directly through iTunes, it is no longer necessary. (I really should go ahead and delete it.)

Wanted is one of many silly, specialized apps that are one gag. The gag with this app is that you can make your own wanted posters from pictures on your phone. You can then save them to your photo library, which you can then sync back to iPhoto to do whatever you like.

The tools and little things you can add to your pictures are surprisingly good. As you can see from this picture of Summer, the finalized pictures are sepia-toned images, which look like the old time wanted posters. You have the option to customize your poster with names, wanted amounts and other choices. Wanted is a free app.

HandDBase is one of the few apps I've paid for, and, at $9.99 is tied for the most expensive app I've purchased so far. This relational database manager from DDH Software has its roots in the Windows world, so there are some limitations on the Mac. The biggest limitation is that syncronization is mostly on the PC side. I purchased this app because of limited choices at the time and a desire to begin some inventory management at the church. However, data entry via the app isn't as intuitive or easy as I had hoped, and the inability to store pictures in a field is very disappointing. Overall, if I lived in the PC world exclusively, I would really like this app. But I don't.

[Okay, at this point, I've got to confess...you might even be interested in all this, but I'm losing interest. I've worked on this piece several different days, for a couple hours at a time, and it seems like I'll never finish. This is it. I've got the rest of this page of apps and seven more besides, but I don't want to write about it anymore. Since this is my blog, I won't. If you have a question about any of these apps, I'll be happy to answer. Otherwise...let's go on to something else.]

Why many wept, but not for joy [Mc]

2009-05-13T22:59:00.002-04:00

I did not weep for joy. But I agree with everything else that John Piper says in this video.

Showroom condition [Mc]

2009-05-07T20:05:00.007-04:00

Imagine you've just purchased your dream car. You've worked and saved and maybe even borrowed to get the thousands of dollars necessary to acquire your fantasy vehicle.

I don't know what your dream machine is - Lamborghini, Porsche, Corvette, Cadillac, Lexus, Mercedes - in your favorite color scheme, with all the bells and whistles. Fancy wheels, tricked out...your absolute ultimate ride. And it's all yours.

Imagine how you would feel. Imagine how you would care for it. Picture it in your driveway.

Now picture yourself applying a "My other car is a Pinto" bumper sticker on the side of your beautiful car.

Would that be funny? Edgy? Cool? Dumb?

I don't see too many bumper stickers on really expensive cars, especially applied to the paint. Not only do they change the look of a vehicle (usually not for the better), but they ruin the paint if you ever decide to remove them.

People understand that about cars. They don't mind posting their emotions on their cars if they're sure those feelings will never change. But, even then, if they really value their vehicle and value the way it looks, they usually won't apply a sticker to it...or will they?

If you put a bumper sticker on your car, you value the sentiment you are expressing more than you value your vehicle. Perhaps expressing yourself in this way feels very important.

Otherwise, you could stay silent and it wouldn't matter.

But we think it does matter, and it's important to us that every other person on the road knows who are favorite team is, what candidate we're voting for, how we feel about hot-button topics, and where our honor student goes to school. Even if that means that everyone knows we backed the losing candidate or the unpopular position.

Of course, we know our cars won't last forever. Eventually we'll get tired of them, just as we get tired of the stickers we've attached to them. Even our dream car will wear out.

Yet, I think if we really value the car - our fabulously appointed and richly detailed dream car, or even our regular, but shiny family sedan - we won't muck it up with bumper stickers, because we recognize that a car that retains the beauty of "showroom condition" is more valuable than a car with our favorite witty saying hanging off of it.

So...

...how much do you value the body God gave you?

[This articles was inspired by this post on TwentyTwoWords.com]

FinallyFast = FantasticallyStupid [Gator]

2009-05-03T21:56:00.003-04:00

File this one under "Commercials I Can't Stand".

If it was just dumb, I don't think I would mention it. If it were crass or boring, I wouldn't be writing about it. This crosses the line, past stupid, almost to criminal.

I just saw it again, and immediately said to myself - that's it, I'm writing about this.

The commercial is for FinallyFast.com. It begins with a guy complaining that his new computer is really slow. Then...well, watch this two-minute version, then we'll talk...

Did you hear the announcer? "Make any computer fast." Of course, he says that while the text on-screen tells you that FinallyFast is for PC computers only. That means, not Macs.

But, wait...what was it the first guy, the one complaining about his slow computer, was using? An old iMac. And the second person in the commercial was using...a MacBook.

On further inspection, Ascentive, the company touted as having been featured in BusinessWeek and Forbes, WAS indeed featured in Forbes...in 2002...for its program that lets users spy on supposedly private instant messages. That's right...they were featured for...spyware.

Nice. And evil. And a site and company to avoid.

Doing my part [Gator]

2009-04-17T23:42:00.009-04:00

[Warning: for those that are bored by computer-talk, especially as pertains to software and the iPhone, this post...and the ones to follow...are not for you. You've been warned.]

Apple is currently counting towards the billionth download from their iPhone app store. I know I've done my part. Ever since the update of the iPhone last summer, when the App Store opened, there have been an ever-increasing variety of cool and useful apps. Most of the ones I choose are free.

Currently we are restricted to nine pages of apps. At 16 per page, plus the four on the bottom bar, that means you can have a total of 148 apps on your iPhone at any one time. I don't have that many, but I do have 102.

So, as a public service...um, okay, whatever...here are all 102 of my apps, why I have them, why I do or don't use them, and anything else that might help you decide to add them to your phone or not.

I've organized my nine pages from most important to least important, mostly. And the four most critical apps are on my home row - the row at the bottom that appears on every page.

We start with the least important, on...

Page Nine
The apps on this page made it here for one very important reason - I don't use them. It doesn't mean they're bad or useless...necessarily. But I don't use them. Ever. So why are they here at all? Why haven't I deleted them? Well...I MIGHT use them. Maybe. Sometime. Okay, I know I won't, but I can't bring myself to delete them.

There are some apps I have deleted. Some good ones, too. Probably the best one I've deleted is the Masters app. But the Masters is over, so I won't need it. There were a couple NCAA Basketball Tournament apps I deleted, too.

As for these apps, the top row contains four Twitter apps that all have some great features and work quite well, though somewhat differently from each other. In fact, at one time I was using all four of them, in order to manage my different Twitter accounts (follow me at Twitter.com/TimMcDaniel.) Probably my favorite of the four was Twitterific. All four of them are free.

UReport is a free Fox News app, that allows you to submit news stories to Fox. Never used it.

SmileDialLite is a neat little free app that does one thing - it allows you to store the photo of one of your contacts with their contact information. Then, when you start the program, you see your contact's photo full-screen, and when you tap the bottom half of the picture, it dials their phone number. If you tap the top half, it will send them a text. Of course, this has limited appeal, since you can only store one person. SmileDial Pro allows multiple people for $3.99. Nice gimmick, but I don't need it.

Lightsaber is the official Star Wars app. Cool, but I don't use it. (It's free.)

Air Sharing is probably the most useful app I never use. It allows you to wirelessly move files from your computer to your iPhone and vice-versa. It works. It's easy. Why don't I use it? Um...I don't know. Perhaps it's because I don't usually need to. But it's there in case I do.

I got Air Sharing for free, during an introductory offer. Now it costs $4.99 through the App Store.

You'll notice that at the bottom of my screen, in my home row, are my four most critical apps, and they're not the four that Apple pre-determined should be my four most critical apps.

Okay, three out of four are. The Phone, Safari, and iPod apps are far and away the most important things about the iPhone, because, well, it IS a phone, the internet is always important, and, as much as it's a phone, it's also an iPod.

The fourth app in my home row is one of the few apps I've paid for. It's also the reason the other four Twitter apps ended up on the ninth page. Tweetie is $2.99, and it takes the place of the other apps mainly because it handles multiple accounts. I update my Twitter status - and also my Facebook status via Twitter - many times a day. I also have Twitter accounts for the church (Twitter.com/FaithAssembly), my BibleQuizPodcast (Twitter.com/BQPodcast), and a couple of others, so this has become an important app.

Next: The 8 on page 8.

It's Sunday, but Monday's coming! [Rev]

2009-04-12T23:00:00.000-04:00

How many similarities and differences do you see between Easter for today's church and Easter for those that experienced the first one? Of course, the differences are many - egg hunts, sales and shopping, chocolate bunnies, to name a few.

But one of the biggest differences also leads to one of the biggest similarities.

The first Easter was rather low-key, I would imagine. Jesus' followers were still in hiding and shock from the events of the crucifixion. Even hearing the news that Jesus was alive, there had to be disbelief, numbness, confusion - as evidenced by the conversation of the disciples traveling to Emmaus.

On the other hand, Easter in American churches is decidedly...loud. We know that it might be the only chance we have to impress those that will only enter our doors this one time, so we pull out all the stops. For many churches that means a production - a BIG production. Even several days of the big production.

And then?

That's where there can be an important similarity. What do you do when what seems like the big finish becomes the big beginning? How do you refocus when events seem to have reached their peak, when the credits should roll and everyone should live happily ever after...and Monday comes?

For James, John, Peter and the gang, three years of preparation had led them to Jerusalem and a terrible ending. The Messiah was taken and killed. One of their group had betrayed him and their entire purpose had vanished on a cross. Then Easter morning came and the terrible ending suddenly became something else entirely.

The fatigue of wasted emotion gave way to exhilaration, then to a new reality for this small group. The Messiah HAD come, but it wasn't what they had expected. Suddenly there was the responsibility of a continued and sustained...something. Something, that would become the Church.

It became the beginning of the most important fifty days in the life of the Church. Fifty days later, there was power in the upper room and God breaking through in the streets. It all started on a Monday.

That's where we are, the beginning of fifty important days in the life of the Church.

The big productions came and went. The songs were sung, the big outreaches to kids and families were produced, all hands were on deck and the ships sailed. (Okay, I mix my metaphors and overdo it a bit...and tend to run-on my sentences, but hopefully you get the idea.)

And the question for all is...now what?

Monday.

We'll debrief the weekend. We'll think about the next big event. We'll gameplan for the summer. We'll try to recover physically and emotionally from what we've used in the productions and big Easter events.

But - and I'll guarantee this - the next fifty days will be important. By the time we get to May 31, we'll know how Easter weekend really went. As we head into June we'll know whether these last few days produced life or just a lot of activity.

Yes, it's been important, and hopefully some lasting decisions have been made and new life has begun.

Yes, the tomb is empty. But Monday's coming.

And 50 important days.

Ready?

Current favorite commercial [Gator]

2009-04-05T21:46:00.002-04:00

It made me laugh. If you know basketball, or are familiar...even a little bit...with college basketball, this may make you laugh, too.

One of those ideas I wish I had thought of [Mc]

2009-04-03T18:41:00.003-04:00

This would probably be a good Mother's Day idea for Trudi (if I hadn't just spoiled it by saying that.)

The Thumbsaver looks like one of those things we ALL should have thought of, but someone else did, and they'll probably make a mint off of it. I saw it on GeekBrief, and instantly thought of all the thumbs that could have been saved...and the young ears that wouldn't have heard language they shouldn't have heard, and the mouths that said words they shouldn't have said...if they only had this gadget.

(I'm not the handyman in the family, so - no, it wouldn't be a good Father's Day gift for me. But maybe for someone else.)

That criminal software thing [Mc]

2009-03-27T21:09:00.005-04:00

Trudi said something the other day about "that criminal software thing you posted about." She was talking about a status update I had on Facebook concerning the latest MacHeist.

If you don't know, MacHeist is a promotion involving a number of Mac software developers who are offering there software at a greatly reduced price as part of the MacHeist 3 Bundle. This version of the Bundle includes a wide variety of utility and specialty applications. Some of them are very useful, such as photo editor Acorn and recording utility Wire Tap Studio. I was really excited about Kinemac, a professional 3D animation app, which regularly sells for $299.

At present there are nine applications with a total value of $601.80, available in the Bundle for only $39. That's the price for all nine together, not the price for each one. That's an incredible value, especially if you have a need for a few of these applications.

And the catch? Actually, I wouldn't call it a catch - just a bonus. As I said, at present there are nine applications in the Bundle. When the Bundle was released (a few days ago) there were only eight. The catch is that when total sales of the Bundle reach a certain pre-determined point, they unlock more apps. Currently, we are waiting for the next unlock point, which is $400k. When sales hit that point, BoinxTV will be released.

That's why I'm writing this post, because I really would like that program. It's actually something I looked at for the church, but at $199, it was a little too much. But it looks great. So, if you have a Mac, and you like really good software at insanely cheap prices, go take a look.

The other thing about MacHeist is that 25% of every sale is donated to charity. You get to pick, from a list of 10 charities, where your donation will go.

Of course, if you've never heard of MacHeist, then you probably have never heard of the MacHeist controversy. In a nutshell, the people don't like MacHeist think it's unfair to the developers, that they are being robbed, and by purchasing the Bundle, consumers are being mean and dirty and cheap and favoring the big, bad marketer over the innocent, pure developer.

One blogger actually said, "Put it this way: would you rather pay $10 to Universal Music Group for a music album, or $15 directly to the band in question?"

This might not be obvious to you - as it wasn't to me - but his answer is that we should spend more because the creator would get more.

Um...whatever.

So...I'm not going to link to that blogger, because he offered that piece of advice to me for free. Instead I'll link to Apple, since his blog is hosted on their servers and they paid a lot of money for those servers so that he would have the ability to post idiotic, link-bait, gibberish like that. (And I'll also link to John Gruber, where I got the link to the blogger's blog.)

In the meantime, I'm going to download SousChef and see how Trudi likes it.

[Update: I should also mention that the applications in the Bundle aren't trial, demo, or previous versions of the software. They are full, up-to-date versions. In fact, SousChef is a new version as of the release of the Bundle, as are a couple of others.]

Keep Walking [Rev]

2009-03-24T10:36:00.002-04:00

Here's an inspirational piece from ESPN, brought to my attention by Curtis Vass. It's about 10 minutes long, so I wasn't planning to watch all of it, but after 5 minutes I couldn't stop. Enjoy.

Breakneck speed [Mc]

2009-03-23T10:27:00.002-04:00

Ever have somebody say, "You'll break your neck doing that!"? Ever travel at "breakneck speeds"? Ever tell someone that you were so mad you wouldn't mind "breaking somebody's neck"?

Of course, all those are metaphorical and no one's neck ever really gets broken.

So, it was odd to hear my dad telling people that my mom "broke her neck" this week. Specifically, she broke the C1 and C2 vertebrae. Surgery went well and she is now in a neck brace for about 3 months. There was no nerve damage, therefore, no paralysis or other things that can happen when vertebrae and the spinal column get messed with.

Healing will be a slow process, but we are thankful for the prayers and love of many, and the healing and power of God.

But for $3.99, it's not bad [Mc]

2009-03-09T22:45:00.002-04:00

The best thing that I can say about U2's new album,No Line On The Horizon, is that I paid less than four bucks for it. It's not that it's bad. It's not, not bad at all. That assessment would be sure to get any U2 fans riled up (if they read this blog).

But really...if you didn't know who made this collection of songs, would you like it that much?

With any established artist, the fan base will hope that it's the best thing since...well, since their last album (thank you, Tim Hawkins), and they will love it - LOVE it - even if it's only mediocre.

Not saying this effort is mediocre. But maybe it is. Or maybe it's one of those albums that will grow on me and over time I'll really like it. But if so, then it won't be any different than a lot of music I own.

The first Switchfoot album I heard - that was great, and I had no idea who they were. Sanctus Real - same thing. Nevertheless, The Afters, Britt Nicole...I could go on, but I think you get the idea. All had albums that made you go, wow.

But they also had albums that made you go, ehh. That's this one from U2. Ehh. S'okay. Not great.

Et tu? [Mc]

2009-03-03T11:21:00.002-05:00

Let's just say, for the record, that I'm no U2 fan. Don't dislike them either. Ambivalence would be the best word to describe my attitude towards them.

But they are the biggest band going at the moment, and I've never found anything I've heard from them to be outright objectionable. (Okay, I haven't heard much, so you might set me straight about that.)

So, I've given into culture-pressure and purchased their latest release, partially because it's cheap on Amazon right now.

I'll let you know what I think after I listen to it.

Reunion [Mc]

2009-02-25T23:44:00.003-05:00

When I saw the name of my sister-in-law come up in the caller ID on my cell phone, I silently prayed that there would be some reason she was calling me in the middle of a Sunday night service other than the one that I knew was coming. Julie and Trudi's dad, Holton, has been battling cancer for some time, and his condition was steadily growing worse.

Trudi was scheduled to fly to Asheville on March 5th, on what would be Holt's 74th birthday. We knew he didn't have much time. We didn't know how little time he actually had.

As I made my way from the Production Suite at the church down the back stairwell, Julie confirmed what I had already guessed. Holton had peacefully passed from this life at 6:30 pm, February 22, 2009.

Trudi and Julie had been with their sister, Christi, when she had passed away 2 1/2 years ago. Her death had been unexpected, but they had been able to rush to her side to share her last few hours on earth with her. When Christi finally slipped into the arms of Christ, no one had to tell them that the end had come.

But on this night, Trudi was part of the offering counting team at church. Julie, Casey, their brother, and Holton's wife, Jan, had been unable to reach Trudi, as the noise of the counting room drowned out the buzzing of her cell phone.

I stopped before entering the counting room, quickly called our daughter, Shae, and told her to pray for her mom. And me.

This is one of those things you dread ever having to do.

What do say? I prayed again for the right words, and gently opened the door.

Trudi was in the rear of the room, entering checks into the online deposit system. The other four members of the counting team were chatting about something. I have no idea what. I knew that the rest of the family had left messages on her cell phone, but I didn't want Trudi to see her phone before I had a chance to get her out of the room.

"Do you have some gum?" I asked, trying to act innocent and normal. It wasn't really working. They could tell I was a little uptight about something. I wanted to get into her purse so I could slip her phone out.

"In my purse."

I couldn't find the gum. I found a mint and put it into my mouth.

"Would you check my phone? I thought I heard it buzzing a while ago." I found the gum.

"Um...yeah." I pulled the phone out and slipped it into my pocket.

"Who called?"

"Um, it's okay." I'm not sure if I specifically lied, but I definitely left her with the impression that no one had called. Suddenly, I was unsure what I should do. Maybe I could just wait until we got home in thirty minutes or so.

I walked out of the room, and paced for a minute. No, I needed to get her out of the room and let her know so she could call Julie and Jan and Casey and begin the process I knew we would all go through over the next few days.

As I went back into the room, I moved over to the corner, where I knew Trudi couldn't see me. I tried to silently let the other counters know that they needed to take over for her, then I asked if I could talk to Trudi outside.

Lots of questioning looks from everyone followed us into the hall. Church would be ending soon, and I knew I had to give her the opportunity to get out of the building first. I gave one final plea for the right words, and knew I had none. All I could do was look into her eyes.

As it turns out, those were the right words.

"What is it?" Then the realization came. "Did my dad pass away?"

Later, when I went back to the church to pick up Sam, Summer and Sawyer to take them home, we sat in the parking lot while I tried to explain what had happened.

Sad? Yes, I said. For us. But not for him. He's happy to be free of pain. He's happy to be whole and well. He's happy to see Jesus face-to-face.

There were several pictures of both Holton and Christi that I had to choose from, but I ended up with this one of Holton and Christi's son, Jason. It was labeled as being of Holton and Christi in my computer, and even though it's Jason, not Christi, I believed it was her, because Christi always seemed to like things that weren't "girlie" - motorcycles and cleaning off her roof come to mind.

But it's still a great picture of Holton. This is the easy-going, down-home guy I knew. He loved to have fun. He loved his grandchildren.

I'm sure Holton and Christi are enjoying a great reunion.

I hate when News people use statistics to lie [Gator]

2009-02-19T11:53:00.002-05:00

A new article from the AP sounds the alarm: PEOPLE HATE FLORIDA!

Actually, using driver's license data, it says that only 410,000 people a year are moving here, as opposed to 585,000 in 2003. Okay, that's down 30%...but still it's 80% of the population of Wyoming. Moving in. Every year.

A library in your pocket [Gator]

2009-02-09T13:56:00.004-05:00

One of the coolest gadgets out there is getting updated. The updated Amazon Kindle, now version 2, was announced today. The first version was widely criticized for its clunky appearance, but actual users seemed to love their Kindle.

Version 2 actually looks kind of cool. What is it, you ask? It's a web-enabled, anywhere, anytime, book-reader. It allows you to download books and magazines and other web content quickly. It will even read it to you.

UPDATE: 2/10/9…new links.

The Nines - iLife and iWork

2009-02-06T16:47:00.006-05:00

I've been using iWork '09 for the past couple of weeks and iLife '09 for the past couple of days. Here are my first impressions on the two suites. Keep in mind that I have used every version of both programs since their beginnings. (And these are not exhaustive reviews.)

iWork '09 adds some nice features in this iteration. It includes Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, the Apple counterparts to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. The Apple suite still doesn't have the depth of features that the Microsoft offering does...but who cares? Not me.

The basics of each program remain unchanged. Pages still is basic word processing and page layout with a Mac feel. Numbers still does its spreadsheet thing. And Keynote still outclasses PP with its cool transitions.

I work on a Powerbook G4, which Apple recently reclassified as obsolete, so performance for me is sluggish in every application.

But what's great and new that would make you want to upgrade if you already have an earlier version of iWork? I'll take it one app at a time...

Pages - For me the biggest addition is Outlining. I usually use OmniOutliner Professional for my outlining needs, and I'll may continue to do so. But it's nice to have it in Pages.

The other two big features - being able to view your document in full screen view and being able to use iWork.com - are irrelevant to me. Additionally, there are several new templates that are pretty cool, but I don't know if I'll ever use them.

Numbers - There are a couple of nice changes here. The ability for categorization - actually, a second-level sort - is nice. Numbers also adds a quick view of all the formulas you are using in your worksheet.

Keynote - The star of iWork is Keynote. The incremental changes in this version of Keynote are apparent right from the beginning, in the theme chooser, where a mouse-over of a theme shows you the different options available within the theme.

I like the new Keynote, but my biggest frustration with the entire suite comes here. They took out a feature, one I actually used! The feature is Webview. It allowed you to insert a live web page into your presentation. And they took it out....aargh.

They did put a few new transitions and effects in, though. That's good. And they upgraded the presenter's view to give you more control. Very nice.

The best thing, however, is the integration between the three apps and the ability for a Numbers chart to be updated with a Keynote presentation or a Pages document.

I purchased the iWork '09 Family Pack, since I have several computers to upgrade. (The link takes you to Amazon, where you can get it for $10 less than from Apple.)

iLife '09 was the more anticipated of the two suites. It contains Garageband, iMovie, iWeb, iDVD, and iPhoto. And I'll just tell you right up front...it rocks.

The bad - I can't use the new iMovie on my computer. Of course, I couldn't use iMovie '08 either. My Powerbook just doesn't have the horsepower. But that was okay with '08, because a lot of people stayed with '06, so much did they hate the new '08 interface.

That won't be the case with '09. I have used it on the church's 24-inch iMac, and it is much nicer than '08. iMovie now includes a Precision Editor that makes editing much better. It also has a stabilization feature which - although it takes a long time, even on a 3.06ghz iMac - will be very useful.

There are also some added transitions, themes and effects that will dress up your vidoes. Spiffy.

iDVD - well, it is what it is. Unchanged. I didn't even see any new themes.

Garageband - although some learning abilities have been added, functionally nothing else has changed for '09. Cosmetically, the look has changed, to a nicer, darker feel. Not important, but nice.

iWeb - probably the biggest thing here is the ability to publish to your own domain. There are some nice little bits of this and that, but nothing else substantial has changed for my use.

iPhoto - THE app. The new Faces feature alone could sell this entire suite by itself. If you don't know, Faces allows you to tag your pictures with the names of people in the picture. Faces will then search your library for similiar faces and let you tag them. This makes organizing and searching your photo library very easy. And fun.

Places allows you to add location information to your photos. This lets you organize your photos by the places you've been. Very nice.

I would highly recommend iLife '09 Family Pack. (Again, this link let's you get it from Amazon for $10 less.)

Heavy [Rev]

2009-02-03T11:17:00.004-05:00

"But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he and his officials sinned again, and Pharaoh again [made his heart heavy]." Exodus 9:34 (NLT)

The economy is in turmoil. People are scared. The pressure is on. Some would be tempted to say that God's judgment is at work. Others would say it's just a normal part of life. Whatever the case, God always uses circumstances to try to get our attention.

People are looking for answers. People cry for reform and change when the pressure is on. But when the pressure is off, then what?

Greed and financial recklessness seems so out of place now. But what happens when the threat of financial collapse disappears?

Scripture...and history...tell us that greed and recklessness will return. Worse than before.

Unless there is a true change of heart. Lightened by obedience, instead of heavy with stubbornness and selfishness and sin.

Famous Google-Wide [Mc]

2009-01-30T18:11:00.002-05:00

Even though I'll be posting this picture on Facebook, I thought I'd post it here, too. The picture is from Google Maps, in street-view mode. On the skateboard is Dalton. Well, we mostly call him Dalton, even though his name is Russell and that's what a lot of people know him as. We know him as our "son/brother/friend/the-kid-who-comes-over-and-eats-our-food."

Dalton is graduating from high school this year. Immediately after that, he is scheduled to head off to the Marines. We'll miss him.

Wonder if he'll take his skateboard?

Good Gator Pix [Gator]

2009-01-25T20:53:00.004-05:00

A couple of pix sure to be unpopular with the non-Gators who may read this blog...the first comes from my Gator daughter, and the second was taken from the Orange and Blue Hue blog.

Who You Really Are [Mc]

2009-01-24T23:16:00.003-05:00

Saw this great video on the Ragamuffin Soul blog. Great for a few reasons.

It's a great follow-up to my previous post about the President. What a wonderful tribute by two who know him best.

It is also thought-provoking for any dad, but especially any dad with a public title. I'm in the ministry, on staff at a church, so I have one of those titles. Pastor. Different than a president, but with some of the same pitfalls. You can forget who you are. You can forget what - and who - are really important. And you can forget that while you try to change the world and try to bring change into your sphere of influence, the greatest purposes are found under your own roof.

That's as introspective as I intend on being for the next couple of days. happy birthday to me. tomorrow.

Godspeed, Mr. President [Mc]

2009-01-19T23:44:00.004-05:00

It's really rather remarkable when you think about it.

The elder President Bush gained access to the White House in 1981 as Vice President. By extension, so did his son, George. For the eight years after, then for four years when his dad was president, George became increasingly familiar with the place.

For the last eight years, it has also been the home of his family, with Laura, their daughters, and their pets.

It must be a strange feeling tonight, the last they will spend as primary occupants. Tomorrow they will leave, and many will be gleeful and rejoice. Enemies - no less a term will do - of President and Mrs. Bush will enthusiastically try to expunge any trace of the former tenants' presence in the place. They will trumpet "change" and "new hope" and denounce the backward and bumbling steps of those that have gone before.

I will be praying for President and Mrs. Bush. Only Divine Wisdom could tell which steps have been best and which have been faulty in the past eight years. But I am thankful that these great Americans have been leading us. I am thankful for the energy, wisdom, caution, strength, patience, generosity, and goodwill that they have used in serving our country. They have served every person in this country - rich or poor, black or white, conservative or liberal - with dignity, sincerity, and faith in God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

May God bless you and your family in the years ahead.

My Kind of Counseling [Rev]

2009-01-18T21:31:00.002-05:00

I saw this on Jeff Leake's blog, The Launch Pad. He said that he was not recommending this counseling methodology...but I like it.

Live and Learn [Rev]

2009-01-16T20:01:00.006-05:00

[Warning: The following post is technology-filled and totally about me. I mean, even more about me than normal. Really. You've been warned.]

The beginning of 2009 has been almost completely about software for me. I am in the middle of editing the video for last month's Gospel According to Scrooge. This is a time-consuming project for a couple of reasons.

We shot video from four cameras on two different nights (Sunday and Monday). That means there was 16 hours of video to import and work with.[1] On top of that, I'm not experienced with video editing, nor with the editing software. Most of my video editing experience has come from the last few years of editing the Scrooge video.

During that experience I have been using Apple's Final Cut software. Because of some software and operating system issues, I was forced to upgrade[2] to the latest version, Final Cut Studio 2
. It's very powerful software with many cool and wonderful features. That's what makes software powerful - cool, easy-to-use features, that give great depth and complexity to what you can accomplish. It also means there is a lot to learn. So, I'm learning.

One of our choices[3] this year in Scrooge was to use some pre-recorded video as part of the production. We used four different video segments this year: the opening montage, taking us from the opening titles to the opening song; the bedroom sequence, which shows Scrooge entering the bedroom, undressing, hearing the voice, then encountering Angel #1; the graveyard, with the Cratchit Family; and the final bedroom scene, where Scrooge discovers he is still alive. In order to accomplish some of the effects used in these segments, I used a trial version of Adobe After Effects CS4. After Effects is widely used by video professionals, but I had never used it. I quickly had to learn some key features in order to have the video ready for Scrooge. But, as I said, it was a trial version, so I had to purchase the full version in order to finish the edit of the DVD.

I ended up ordering Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, which includes After Effects. Again, it's another powerful program with many wonderful features. More learning.

Both of these programs are more than one program. They are suites that include several programs, each with many parts and pieces.

With so much to learn, I've turned to a some internet sources for instruction and help. The first is MacBreak Studio, a podcast from Pixel Corps. These are short video podcasts that cover one specific feature for video producers in each show. Usually these are features specific to Final Cut Studio. Some of these shows originated in Pixel Corps' original podcast, MacBreak.

Another great podcast is ChurchMediaDesign, or CMD, from the media guys at Watermark church from Grand Haven, Michigan. This is a phenomenal show that gives a lot of great how-to's. (They also give some free resources to use in your own ministry.)

A third informative podcast (can you tell I love podcasts? It's because they're free!) is Creative Cow's Creative Cow for Photoshop Video podcast. As the title says, it's video help for Photoshop users.

After I wrote the previous paragraph, it got me thinking, so I searched iTunes and - duh - it turns out that Creative Cow has a range of podcasts covering the range of both Adobe and Apple products. I'll have to check them out when I'm done posting this.

I'm also exploring Lynda.com. It has a tremendous amount of video tutorials on all of this software and more. Unfortunately, it's not free. However, it's not that expensive, and they have a trial period.

Although it's not theologically correct, it does bring to mind something I often quote from my dad...

Live and learn.

Die and forget it all.

I hope to work on the first part...and delay the second part for awhile.
------------------------------------------------
[1] Okay, not exactly 16 hours. One camera didn't film the first act on Sunday. Very disappointing. But the import of the video was only the beginning. Two cameras shot in LP mode, which our JVC was unable to replay. I didn't discover why until after I spent most of one day trying to use the JVC. Editing will mean going through all of the captured video frame-by-frame.
[2] When I say "upgrade" or "bought", I mean that I did it on behalf of Faith Assembly. This software is more than I can personally afford. Although the upgrade to FC is cheaper than the full version, and, since I'm a homeschool dad, I can get the education version of CS4.
[3] And when I say "our choice", I mean "my choice." Yes, I asked the opinion of everyone in the leadership team of Scrooge, including Pastor Goss. Those that liked the result can thank them for their decision. But those that didn't can blame me, since it really came down to me pushing this through. More on that later.

What Superman would be if he didn't have to deal with kryptonite [Gator]

2009-01-13T11:04:00.003-05:00

Tebow Skips Senior Season, Ascends Directly Into Heaven

MIAMI (SP) -- Shortly after leading the Florida Gators to a national championship with a 24-14 win over Oklahoma, junior quarterback Tim Tebow announced he would skip his senior season and ascend  directly into heaven...{Read the rest of this story here} 

I guess this is meant to be a jab at the press, including the Fox announcers, ESPN announcers, CBS announcers, and every other person who has ever met Tim Tebow. I just think it's funny, mostly because Tebow doesn't believe all this stuff. (And I don't think his friends and family would ever let him.)

Thanks to Bob Henley for sending this my way.

(And if you haven't seen this video, then you probably don't watch much sports news.)

More to come [Gator]

2009-01-09T21:11:00.003-05:00

Where do I begin?

A great, great, great day to be a Florida Gator. From the moment that Major Wright separated Oklahoma's Manny Johnson from his senses, it was a wonderful thing to watch the Gators capture their 3rd National Championship. [The picture is from GatorSports.com]

And there's more to come, we think. It's good to be on top. It's good not to be Florida State or Miami or Notre Dame or Tennessee or many other teams that can only look up from their position far down the mountain.

One of the best things about this was being able to share it with my children, having been able to attend games with them this year, so they got to experience what a championship season is like. It's good.

The Kodak on Vimeo [Rev]

2009-01-06T11:26:00.002-05:00

Among the new things I'm trying this year is Vimeo, a video service that is much like YouTube, but allows free upload of HD content. I shot this HD video at 60 frames per second on the Zi6 at Sammy's basketball game last night. When I play it back, it doesn't look very good on Vimeo on my computer...don't know how it will look on yours. (The video on my computer, straight from the camera, is amazingly good.)

Also, the preview here is only 400X300. When you click the link and go to my Vimeo space, it's in full resolution.

Sammy playing ball from Tim McDaniel on Vimeo.

The Name to Have in Ministry [Mc]

2009-01-02T13:05:00.004-05:00

This past Sunday Trudi and I were trying to figure out which church we would like to visit. I was on vacation, so I did a little web surfing to see where we might go on Sunday morning. There are many great churches in Southwest Florida, so it's not an easy choice.

I was able to rule out one church right away - Cape Christian Fellowship. Not that I have anything against CCF. I've heard good things about both the church and its pastor, Dennis Gingerich.

But their youth pastor - whom I've never met - is...Tim McDaniel. Great name (even if his middle name is Kenneth, thereby distinguishing him as the Tim K. McDaniel who is a pastor in Southwest Florida, as opposed to myself, the Tim D. McDaniel who is a pastor in Southwest Florida.)

Tim McDaniel wouldn't seem to be the most common name. To have two of us serving on ministry staffs just miles apart...strange. And probably wonderful. (But I'm the Tim McDaniel you'll find at www.Twitter.com/TimMcDaniel.)

We went to First Assembly instead. Good service. And no one on staff was named me.

[Edit: No, the picture is NOT me, it's the other Tim. I have (a little) more hair.]

Another Mac vs. PC Battle [Gator]

2008-12-31T23:02:00.002-05:00

Saw this YouTube clip over on Josh Griffin's blog (which he saw on someone else's blog, who, I think, saw it somewhere on Facebook...) Really creative, but I wasn't sure what the ending was supposed to mean.

And - just to save you a minute, if you've been trained like my children to wait to the end of the credits before you leave the theater - the last minute of this video is all credits, nothing else. Feel free to leave.

Z to the I to the 6 [Rev]*

2008-12-30T12:54:00.007-05:00

In the world of mini USB-enabled video cameras...did you know there was a whole world of them?...the Flipseems to be the clear market favorite. The idea of a very simple, inexpensive, but high-quality camcorder for spur-of-the-moment video recording has interested me for most of this year.

I have been watching and reading about the Flip and its many competitors, including the RCA Small Wonder, the Aiptek A-HD Pro, and the Insignia 5.0MP. Each of these cameras are very small, yet very powerful. The newer models include the ability to take HD video.

In the end, I decided on the Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera. I've been using the Zi6 for over a week and, in case you've ever thought of getting one of these little jewels, here's some information for you.

The best thing about this class of camcorder is the price. I got mine at Radio Shack on-sale for under $140, and the prices keep falling as new models with more features come out. Best Buy has the Insignia for only $85. These are very good cameras for (relatively) very little money.

The Zi6 has four recording modes. The default mode is HD, which shoots 720p video at 30 frames per second. There is a higher HD60 mode which shoots 720p video at 60 frames per second. This would be good for slow-motion or time-remapping your video. There is also a VGA mode which shoots standard, 640X480 video. And there is a picture mode for shooting stills.

Although I didn't need HD-quality video, for the money it seemed like a no-brainer. The problem with HD-quality video is that my older Powerbook doesn't have the power to work with it quickly. (Don't even get me started on the old Dells in the playroom.)

These type of camcorders aren't really made for low-light situations, but in outdoor or well-lit situations, they do quite well. (This still shot was taken outside the Asheville Mall.) Since it doesn't do low-light well, you also have to be very careful when taking still pictures, since blurring the picture is very easy to do and there is no image stabilization like most larger camcorders have. Happily, you can easily attach the Zi6 to a tripod for steadier shots.

This piece of video was shot in the default HD mode, then encoded to an iPhone-compatible mp4 file at 480X272 resolution using MPEG Streamclip. Unhappily, Google re-encoded the file when I uploaded it, reducing the resolution further. The original video file looks much better.

The Zi6 has little internal memory - less than 24mb is available - which is basically useless for video. But the Zi6 accepts SD memory cards. I purchased an 8gb high-speed SD card for only $14. After a vacation trip, Christmas, and some goofing around by Sammy, there is still over 2gb of room left.

The 2.4 inch display is bright and clear enough to see what you've shot, but composite cables for hooking up to your TV and component cables for watching in HD are also included with the camera.

The combination of HD-quality and SD-card acceptance pushed me towards the Kodak, but the batteries clinched it. The Zi6 runs on two AA batteries, which means you don't have to wait for proprietary batteries to recharge. However, while purchasing the camera, I discovered that Kodak includes rechargeable AA's and a charger, making it an even better deal. The rechargeables don't last too long - maybe an hour or so - but I can always pop in some regular AA's in a pinch.

The Zi6 is a good camera for quick and easy recording. For the price I believe it's a very good value.

{* "Rev" is in the title because this is a "Rev" post, related to my work or worship. In this case, it could also mean "review", but it doesn't}

All in all it's just another...

2008-12-29T14:34:00.004-05:00

As part of my effort to blog better, the next step is to become more consistent in my schedule. Ideally, I'd like to blog daily. I'm not sure that's realistic. But perhaps I can make it 3 times a week.

My original idea for the blog was to split it into three parts, and I'm going back to that - Rev. Mc. Gator. In other words, the blog will be roughly 1/3 about things that relate to my work and worship (Rev), 1/3 about things related to my family (Mc), and 1/3 related to my leisure and interests (Gator).

Things will overlap. In fact, my next post will relate to all three areas. And so will the next one after that. But that's the plan. Roughly.

Welcome to the Amazon

2008-12-27T11:01:00.001-05:00

I generally stay away from New Year's resolutions. A very cliched thing, in my opinion.

Instead, consider this an Old Year resolution, and what I would like to see happen in the next one.

As is the case for most bloggers, I would like to blog better. By that I mean more. More frequently. With more interesting things to say. With more things you can actually use and think about.

One thing I've meant to do is to become an Amazon associate. If you don't know, you can link to stuff at Amazon.com, and if someone uses your link and actually buys something, you get a commission on it.

I love Amazon. I have an Amazon credit card. Most of the gadgety and tech stuff I buy comes from Amazon. I have an Amazon Prime membership, which gets me free 2nd day shipping on most items.

I promise not to overload the blog with links and commercials and junky stuff. But you might notice the Amazon search bar on the side (use it to find something, and if you buy it, I get a few pennies!).

And there are a couple of things I've read or used recently that I will be linking to. Hope you find it useful...and interesting...and better.

I am Second

2008-12-13T14:22:00.001-05:00

If you haven't seen it, here's a link to a great new web site. Outstanding testimonies. It's called I am Second.

Great to be...

2008-12-09T00:25:00.003-05:00

Quick post in the middle of a really busy week (while I wait for some video to render - that's a story for another time. Follow me at www.twitter.com/TimMcDaniel if you want the play by play.)

The real story is the Gators - back in the championship game. And this is how they got there...

Non-Turkey Day

2008-11-26T22:19:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

No, not Happy Turkey Day. The only happy turkeys are...well, you can't be a happy turkey. Either you're dead or you're still a turkey. Not a great choice. The point of the day is not to celebrate turkeys, it's to celebrate thanksgiving...you know, the giving of thanks.

And it's not just the giving of thanks, but giving thanks to our Creator, our Maker, the One who provides life and all the good things we enjoy.

Like turkey (and dressing and mashed potatoes and football and the Gators and - you get the idea).

To repeat myself, we don't celebrate turkeys, we kill them.

That would also make this a good day to kill the Turkey Spirit. That would be the attitude that doesn't give thanks, that takes things for granted, that complains at everything, that is awed by nothing.

That's the intro to this clip, which is perfect for Thanksgiving, and which I may use the next time I preach about complaining.

(Honestly, this has to be one of my favorite clips ever.)

Oh boy, oh boy!

2008-11-12T21:47:00.004-05:00

Doesn't she have that look on her face?

Happy Birthday to my best friend, my partner, my {blush} lover, my wife...the Lovely Trudi celebrates the day the world was blessed with her.

And we celebrate, too.

Sci-Fi Tribute

2008-11-10T10:28:00.004-05:00

I think you have to make up your own joke about this guy. Except it's not really him singing. It would be cooler (and slightly more disturbing) if it was. But it's actually a group called Moosebutter. Still, it's a pretty good video if you haven't seen it.

My Enemy...only in a football sense

2008-11-08T13:49:00.002-05:00

As a Gator fan I have a unwritten contract to despise everything that has to do with FSU and Georgia. They are our rivals - okay, not Georgia so much, since we own them. And there's no way you can like your rival's coach.

That's easy with FSU. Yes, I know, I've heard it..."Not like Bobby Bowden? But he seems like such a nice, Christian man." I don't buy it. I don't like him.

And Georgia's coach? Well...rats. I can't not like him, which is really terrible from a football perspective. After all, not only is he the head coach at Georgia, but he used to be on the staff at FSU. Trouble is, he's genuine, a good coach, and really represents Christ well.

Was I mad at what he had his team do on the goal line last year, stomping and jumping around? No. It was a tactic which worked well...last year.

And since we throttled them last week, it's all good.

I say all that to explain why I'm posting this video of the Georgia coach and his family. Because it's good. And inspirational. I hope Georgia does well for the rest of the year.

What if Starbucks Marketed Like the Church

2008-11-06T15:51:00.003-05:00

Funny and painfully true. The obvious answer is that most of us would never have heard of Starbucks if they operated the way the church does. (And, no, it's not a bad thing to operate your church with quality and forethought.)

"It will be a big deal." - Urban Meyer

2008-11-03T09:18:00.002-05:00

I'm Tim and I approve this message.

2008-10-28T18:48:00.007-04:00

Without further ado, my thoughts on the election and how I'll be voting a week from today...

President and Vice-President
There are 13 choices on the ballot. Make your own conclusions on that number. If I were going to vote for the person I would most like to see as President from the list, I'd choose Alan Keyes, who is running on behalf of the American Independent Party. However, with no chance to win, that would be a wasted vote.
I vote: John McCain and Sarah Palin.

District 14 Congress
Another case of wishing I could vote differently, but this is the best choice I have.
I vote: Connie Mack

Public Defender, 20th Judicial Circuit
Sole candidate.
I vote: Kathy Smith

State Representative, District 72
He seems to have done a good job in the last four years.
I vote: Paige Kreegel

Sheriff
I was one of 9% that didn't vote for Mike Scott in the Republican primary. Even though he would've received my vote anyway, he secured it by speaking the truth at Sarah Palin's Fort Myers' appearance.
I vote: Mike Scott

Property Appraiser
He's done a good job in a tough market.
I vote: Ken Wilkinson

County Commissioner, District 1
I haven't heard or seen enough from the other candidates to remove this incumbent...yet.
I vote: Bob Janes

County Commissioner, District 3
Ray Judah seems like a fairly nice guy. I don't know him. Les Cochran seems like a nice old guy, too. I don't know him either. Republican incumbents usually have an edge with me, but at a county level, party isn't as important, and Cochran is actually a Republican, too. Judah has been in office for a long, long time. So I like his experience. But such a long time in office means that future decisions will be impacted by old alliances, past choices, and wanting to defend things that you were part of.
I vote: Les Cochran

County Commissioner, District 5
I don't know him, but I like him.
I vote: Frank Mann

Lee Memorial Health System, District 1
You can vote for 2 out of 3 in this category. Anna Clark's whole reason for running seems to be a bad experience a relative had at Cape Hospital. Um...work that out with your lawyer, dear.
I vote: Stephen Brown and Marilyn Stout

Lee Memorial Health System, District 3
Again, we get to pick two. I'm sure these are important positions to the community, but... Lois Barrett is 84 and would seem to be past her time, but I'm not sure I like the fact that Jason Moon's father-in-law owns an Oncology practice. Seems conflicting.
I vote: Linda Brown and Lois Barrett

Lee Memorial Health System, District 5
Vilmar Ribeiro needs to finish working on his associate's degree.
I vote: Kerry Babb and James Green

Mosquito District, Area 1
"Another office that is very important in our county, but should this really be an elected position? Even the News-Press didn't offer an opinion on these races." That's what I originally wrote, then I found out that the Lee County independent taxing district for Mosquito Control is the largest of its kind in the entire United States! It has 87 full-time and 125 seasonal employees, and carries a budget of $25 million. Huh.

Larry Murphy is the incumbent and carries a good resume. James Opp's resume seems to consist of his dad having been the director of the district for 12 years.
I vote: Larry Murphy.

Mosquito District, Area 3
According to the Naples News, Mike Ellis knows "bugs inside out." I guess that's a good thing. And I know nothing about Tim Gardner. Sorry, Tim. You have a good name.
I vote: Mike Ellis.

2nd District Court of Appeal
Should Judge Whatley be retained in office? Sure, why not?
I vote: Yes.

Amendment 1
This is a housekeeping amendment, seemingly unnecessary in practice, but a good thing theory.
I vote: Yes.

Amendment 2
Also a housekeeping amendment, of sorts, seemingly unnecessary in theory, but a very thing in practice.
I vote: Yes.

Amendment 3
Seems to be a good thing that should be tied with other good things to make a comprehensive policy, but let's take what we can get.
I vote: Yes.

Amendment 4
There seem to be some positives for this, but do we have to mess with the Constitution to do it? Don't we elect legislators to do this kind of thing? This amendment would encourage land conservation, and further limit the amount of land that can be developed. Down the road I think this will make property even harder and more expensive to acquire by the average person.
I vote: No.

Amendment 6
Seems like a good idea, but, again - does it have to be a constitutional amendment?
I vote: Yes.

Amendment 8
Gives voters flexibility in what to do with tax money.
I vote: Yes.

County Charter Amendment 1
Makes the Supervisor of Elections position a non-partisan office. Good idea.
I vote: Yes.

County Charter Amendment 2
Allows for things to by-pass County Commissioners to be put on ballot.
I vote: Yes.

[Note: Yes, the title of this post IS the same as the title of our latest episode of the ChurchDramaPodcast. This post is specifically for my daughter, Shae, who gets to vote for the very first time this fall.]

You never know

2008-10-20T17:13:00.001-04:00

Boating on Lake Weir, originally uploaded by RevMcGator.

That's a cliche that is used in many different ways, but ends up being true more often than not. "You never know."

It's true because we don't know the future. We have a perspective on what's happened in the past. We have a perception of what is happening around us at the present. We use both of those to help us predict what might happen in the future.

That's especially true when we think about people.

But you never know.

Things happen we didn't predict, and that can put a whole new set of circumstances in motion. And just when you think things are going to turn out one way...well, you never know.

"The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations and thwarts all their schemes. But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken." Psalms 33:10-11

He knows.

For the Record

2008-10-08T12:37:00.002-04:00

John Sidney McCain III
Sarah Louise Heath Palin
Barack Hussein Obama II
Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.

posted by me, Timothy David McDaniel

Summer Fantasy

2008-09-23T12:00:00.000-04:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Great to be...

2008-09-22T18:46:00.003-04:00

Other games might not go so well. (LSU and Georgia are on the schedule)

But it's always great to play Tennessee. Neyland Stadium is beginning to be like another home game. The Gator Sports Shop should set up an outlet store there.

The best part of winning any rivalry game is to read the newspaper of the opposing school afterwards. This article is good...but the comments at the bottom of it, from loyal fans of the Stumbling Vols, are priceless.

This picture, from the Gainesville Sun, of a guy going with the Heath Ledger/Joker look...how appropriate, if not a little creepy.

Go Gators.

Cap'n Edmund Earbeard

2008-09-19T21:43:00.004-04:00

Cap'n Edmund Earbeard is my supposed pirate name, generated by one of several pirate name generators that are now available. Of course, I had to find out what my pirate name is because this is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

What's your pirate name? And what, exactly, does it mean to "shiver me timbers"? Are they cold?

(Other names that I was given were "Dastardly", "Dagger Wilson", and "Commodore Drunken Tongue".)

No Thank You

2008-09-15T10:55:00.003-04:00

Sigh.

Do you know the guy in the picture? Probably not as well as you think you did.

I'm very disappointed with the latest "coming out". Granted, it's always disappointing when anyone chooses to live in a way that is contrary to the love and holiness of God. But it's especially troubling when people who are given the special task of communicating the truth and hope of Jesus Christ walk away in self-deception.

Ray Boltz is a creative guy, and made a bunch of amazing songs, which are all still good. Unfortunately, his false assertion that his chosen lifestyle doesn't cause a rift between him and God is cause for sadness.

(And when did he lose his hair?)

Back in the Day

2008-09-13T11:57:00.003-04:00

I'm finishing a video on the history of Faith Assembly for tomorrow's celebration of 75 years of the church and 20 years of Pastor Goss. The video will mention all the lead pastors in the history of the church, but won't mention any of the associate pastors (except for Pastor Art Shell). Unfortunately, that means you won't be seeing this video of one of the music ministers of Faith. (Sorry, Mark)

More with me than without me

2008-09-12T16:43:00.004-04:00

A little sympathy for Trudi today...she's spent more of her life with me than without me. We've been married 22 years today; she was only 21 when we married. Obviously, she didn't figure out how to get her fingers out of those rings quick enough. (Odd games photographers play, don't you think?)

It's been a great 22 years.

Hurricanes Don't Roar, They Only Whine

2008-09-10T21:51:00.002-04:00

Apparently, Miami coach, Randy Shannon was angry about the late field goal by the Gators last Saturday. Upset about Urban Meyer's decision to keep playing football, Shannon whined, "Sometimes, when you do things and people see what type of person that you really are, you turn a lot of people off." Was he talking about himself?

Loved Tim Tebow's response. "They're paid to stop us and Coach Mullen (offensive coordinator Dan Mullen) is paid to score. If they don't do that, oh well."

We see what kind of person you are, Randy.

Growing Up Pentecostal

2008-09-07T23:21:00.006-04:00

Here's a revealing video of Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Here's a video of her at Wasilla Assembly of God, telling a little about her background, and growing up in that church.

What's even more interesting is that this same video, and pieces of it, are being used by people who are scared of religious-right wing-fundamentalist-wacko-extremists.

Sarah Palin Speaking at a Church from Vimeo.

An alternate source is this one, sent to me by Jim Wells. Thanks, Jim.

Never Be Surprised by Man's Ability to Deceive

2008-09-04T10:30:00.003-04:00

Having previously posted the "Healer" video, and now regretting it, here is the sad follow-up to that video. I'd like to be mad at the guy, but I pity him, and feel very sad for people hurt by this.

Which is better - to live in this life while cut off from God, or to leave this life while having full connection to God? Sort of sounds like "gain the whole world or lose your soul", doesn't it?

Number Nine

2008-09-01T15:46:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday, Sawyer Layne!

As I've said before, she's a delight to her family and everyone who knows her. Kind, generous, sweet...okay I'm getting mine in early for our little family tradition. (What family tradition, you ask? I'll blog about it some other time.)

Nine years have gone by quickly.

In case you said, Why her?

2008-08-29T16:30:00.004-04:00

Did you know Sarah Palin, McCain's new Veep was raised in the Assemblies of God and attends Juneau Christian Center, an AG church in Juneau? Interesting.

The following clip is from the Alaska District Council newsletter...

When Oops is a Good Thing

2008-08-25T13:46:00.003-04:00

Alley-oop dunks are a great example of teamwork. The one who actually dunks has to have the ability to jump and handle a basketball, but the real beauty of the alley-oop - from my perspective, probably since I don't have the dunk-ability - is in the execution of the pass. This video has some beautiful and creative passing.

Happy Birthday, Shae!

2008-08-22T22:50:00.003-04:00

Another huge milestone in the McDaniel family. Shaelyn Cherie turns 18 today. Unhappily for us, she's not here with us in North Fort Myers, but away at the University of Florida. (School begins on Monday.) She's only been away for a few days, so we are still trying to adjust to her not being here. I'm sure there will be other birthdays that we won't be able to be with her, but this is the first, so it's a little more difficult.

We're very proud of this little girl of ours, who has grown into a wonderful young lady. We are excited about how God will use her and what He has planned for her.

[And a very happy __st birthday to my OLDER sister, Cherie. Yes, that's where Shae got her middle name.]

Dorm, Sweet Dorm

2008-08-17T19:57:00.000-04:00

Playing the Devil's Advocate

2008-08-11T13:00:00.004-04:00

With apologies to Jon Acuff and his blog, StuffChristiansLike, please allow me to mention something that Christians seem to like...but I just don't get. It's been a long-standing puzzle for me, something that makes me cringe when I hear it.

It goes like this.

You're having a discussion about something - ways to do ministry, methods of outreach, structuring of teams, what you want for lunch...you know, something relatively important - and as you start to reach consensus on an idea, someone says, "Well, let me just be the devil's advocate on this."

Really? He needs one? And he needs you to fill that role?

I would think if I felt that phrase about to come out of my mouth, I'd stop and say to myself, "Hmm. If I am about to align myself with the Prince of Darkness, maybe I'm not on the right side of this issue."

I'm not sure how finding the will of God by being the devil's advocate would work out. Perhaps a full and correct translation of Matthew 16 would read more like this:

Jesus I'm going to be killed. The Pharisees and other leaders are out to get me. I'll rise again on the third day, but I'll have to die first.
Peter Okay, Jesus. Let me just play the devil's advocate on this...

Of course, you're free to pick which side you want to be on. If you feel the devil needs your help...

Moving Story and Song of Healing

2008-07-28T14:47:00.003-04:00

A moving story of the song, Healer. Watch this, then watch the live Hillsongs performance.

She's Running, Too???

2008-07-28T08:15:00.000-04:00

An odd coincidence, isn't it?

She's a Little Lioness

2008-07-27T22:35:00.003-04:00

Trying to describe someone can be difficult. It seems like you would need words to describe every moment of their life, because each one is different and reveals something else about them.

Try to describe someone with just one word, and you can come up many words short of really capturing who they are.

I'll try it anyway with our Summer, who turns 12 today. The word I'll pick is energy.

We are mostly a family of phlegmatics, with some melancholy on the side. For those of you who haven't read personality books, like those from Florence Littauer and Tim Lahaye, the phlegmatic personality is most compared to the ox - slow, steady, reliable. The melancholy personality is concerned with detail, precision, and having things just so. They are also liable to be slow.

Summer gives our Phleg-Mel family a push. Although she has some of the same familial traits, she brings zest and power into the mix. When she's happy, you know it. She loves to go full throttle, she loves to do things, she loves to try new things, and she loves to love.

Just look at that bright, energetic smile, and you might know what I mean. Even if I didn't use enough words to fully describe it.

Happy Birthday, Summer!

McCain, Obama, or...?

2008-07-26T23:53:00.001-04:00

You just never know who might run for political office!

Dish Diss

2008-07-18T22:22:00.004-04:00

This picture is great for this post. I think it's the same clock they use at Dish Network to schedule customer service appointments. If they used a clock. Actually, if there was one that just had the numbers 8 and 5, that would probably be good enough. But the lack of hands on the clock is completely perfect.

Can you tell I'm not happy with Dish Network?

To be fair, I'm not happy with every large company that has a convoluted phone system, anonymous first-name only operators, and no way to reach someone who has any real information.

"What's the name and number of the company that will be doing the service call?"
"We don't have that information."
"Then how do they know to come? Telepathy?"

Directv and Comcast might be frustrating, too. But Dish stinks.

Tribute

2008-07-16T20:34:00.004-04:00

This is one of those posts that I feel should be deep and serious and profound and full of touching wisdom, the kind that has you reaching for your box of tissues and hugging your loved ones.

Failing that, it would be great if I had a really funny story or anecdote that would leave you with a smile and warm fuzzies tickling your spine.

I've got nothing. (Which is a shame, because I know there were plenty of stories of both varieties.)

Instead, I'll just mention that Christi would have been 50 today, and her family and friends miss her. We know she's having a great time.

Wiilationships on iTunes

2008-07-15T10:12:00.003-04:00

After several attempts, we were finally able to begin recording in our Sunday school class last week. The audio still isn't great, but at least if you are not able to be with us, you can listen in.
Our class is called "Wii" and the broadcast is called "Wiilationships", not because we play the Wii in class, or even talk about it (much), but because the idea of playing well together is what we're trying to accomplish.
You're invited to listen, comment on our blog, and play along.

2.0

2008-07-11T11:35:00.000-04:00

My new applications in iPhone. Unfortunately, iTunes is still not
working correctly.

A rule to live by

2008-07-08T13:52:00.002-04:00

Saw this great video on Josh Griffin's More Than Dodgeball blog. Love the video; I guess I need to check out the book. (And, yes, I find myself complaining way too much.)

Sams Club

2008-07-03T20:26:00.000-04:00

> Pastor invited a bunch of us to the Miracles baseball game. There
> are fireworks afterwards. Sam and Allison Neal are here with us. So
> far, the Miracle are ahead, 1-0, bottom of 5.
>

Fearsome Foresome

2008-06-29T11:18:00.000-04:00

Time to catch up a little with the blog. Sam, Stephen Goss, and Dalton
(Sam's almost-brother), and I went golfing Friday. It was the first
time on a regulation course for Sam and the first time anywhere for
Dalton. They did pretty good for first-timers, shooting a 56 and 57 on
the back nine. Of course, if we had counted their penalty strokes, it
would've been a bit higher. ("Penalty strokes? What's that?" said Sam.)

They lost some balls, but gained some knowledge (you can't ground your
club in a bunker before your shot; it's easier to hit a 3-wood than a
driver; if you lift your head, you might miss the ball), and they
learned that Tiger Woods on the Wii is easier that the real thing.

Good times.

Children Make a Father

2008-06-15T13:53:00.003-04:00

Happy Father's Day. I share in that by virtue of my four wonderful children (given to me by God and the lovely Trudi.) Here are just a few pictures from this weekend of the fab four.

Children make a granddad, too. (Happy Father's Day, dad!)

Social Butterflies

2008-06-13T14:26:00.006-04:00

I'm fairly internet/computer capable. I have this blog, plus a few podcasts, a Twitter account, an unused MySpace page, and a newly energized Facebook presence. On the right side of this blog page, you can see the things I'm connected with.

I follow a few people in Twitter, subscribe to several blogs, and listen to many podcasts.

The best blog post I've read recently was today's from Mark Lunsford, via Dr. George Wood. (Nice one, Mark)

The Facebook thing is something that's really been surprising. More surprising has been that, after some initial hesitation, Trudi seems to be enjoying her Facebook experience.

I'm currently trying to figure out how to add the junior high and elementary schools I went to into Facebook. (I only see the high school and college options.)

For those of you that haven't tried Facebook yet, try it out. It's kind of large and imposing, but fun once you try it. The important thing to know is that people can't see your personal information unless you let them. Only your "friends" (people you specifically allow) can see the stuff you post on Facebook.

Another interesting thing is that all of these things can be associated with one another, so my Twitter posts get posted on Facebook as well.

Why all the different things? Well, they're interesting to me. They also perform slightly different functions. I couldn't fit all these thoughts on Twitter at once. And I didn't really want to post them on Facebook. And you might even be wondering why I'm posting them here. But I can, so I am.

So...do you have a solution to my Facebook problem? Do you write a blog that I can subscribe to? Or have a podcast? Or have a Twitter account? Let me know.

It's a Moral Statement

2008-06-12T09:46:00.002-04:00

Just got done watching myself, again, on the Church Drama Podcast. Posted the video of Episode 60.6, which is me doing a monologue about...well, the underlying message is about society's current view of homosexuality and the ways people try to justify it.

After the monologue, Trudi calls it a political statement, and because society has made it a political issue, I guess it is. But it's really a moral issue.

One line I wish I had added to the sketch would be right after I talk about Jesus pardoning the thief on the cross, I should have said, "And how has Jesus promised to come to us? As a thief in the night! Indeed - what would Jesus do?"

You'll understand that better if you watch the video.

It's official

2008-06-06T15:43:00.001-04:00

She's happy to be a Gator. Having her picture taken? Not so much.
We're almost done.

New Gators

2008-06-06T15:38:00.000-04:00

Shae and Trudi, at the beginning of our two-day adventure - the
Preview for incoming students and parents at the University of
Florida. Shortly after this picture was taken, so was Shae. We haven't
seen her much since.

First room

2008-06-05T17:45:00.000-04:00

Checking Shae into Broward 213 for the night.

Me and Verizon

2008-06-01T20:15:00.003-04:00

John Gruber's blog, Daring Fireball, points out that Me.com is kind of linked to Apple. There is much speculation that Apple's dot Mac will become Me.

I'm new to this DNS tracking stuff, but it's interesting that MeWorld.com was bought on May 25th....by Verizon.

Is this a possible sign that the iPhone might become available through Verizon? Hmmm.

4th Place Form

2008-05-28T19:55:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of Steven P. doing the "Happy Gilmore" on the last
hole, our 90th in three days.

36 - Day One

2008-05-26T21:10:00.003-04:00

By reading the previous post, you probably know two things:

1) I'm in North Carolina, again, for the annual Southeastern University tournament at the Pearl in Calabash, NC. A group from our church has come to this tournament every year for the past several years.

2) I'm posting on my blog again. At least, I am during this tournament. If I have pictures to share. Otherwise, I'll be updating everyone via Twitter. The easiest way to use Twitter is by following.

This picture shows Mark Carr, Phil Goss, and Wendell Williams at a very picturesque hole. I don't think my iPhone quite captures it.

The 9th at the Pearl

2008-05-26T11:06:00.000-04:00

Really Tweet

2008-04-16T07:52:00.002-04:00

Don't know if you have heard of the latest fad on the internet. It's called Twitter. It's like a blog, but restricted to 140 characters, so updates are really short. The idea behind it is to answer the question - What are you doing?

You can follow me at www.Twitter.com/TimMcDaniel. You might also notice my twitter updates in the sidebar of this page. A very good explanation of Twitter is in the video, posted from The Common Craft Show.

Another Great Idea I Wish I Had Thought Of First

2008-04-11T15:39:00.005-04:00

Joshua Cody at Church Marketing Sucks pointed out a relatively new blog that is absolutely one of the best blogs I've ever seen.

Prodigal Jon is a pastor's kid and advertising person who has a couple of other blogs - that I guess were mildly viewed. But this one - Stuff Christians Like (* fixed link: 4/12/08, 1:12pm) - has caught fire. And for good reason. It's hilarious.

I've spent the last few minutes trying to go through all his posts - he's up to #141 and he only started the blog in January. The reason to read all the old posts are that they are timeless - and true. His topics have been varied, but all skewer the things Christians like, such as - Love Offerings, Saving Seats at Church, and the Side Hug.

Post #139 is about the Choir Side Step Dance, in which he writes:

Choirs invented this move in 1973 when they realized they wanted to dance a little but they didn't have room on the stage. So they came up with this side move so they could still express about 12% of the funk without bumping into each other.

This is one of those sites that I know if my sister Tammy had seen it, she would've already emailed a link to me by now. (Check it out, Tam)

Wii Did It!

2008-04-08T20:22:00.004-04:00

Count the McDaniel household among those that have come under the influence of the Wii.

After several months of casually looking, I walked into WalMart last Wednesday afternoon, only to be confronted by SIX Wii's. I had promised myself - unbeknownst to Trudi and the kids - that if I saw one anytime, I would purchase it...if I still had the cash.

I've been saving birthday, Christmas, and casual money for a couple of years. My first goal had been a killer sound system for our big-screen TV. But that had been replaced by the goal of a new iMac. However, since I hadn't been able to save a big enough amount, I had finally settled on purchasing a Mac Mini the next time they are updated.

Unless I saw a Wii first.

I did, so we are now the active owners of the Wii. I also got a couple of games and everyone has really gotten into it. Here you see Shae - who was unhappy to have her picture taken, but not enough to stop playing.

18

2008-04-01T13:12:00.003-04:00

The common - and too easy - line is that the joke was on the church...or us.

It was eighteen years ago today that Trudi and I came to Faith Assembly. We had no idea we would be here this long or that our children would grow up here. We had hoped to make it 5 or 6 years before God moved us on.

An interesting 18 years, full of memories and people and experiences.

Good Takeoff

2008-03-31T11:16:00.002-04:00

We recently did a takeoff of the Levitra commercials on the Church Drama Podcast. It was okay. Then I saw this takeoff from NewSpring Church which I thought was really good.

Sugar & Spice

2008-03-27T19:42:00.003-04:00

This will obviously be used again in a more public place. You'll have to provide your own punchline.

Easter with the Stanleys

2008-03-24T21:55:00.003-04:00

Tammy, Terry, and Luke came to town for Easter. After 2nd service we came home for Trudi's fabulous subs, a relaxing afternoon, a viewing of "Enchanted", and evening pizzas.

We all had a great time. Wish the rest of family and many friends could have shared it with us.

Rainout

2008-03-22T18:02:00.004-04:00

Over four hours round-trip to Tampa today...to see 1 1/2 innings of baseball. The Yankees made 2 errors and the Blue Jays batted around in the top of the 1st, scoring 6 runs. But with a 2-1 count on Jorge Posada in the bottom of the 2nd, the umpires had had enough rain. Me, too.

THE Tournament

2008-03-21T22:39:00.002-04:00

I have four brackets. I kept them pretty consistent, with only a few minor variations between my picks. A few games are still going on tonight, but currently:

Picks of Faith bracket (church league)
Current score: 19 (tied for 8th out of 12)
Leader score: 21
Best pick: Davidson over Gonzaga
Worst pick: Cal State Fullerton over Wisconsin
4 of my sweet 16 have already been eliminated.

BQ Bracket Busters (Bible quiz league)
Current score: 20 (5th out of 11)
Leader score: 23
Best pick: Davidson
Worst pick: South Alabama over Butler
Again, 4 of my sweet 16 are gone.

Hoops Gurus (league with Gary Robles)
Current score: 100 (7th out of 7)
Leader score: 168
Best pick: Davidson
Worst pick: CSUF
Only 3 of sweet 16 gone, but I've lost interest in this bracket. Rules were changed after tourney began, with players allowed to change their picks before today's games, though I didn't know it. Weak.

Google (my bracket, no league, just to test the iBracket widget on the Google home page)
Current score: 42
Best pick: San Diego over Connecticut
Worst pick: Georgia over Xavier
3 sweet 16 picks gone, the worst being Drake, whom I had making it to the Final Four. Crazy, but what did I have to lose?

Bobby Kingsley

2008-03-07T08:00:00.002-05:00

(See yesterday's post for an explanation.)

Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley had always loved children. It was not the love of the idea of children. Theirs was not the case of a couple who wanted to have children, but were prevented from doing so. No, they loved children through experience. Two years after the wedding their first child, a daughter, was born. Two boys followed within the next three years.

While having children by natural birth was very fulfilling to the Kingsleys, they knew they were made for more. They eagerly pursued the avenue of adoption. A girl from South America was first, followed by another from the Pacific Rim. From the outset there was no distinction within the Kingsley household between “natural” and “adopted” children. All were loved, disciplined, nourished, appreciated, and respected. It was understood and unquestioned - they were a family.

A family that grew even larger when Mrs. Kingsley delivered yet another daughter and, shortly afterwards, the paperwork was finalized for the adoption of a boy from Eastern Europe.

Four girls, three boys, two very proud, and very satisfied parents. Of course, it takes more than love to pay the bills, but Mr. Kingsley had succeeded in business, so finances were never a concern. And even with all the demands of young and growing children, time had never been much of a factor either. Mr. Kingsley was fond of saying, “There’s always time to do what’s important,” and the strength and attitude that was evident in their home seemed to prove him right.

That strength and attitude would be tested most severely.

Of all the Kingsley children, Wally, the eleven-year-old, and third of the Kingsley clan, was the one who could brighten any mood. Perpetually sunny in disposition, quick in thought, compassionate in relationships, Wally was not only the peacemaker in sibling squabbles, his ability to bring a smile and his lack of self-preoccupation invited the admiration of his younger brothers and sisters, and the protection of his older ones.

Unfortunately, their watchful eyes didn’t see the car that crushed Wally’s bicycle as he rode to a friend’s house. The driver never stopped and the Kingsleys would never know precisely what happened. They only knew the result.

Even in their courtship, both Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley had decided that, when their time came, they would be life-givers. It was on each of their driver’s licenses. A real discussion , then, wasn’t even necessary in Wally’s case, only signatures on a form. As hard as losing a child was, the Kingsleys’ grief was lessened, if only slightly, by knowing that other children would live as a result. The strong and kind heart of their child would power the life of another.

Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley met Bobby several months before Wally’s accident. Orphaned at birth, left at the front door of the local firehouse without a note, Bobby was without any clue to his background or his lineage.

The system had cared for Bobby in the twelve years since. Cared is probably overstating what Bobby had experienced. “Tolerated” or “kept” might describe it better. Bobby had never caught the eye or the heart of any prospective parents. He had been carried along by the bureaucracy, existing, but not belonging.

Despite the lack of warmth and affection that nourishes and sustains any young child, Bobby was relatively well-adjusted, even hopeful. He had experienced more than his share of disappointment and rejection, pain and loneliness. He lacked any real knowledge of what a loving family could be like. Not knowing what he was missing, it was said, Bobby missed it less.

It was shortly after the Kingsleys met him for the first time that Bobby’s kidneys began to fail. The medical professionals disagreed on the cause, but were certain of the prognosis. Bobby needed new kidneys. He was put on the list.

Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley normally sought to adopt a child as an infant or toddler, but felt inexplicably drawn to the case of this pre-teen with daunting medical needs. They had a vision to meet the great need of children from other countries, but felt compelled to touch this child from their own community.

They hesitated. Then came Wally’s accident, and suddenly tragedy and opportunity intersected to make their decision for them.

Bobby could be taken off two lists at the same time, gaining two titles - organ recipient and son.

Only hours after losing one son, the Kingsleys would participate in the possible gain of another.

They never thought of Bobby as Wally’s replacement. Just as they had loved each of their children specifically and independently, they saw Bobby through an exclusive lens. This was simply making the very best out of the very worst.

The surgery went better than any of the medical team had hoped. The unusual step of replacing both of Bobby’s kidneys was an unqualified success. Rather than rejecting the transplanted organs, Bobby’s system responded vigorously. It seemed that he was almost instantly cured of whatever had caused his original condition. Recovery would be brief.

The grief of the Kingsley family was more prolonged. The loss of Wally was profound, piercing. Those feelings of emptiness were mixed with the hope of gaining Bobby. In time, the children were introduced to their potential sibling, and Bobby and the Kingsleys became acquainted.

In the next twelve months, the Kingsley clan gradually regained their footing, and the addition of Bobby to the group was another step to healing. Even the youngest Kingsley sensed a bigger purpose, as if it was all calculated in advance.

From Bobby’s perspective, it was nothing short of overwhelming. Having never known the benefits of belonging, he was given a wonderful taste of what it would be like to be a brother, a son. He liked it. He couldn’t wait to be known, not just as Bobby, but Bobby Kingsley. It was all miraculous, too good to be true. But if Bobby ever doubted the reality, he only had to touch the scar that signified the sacrifice and provision he had received.

It was exactly a year to the day of Wally’s accident - coincidentally - that papers were signed, and it was official - Bobby Kingsley, the newest , if not the youngest, Kingsley child. A bittersweet day, to be sure.

---

Mealtimes were always the best times at the Kingsleys, No better food could be served than what was prepared by Mrs. Kingsley, but it was more than food that made mealtimes special. Mealtimes were a time to laugh at the stories of the day, a time to look in each other’s eyes, a time when connection became the most real.

In the years following, as the family grew yet again, those family dinners bonded them ever closer. There was one more baby, a boy, to close out Mrs. Kingsley’s child-bearing years, followed by twin - yes, twin - girls, orphaned by a terrible east African civil war, now adopted into positive American civil bliss. Then the grandchildren began to arrive.

It was the empty place at the table that created the difficulty.

Of course, there was never any physically empty place at the Kingsley table. Space was too precious for that. The emptiness was felt, if not seen. No matter how many other Kingsley children and grandchildren made their place at the table, the emptiness was real and tangible. It was the place their brother should have occupied.

No one could explain why he rarely did.

In the days after his adoption, Bobby had quickly meshed into the fabric of Kingsley life. He enjoyed everything about it. Even discipline was administered with genuine compassion and charity. That’s what he loved most. They really cared.

That’s why it was only a little unusual when he started asking if he could spend the night back at the orphanage. Surely he just wanted to share the new attitude and sense of belonging he had discovered with some of the kids he left behind.

It wasn’t long before everyone realized that there must be more to it. Nights became weekends, that quickly became weeks. And each time he returned, Bobby acted less like a son, more like an orphan.

How could a twelve, now thirteen, then fourteen year old boy decide where he was going to live, who he would listen to? And why, having experienced the love, belonging and close-knit unity of a family, would he choose the cold loneliness of the orphanage?

The excuses were varied, if not predictable, until at last the excuses stopped being offered. Instead, there was silence. And the empty place at the table.

Every once in a while, their paths would cross, Bobby and one of the other Kingsleys, though the younger ones didn’t recognize him, and couldn’t know that the man with the prematurely graying hair and slight limp was one of their own. They might make the connection if they caught sight of him on the fringes of the annual family reunions, held - not by coincidence - on the anniversary of a very special day. Even Bobby wouldn’t miss that day.

But he would miss most everything else about being a Kingsley.

---

Married for over sixty years, sharing life, love, tragedy, loss, and great joy, it surprised few people who really knew them when Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley passed away within a few hours of each other.

At the reading of the will, the room was abounding with Kingsleys. Their family had grown quite large, and Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley had planned on generously blessing each family member at their passing.

Their testament mentioned each by name, from the youngest to the oldest. In most cases, there was included a favorite story about the family member, along with the qualities Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley had most admired. There were many tears, but many laughs as well. It was as if Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley were still there, with the rest of the family gathered at the old mealtime table.

It was almost incidental when the endowment of material possessions was finally mentioned. Almost. For nothing that they had known of the Kingsley patriarch’s generosity and financial acumen prepared them for what was to come.

They were rich. Each and every last one of them. From the youngest great-great-grandchild - for the record, Emma, born only three weeks before and, actually, the only great-great grandchild - to the oldest daughter, they had all become instant millionaires. Multi-millionaires, to be more precise, who, if they followed the advice handed down to them as well, would eventually approach billionaire status.

One name was conspicuously absent, a fact not lost on anyone that were present.
He stood near the back of the room, moving little, saying nothing. At the beginning of the evening he was hopeful, but not expectant. He hadn’t seen any family member, much less the parents, in the few months preceding their deaths, but the scar was still there, the one that reminded him of the first gift they had ever given him. He was hopeful for one more.

But as the night wore on, and the names were read, and everyone swam in the rich sea of family memories, it occurred to Bobby that perhaps he had already missed the real inheritance. When he finally heard his name, he couldn’t help but hold his breath.

“...and to Bobby. We still love you. You heard us say, there is always time to do what’s important. We were wrong, because now there is no time for us to know you as our son. We wish you had joined us for dinner. It was more than a meal.”

Illustration Post Tomorrow

2008-03-06T09:24:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow morning I will be posting a short story. It was an illustration that I originally wrote for the sermon last night. I am doing a series on the book of Numbers and last night we were in Numbers 9:1-14.

The illustration turned out to be quite long, turning into a short story, which I've decided to post here.

The basic idea I was trying to illustrate was this: what is it like when someone says, I like God, I just don't like the church? Or, I'm a Christian, but I don't have to go to church for that.

In Numbers 9, God makes it clear to the Israelites, if you don't partake in Passover, you have no place in the congregation, and if you have no place in the congregation, you have no part in me.

Check back tomorrow.

It's a Family Event

2008-03-05T11:35:00.006-05:00

At the risk of being accused of worshipping dumb idols, I'll admit that we - as a family - are regular viewers of American Idol. (Some people just need to get over the name. Please.)

We have our favorites. Last night I thought Jason Castro was one of the best. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But I like his sound. And something about him reminds me of a friend of ours. (What do you think, Rachel?)

Just to clarify, our friend IS a sharp guy. Still, there's something...

Getting Older is a Good Alternative

2008-03-03T09:40:00.003-05:00

Happy 97th Birthday to my friend, Wayne Hagopian! All kidding aside, R. Wayne is one the smartest people I know and I'm happy to have him as a friend. He's aging well, don't you think?

The Madness is Coming

2008-03-03T09:25:00.002-05:00

Admittedly, I am not looking forward to the NCAA Men's Tournament as much this year as I have the past couple of years. The two-time defending National Champions might not even make it into the field.

But it's still the best period of sports of the year - the Tournament, Opening Day for baseball, the Masters - all within a few weeks.

It's a long Monday

2008-02-26T20:44:00.003-05:00

Here's your first look at the cover shot for the Scrooge 2007 DVD. This is one of several things I'm working on at the moment and one of the reasons that this post is on Tuesday instead of Monday.

You see, yesterday I thought it would be a perfect day to get a post out and start a regular habit of posting every Monday.

Here are the current and upcoming things I'm on right now:

The Scrooge DVD. First and second acts are cut and rendered. Working on the cover. Still have to do front title, end titles, and second disk elements. Then the DVD itself with menus and stuff.
Helping FLOCS with their Fine Arts festival, which is this Friday and Saturday. I might be going up on Friday for a few hours to help.
Just posted the audio and video for episode #57 of the Church Drama Podcast. Pretty good.
Some time this week I need to get ready to teach this Sunday in our Wii Sunday school class. It's my turn. We will be talking about my main temperament - the S-Phlegmatic-Ox.
Then there's the church administrator stuff. Signs, maintenance, preschool, bills, blah, blah, blah...
American Idol. Watching as I type.
Bible Quiz this weekend in Orlando. Last league match. I'll be coordinating the Southeast Regional in May.

Accepted

2008-02-21T09:26:00.003-05:00

The big news from yesterday is that Shae received notice (via e-mail) that her application has been accepted for the University of Florida.

We're proud of her, especially since we hear that they are tightening their acceptance rate. It's not easy to get in, like it obviously was when I went there.

Go Gators!

How Comfortable is He?

2008-02-21T09:16:00.002-05:00

From my most favorite part of the Bible...

"And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust him..." Ephesians 3:17

Is my heart really a home for Him? Or have I given Him a guest room, or maybe just the couch for the night? What freedom do we give God in our life?

Wood on Mark

2008-02-16T20:22:00.003-05:00

Dr. George Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, has a new podcast. It's a study of the book of Mark and is available in audio or video. I think it's pretty cool that he's doing this. I just can't decide whether to subscribe to the audio or video.

A February Night in Florida

2008-02-15T23:28:00.003-05:00

Sam is playing baseball for Riverdale HS. This week is opening tournament. Here he is at bat. I'm glad he likes sports and is good at them. We are even happier about the young man he is becoming.