Blake Thompson daht NetI'm just saying….

I first heard John Piper at Passion back in the late 90′s. He was a guy you took lots of notes, read back through them. Bought the tape (yes, tape. Not yet cd or mp3) and re-listened to his talk. Then you figured out what he was really saying and meaning. He was usually pretty deep and profound.

I came across this video a couple of weeks ago. It is pretty profound too. Yet very simple. And real. Tell me what you think about it.

Well?

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So this weekend my son turned one month old. It had been about three and a half years since my second little girl had been born. So there were a lot of things I’d forgotten about babies. Here are a few I remembered and some new things as well.

• Babies are tiny! He was the biggest of our three kids. But I didn’t remember the other two being that small when they were born.
• I’d forgotten the unique smell of babies.
• A baby will fool you with the first few nights in the hospital. They sleep like a rock. It changes after the first few nights!
• Diapers fill up fast and constantly.
• When you change a baby boy’s diaper, there are more things you gotta check around to make sure you get everything wiped clean.
• When you change a baby boy’s diaper, you gotta do it faster, or you might get squirted!
• Babies like for you to pick them up. But most of the time, it’s not just enough to pick them up. You need to walk and sway in order to calm them.
• Your parents stop wanting to see you for a while, only their new grandbaby.
• Spit-up stinks.
• A baby’s coo can be one of the most soothing sounds.
• A baby’s shrill cry can make you want to put an ice pick through your temple!

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Sometimes our world does seem sorta crazy. But our world is pretty cool (especially in its natural state). Watching this commercial reminds me of that. And that I need to get out and experience it more. (It also reminds me that Discovery is a pretty cool channel.)

Boom Di Atah!

[ht to Andy]

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So we’d been trying to get the message from our weekend services at The Orchard recorded for the last few weeks. But we had a few equipment issues, then some bad cords. But then I ended up buying a Tascam 144 USB Interface. You plug it into the iBook G4 and also into the soundboard. And then VOILA! Well, not voila…there were a few settings that were causing some frustrations

But then I got to work in Garageband for a while putting the pieces together, using the little intro music, recording a brief welcome message, and getting all the id3 tags right.

I’ve submitted our podast iTunes, but it will probably take a few days until it gets flying there. But we’re looking forward to this being a great way for our folks to keep up if they’re out a weekend. Also a great way for so many of our college students to listen in during the summer (or for their parents to check out where they’re going to church while away at college.)

Right now we have it set up on iWeb, so if you want to check out our first edition, go for it!

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I remember one time in high school walking across the top, high arching supports of a rail road bridge. It was a complete rush. And made me shake a little. This right here would be nuts!

Could you even imagine doing this?

(ht to Brody)

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I was trying to update my blog and a few others to WP 2.5.1 this morning. But one of them wasn’t working correctly. Still exactly not sure what the problem with it is, but I’ve got the techies working on it  now.

But in doing so, I was cleaning up some things as well. And I ended up deleting my stats program. Like sent it to the far reaches of the internet to where I’m not sure it can be recovered. Ouch.

Sometimes I get excited about the things I can learn and do online. I am soooooooooo far behind a lot of people I know when it comes to what they can do with technology. But then again, I know plenty of people who still don’t even realize what a blog is (much less twitter) or have an email address.

Technology can be a beautiful thing. Just gotta make sure you’re using it for redeemed purposes!

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Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night to a rain storm and started thinking about your car windows? And you start asking yourself, “How was the weather when I parked? Did I leave the window down?”

And then it gets to the point to where you have to get up and go check the window in the storm to make sure
that your driver’s seat isn’t filling u with water?

That just happened to me.

Lucky me.

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[[ Come and follow me www.twitter.com/statedog ]]

LOOOONG ago I signed up for something called Twitter. I was reading about it on some blogs I visited. I checked back and the first time I ever used Twitter was on March 24 of 2007! Wow.

But basically Twitter is what I’d describe a cross between instant messaging and blogging. You can post quick updates no more than 140 characters to let people know, what you are doing! Because that’s the question you answer, “What are you doing?”

At first I was like, “Who cares?” and in the very beginning it almost seems pointless, but the trick is starting to follow people and have people follow you. ["Following" means you're keeping up with someone's tweets (messages they send by way of Twitter)] The video below explains it pretty well.

I started following people I “know of” through blogs and such. But once I had people I actually knew doing it, it got even more fun! So I have people who’s blogs I read like Brody Harper. He’s at the GMA’s right now and I know what’s going on backstage pretty often because of his Twitter. But then again I know Pat Ward personally, so I can keep up with his goings on too.

Is it overkill? Dunno, it’s up to you. It probably won’t seem cool right at first. But the more you do it, the more you find your people to follow, and the more you interact, the greater the experience.

Are there privacy issues? Of course, as there is with everything. Twitter was even on CSI. Watch this clip:

So, follow me on Twitter :: www.twitter.com/statedog. Sign up. Then search your address books for people you know who are already on Twitter!

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I really, really, really like Hillsong United (myspace). They are one of those worship bands I’d heard about before, but never invested any time into checking them out until a few years ago. I was blown away. They have some really moving songs, but not just moving because of good music (which is top notch), but I think the lyrics are deep too.

They have a new project coming out, and part of the project is a new DVD. And the name of this
new DVD is called All In This Together (click the pic for more info). I think my mind is poisoned now because of High School Musical. I even hear Pat use the phrase “we’re all in this together” last week in his sermon, and I immediately thought of HSM. In Pat’s defense, I don’t think he’s ever seen the movie.

But I think that I’m going to get the new double cd AND the DVD that Hillsong United is releasing. I’ve never been disappointed with their stuff.

Also wanted to include a short video that I found of theirs on YouTube last night.

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I don’t think I’ve ever done it. I know I’ve not on purpose. But this year I plan on seeing all five films that were up for Best Picture at the Oscars.

Last night we watched Juno (trailer). I liked it a lot. It was kind of quirky, but in a good way. When it was first out in theaters I’d heard it almost glorified teen pregnancy. I really didn’t think it did. I think it actually told some of the hardships associated with teen pregnancy (both social and physical). But the character did take it pretty well. It has some really sharp dialog and good acting. I laughed quite a bit at it. It’s also really thought provoking with out ever being cliche. Allison Janney was great. I’ve always liked her from The West Wing. But Ellen Page, the lead role, was excellent. I think she could be in store for some great roles in the future. I’d also seen her in the movie Hard Candy. It was freaky, but good. I’d say Juno is about an 9.1.

Before that we saw Michael Clayton (trailer). I think George Clooney is one of the better actors currently working. He can do a pretty broad range of characters, from really serious to really silly. This is definitely one of his serious roles. It’s a movie you have to pay close attention to it in order to follow. But Michael Clayton is a a lawyer at a huge firm. His job is to be the “fixer”. He cleans up messes and smooths things over that need smoothing. But he’s run into a huge issue and is being pressed from different sides to fix it while dealing with personal issues. The story telling is not linear. So you gotta pay attention. But if you keep up, it’s a great movie. Michael Clayton is about an 8.8.

And just before that we saw Atonement (trailer). It’s a period piece where everyone seems either really privileged or lower class. The acting from Kiera Knightley and James McAvoy was great. The story is about false accusations stemming from jealousy ruining a life and a love, and the journey attempting to repair that love and find atonement for past wrongs. It’s a good movie. But got a little slow at times. One that will cause you to get really frustrated at the characters. And it is told completely out of order. I followed it, but The Wife kept asking why they didn’t just put it all from start to finish. If you’re looking for a good “pick me up”, then this is not that sort of movie, but it’s got some pretty good cinematography of war that was pretty amazing too. I’d give it a 7.4

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