A Constant State of Transformation

One of the all time tough questions.....

2009-04-19T11:33:00.002-05:00

First, let me say that I do not know the answer to this question. I have some thoughts on it, but it would be arrogant of me to say that I knew the answer, but here's the question....

Why do bad things happen to good people?

As many of you know,Tornadoes ripped through Tennessee last week and did a lot of damage in Murfreesboro. After the storm passed, I heard a lot folks say things like...

"Praise God! Our house wasn't damaged, God took care of us!"

God should definitely be praised. I'm not criticizing that at all, but, too often, do we use events as a barometer of our relationship with God?

One of the ministers that I had heard a lot about recently was a man named Joel Osteen. One evening, I was flipping through the channels and one of his services was being broadcast, so I stopped to listen. One of the first things that I heard him say was "God wants you to be rich". I changed the channel right after that statement.

I feel that one of the most dangerous ideas in Christianity today is what I've heard referred to as the "Health and Wealth Gospel". That if you have a good relationship with God, that your life will be smooth sailing. Is that true?

One of the scriptures that comes to my mind when I think about this topic, is the story where Jesus healed the man that was blind since birth.

John 9

1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

Jesus' disciples had the idea that the man's blindness had to be the result of sin. This 'bad' thing in his life had to be the result of a sin by someone. But Jesus set them straight, the man was blind for a reason, but it wasn't because of any bad thing that he or his parents did.

There are many stories in the Bible where 'bad' things happen to 'good' people, consider the stories of Job and Joseph. In my opinion, God allows us to suffer the consequences of our own sin, their is no doubt about that. But using other events in life as a barometer of your relationship with God, is a dangerous place to go.

William Wallace and CEO compensation....

2009-04-05T20:21:00.002-05:00

This morning, there was a story on the news about growing anger with CEO's who make a lot of money. This afternoon, I watched Braveheart....the story of the freedom of Scotland from British tyranny.

In my warped mind it all came together in a weird way into this blog post...

During the Presidential election this year, I heard a lot of my liberal leaning friends (yes, I still consider them friends) disgusted at the huge sums of money that executives make compared to the average worker. This morning, on CBS News Sunday Morning, they did an entire segment on the growing tension between the ultra wealthy and the middle or lower class folks, such as myself.

I believe that Sunday Morning is usually pretty good about presenting both sides of an argument, and I felt like they did in this segment as well. One gentlemen, spoke about how 'wrong' it was for millions of folks to be living below the poverty line, while the top 1% of wage earners were making more than ever. The answer....of course...is increase taxes on the top 1% to help those that make less.

Another gentlemen, spoke of how a total of 35% of government revenue is already derived from this top 1%. And that it would be hard to argue that they weren't 'doing their fair share'.

So, how does this tie in with William (Braveheart) Wallace? When the British finally caught William Wallace and were about to execute him, the man in charge told him that they would make his execute quick and painless if he would simply pledge his allegiance to the British crown. He had already been tortured, and the last thing he said was......FREEDOM!

Here's my point, there are some who obtain their wealth illegally, or by exploiting the system. Be sure, that any executive that is caught in some sort of illegality is going to appear night after night on your evening news. But, please, do not cast all members of the top 1% into this group. There are many very hard working honest people who make more money in a year than I'll ever see in a lifetime.

The question here, is Freedom....are those that studied hard in school, or worked hard to build a business or simply got lucky automatically bad people because they are compensated well? Is our concept of freedom such that the right to freedom is taken away if you make more money than the average bear?

Freedom is freedom....freedom is the ability to reap the rewards or consequences of our own actions and choices. Freedom is the ability to what you want regardless of how other people feel about it.

Freedom was important enough to William Wallace to die for....Freedom is important....I fear it is at risk in our country.

Her folks still aren't talking to me....

2009-03-30T21:11:00.004-05:00

I received this story in the email today, there are several versions like it, but the point is the same....

I was talking to the 8 year-old daughter of a friend of
mine, and she said she wanted to be President some day.
Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing
there, so I asked her, "If you were President
what's the first thing you would do?"

She replied, "I'd give food and houses to all the
homeless people."

"Wow - what a worthy goal," I told her. "But
you don't have to wait until you're President to do
that. You can come over to my house and mow the grass, pull
weeds, and rake my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then
I'll take you over to the grocery store where the
homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use
toward food or a new house."

She thought that over for a few seconds, 'cause after
all she's only 8. And while her Mom glared at me, she
looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why
doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work
himself, and you can just pay him the $50?"

And I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Her folks still aren't talking to me.

Wow....Post 200!

2009-03-23T05:46:00.002-05:00

I had an idea of something that I was going to post this morning, when I started to write it, I noticed that this is my 200th post to my blog. That really calls for something deep and meaningful.....but I don't have anything deep and meaningful this morning, so I'll go with my original idea....

Something (not sure what) reminded me of this funny that I saw years ago.

ACHTUNG!

Das machine is nicht fur gerfingerpoken und mittengrabben.
Ist easy schnappen der Sprinngwerk, blowenfusen und
poppencorken mit spitzensparken.
Ist nicht fur gewerken by das Dummkopfen. Das rubbernecken
sightseeren keepen hands in das Pockets.
Relaxen und watch das blinkenlights...

You're special....

2009-03-21T14:18:00.002-05:00

"You're Special...." that's a really nice phrase that you can tell someone. But saying it with a different tone of voice, and it could be considered offensive. What if you said it with a condescending tone of voice to someone in a wheelchair?

If you read this blog, or know me in person you can probably guess that Barak Obama was not my first choice for President. No, it had nothing to do with him being a black man, it had to do with with fact that I believe he is a Socialist at heart. The majority of voters in this country felt he should be our President. He is my President and I hope that he is successful and I support him as such.

I can't imagine what it must be like to go from an ordinary citizen to being the leader of the free world. I imagine that the campaign puts a candidate in the spotlight enough to where they can begin to see the scrutiny that you will be put under if you win, but I don't know if anything can prepare you for the fact that there are hundreds of special interest groups out there watching every word you say to find something to be offended about.

Does anyone remember James Watt? He was the Secretary of the Interior under the Raegan administration. He was most famous for not allowing the Beach Boys to play at a Fourth of July event because of the 'undesirables' that they would attract. However, as I remember it, he had a terrible case of foot in mouth syndrome. I remember some flack about him referring to someone as a cripple. I did a little bit of research and found that in fact, his tenure as the Secretary of the Interior ended because of a sentence he uttered while telling about his administration:

"I have a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple. And we have talent."

This statement ended his career.

There are some people in this world that are simply looking for reasons to get their feelings hurt. I'm sure if the President mentioned that he had a steak before he went bowling, that PETA would be all up in arms. When I first saw the clip from the Tonight Show, I totally missed the reference to the Special Olympics, only after they pointed out what the flap was over did I even hear it.

Without a doubt, I can promise you that Barak Obama was making fun of himself and not disabled children. Would everyone please lighten up?

We hold these truths to be self-evident....

2009-03-17T05:51:00.002-05:00

The news has really been interesting over the last couple of days....in particular, I have been watching the government's involvement in business.

On April 1 new tobacco taxes will go into effect. The expressed purpose of these new taxes is to curb smoking effectively killing the tobacco industry.

Yesterday, President Obama announced his goal of preventing AIG from paying the executives millions of dollars because the government had given them money and therefore had 'leverage' in how they run the business.

Here's the thing, everyone knows that smoking is bad for you. Everyone knows that wearing seatbelts are a good idea. However, these are matters of personal choice not government control. I've debated many people about these issues and have found that the opposing argument always seems to involve the 'good of society' over the 'rights of the individual'. I feel that this is a very dangerous 'slippery slope' type of concept. It is a socialist idea that has grave consequences down the road.

I find it very interesting that our government would take it upon itself to destroy one industry that it finds unacceptable while protecting another. It is also very interesting that the government feels that it should have a say in the running of the business since it gave money to the business.

It is a very difficult problem, government should have no involvement in business whatsoever. In my opinion, businesses should stand on their on and live or die based on their performance. The government has determined that AIG, the auto industry and certain large banks are too big to allow to fail. Therefore, their involvement became necessary. Though our economy would likely be in grave shape if these businesses should fail, as a matter of principle, I believe it should have happened. I believe that the path that the government has chosen will lead to more serious consequences to our Liberty down the road.

Getting to the crux of the problem....

2009-03-16T06:23:00.002-05:00

If you watch the news at all this weekend, you heard about AIG paying bonuses this week to the guys that put the company, and our economy in such peril. If you didn't hear about it here's one story about it.

The current CEO of AIG was put in place by the Bush administration and he wrote a letter to President Obama saying that AIG's hands were tied. The contracts were negotiated before he got there, and AIG is contractually obligated to make the payments.

As I see it, the problem is NOT that they are making the payments now, the mistake was made long ago when they wrote the contract. Who in the world would write a contract where they were obligated to pay bonuses to people who drive your company into the ground? I've not seen the wording of the contracts, but I've heard them referred to as 'retention bonuses'. Why would they want to keep these guys?

The real question is, when these executive receive the payments, will they keep them? I saw a story about the CEO of JAL where he returned his salary because the company lost money. He sets a great example of what leadership really is.

My prediction, the AIG execs will keep the money, and not think twice about it.

NFL Fantasy Football Promotion....

2009-03-13T07:48:00.001-05:00

My thought is that most of this is not real, but its fun to watch....

Dolphin Bubbles....

2009-03-13T06:32:00.003-05:00

I saw a story about this on the news yesterday. Dolphins are thought to be the most intelligent of all animals....after seeing this, you might see why....

Still here.....

2009-03-11T06:06:00.002-05:00

I haven't had much on my mind lately, been very busy, not much time for deep thought...

Things seem to be settling down nicely now, new place to live, new job....it's been a long hectic road getting here, but I like the calm.

One thing that I have been thinking about is emotions. Emotions are tricky things....they will make people do things that don't make much sense (myself included). Many years ago, I had a counselor tell me that the main difference between man and animals is that when something happens around an animal...they react immediately, instinct takes over....fight or flight. Man has the option, we can stop and think before we react. We can react from intelligence instead of instinct. I've found that the longer I take to react, the more time I have to think about it, and the better my reaction is. If I'm really 'on my A game', I'll think through what I've been taught from the Bible, and try to react based on Biblical principles. I rely on my own knowledge way too much, but every once in a while, I'll do the right thing.

I've dealt with many in business who are very calm and thoughtful even when things seems to be falling apart all around them. I have a great amount of respect for these folks. I'm trying to learn how to do that.

I'm not saying that everyone should become emotionless drones or remove emotions from your life (Spock comes to mind). But, basing decisions on emotion seems to lead to problems.

Just an observation....

Brilliance....

2009-03-01T12:41:00.002-06:00

Hey gang....sorry it's been a while since I posted. Lot's of changes and goings on last week. I'm still trying to catch up, but I wanted to share something with you that I found. My new apartment has a fireplace, but I didn't have any kindling to start the fire with. I went to the grocery to buy some starter blocks that Duraflame makes and I found something called "Strike-a-fire" made by Diamond. These things are cool. They are like a large match that you can strike. They burn for about 15 minutes which is enough to start a large piece of firewood. They are really cool. I bet they would be great for starting a charcoal fire with no lighter fluid.

Here's a link

Love, Life, Wisdom and Coffee....

2009-02-24T06:07:00.003-06:00

I realize that my blog is somewhat a hodge podge. I tend to write about whatever is on my mind which sometimes really really deep and sometimes humorous(at least that is the intention).

The thing that has always amazed me is that regularly, the most popular post I've ever done was done not long after I started the blog. In November of 2007 I wrote about an experience that I had with Sonic Coffee. I looked at the year-to-date statistics for this blog and found that post was the #2 most read post so far this year.

That's funny....

Here's the post.

The trouble with wisdom....

2009-02-22T07:41:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was a good day....I finished moving everything around...everything that I own is in the zip code that it needs to be in. It was a long hard day, but a very good one.

It was also a good day, because I was able to spend time with two people that I consider to be very wise. My belief is that wisdom is very important, and should be pursued. As far as I know, there are really only two ways to gain wisdom: life experiences and spending time with wise people. Spending time with wise people includes reading the writings of wise people. The ultimate source of this being the scriptures.

Here's the trouble with wisdom as I see it, wisdom doesn't come when life goes the right way, wisdom comes from trouble. With wisdom, comes scars.

My son is a very good athlete. Like most athletes, he is very competitive...he hates losing (very much). My advice to him has always been.....you learn nothing when you win, the only time you learning anything is when you lose. Losing is tough, but if used correctly, it can be the best thing that can happen to you.

If you have studied the scriptures, wisdom is usually associated with one person...Solomon.

I Kings 3 contains the famous story where God grants Solomon a wish...Solomon asks for wisdom...God is impressed and gives him wisdom and much much more. The next story is the famous story where two women are arguing over a baby. Solomon makes a very wise decision, and determines the true mother of the child.

Since these two stories are back to back, I grew up with the notion that God granted Solomon's wish miraculously...I believed (wrongly, in my opinion) that God gave Solomon that Wisdom immediately.

It is my belief that the book of Ecclesiastes should be inserted between these two stories. I do not believe that God gave Solomon that Wisdom by some miraculous means....it is my belief that Solomon gained that wisdom the same way we do today....through trouble.

In many ways, Ecclesiastes sounds like the writing of a bitter old man....just look at the first thing he says:

Ecclesiastes 1:2
"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."

Sounds like there may be some scars there....How about this one?

Ecclesiastes 1:18
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.

Ultimately, however, though wisdom comes through difficulty....It is the most important thing that one can have.

Proverbs 3
13 Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
the man who gains understanding,

14 for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.

15 She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.

16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.

17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.

18 She is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
those who lay hold of her will be blessed.

The scary things that sometimes go through my mind....

2009-02-18T09:30:00.002-06:00

A few months ago, I did a post about relativity, the unified field theory and the theory of everything (look here, here and finally here) For some reason, sometimes I just think about that stuff while I'm driving.....my mind just wanders.

Yesterday, I did a lot of driving and got to thinking about the article mentioned in the third post that said Einstein's E=mC^2 equation had been validated. The most amazing part of that (in my mind) is the statement that 95% of everything we see is 'relatavistic mass' (increased mass due to the speed of sub-nuclear particles)

Then, here is where my mind went...

cold slows motion down, heat increases motion

most things, when frozen, contract and expand when heated

dihydrogen monoxide (aka water) does the opposite, it expands when frozen, and contracts when it heats up

the definition of absolute zero (0 Kelvin) is that all molecular motion stops

From this, I came up with these questions...

is the contraction/expansion of most materials due to temperature changes related to the slowing down/speeding up of sub-nuclear particles?

if so, why is water different?

Based on what we know, absolute zero is unacheivable (just like the speed of light) but if all molecular motion stopped at that point, would a material be reduced to 5% of it original mass?

I'd really like to talk to a physicist about this stuff. I know someone out there that could probably shed some light on this. Is Mr. Happy out there?
most

An update on the dihydrogen monoxide

2009-02-17T06:23:00.000-06:00

An amazing turnaround.....

2009-02-15T06:52:00.004-06:00

For some reason, particular dates have coinciding events and have a special meaning to me. For instance, I have a niece Christi, who was born on February 19, 1985. That day.....that very day....would have been my paternal grandmother's 100th birthday. Her name was Donnie Mae Jackson Hall. In 1885, the feminine form of Donald, was Donnie. Over the years it changed to Donna. When I was born my parents named me Donald but called me Donnie after her. Early in my career, I had a boss tell me that 'Don' sounded more professional. I used to go by Don at work and Donnie everywhere else. At some point, I decided that I really didn't care about having a professional sounding name, I wanted to be called by the same name everywhere I went. Therefore, please call me Donnie. But I digress...

Another date that is important, though sad, is February 7. February 7 was my brother Steve's birthday. I've written about Steve several times on here, (see Missing the Rodeo...) I had two brothers, Randy was the oldest, Steve was younger. Both have passed on....but February 7 is my 'Dark Day', because Randy passed away on Steve's birthday. It is a day that I miss them both.

However, February now has another special day to add to its list. February 6. Here's the story. If you've kept up with my blog, you can probably surmise that the year 2008 was terrible for me personally (as well as many others) For me it was divorce...shrinking investments....job loss.....ugh. I was laid off at the worst possible time for someone in the software industry, mid-November. Late in the year, companies in the software industry basically hunker down for the holidays. Annual budgets are at their end, annual projects are coming to a close, nothing new will be started until after the holidays are over. No one is hiring, or even wants to talk about hiring until after New Year's Day. By the Grace of God, I was able to find enough short term contract work to keep my head above water. I did the work that I could find, and worked on promoting myself, networking, rewriting resumes....etc. etc. etc.

Some time in mid to late January, calls started to come. I spent a lot of time on the phone (I dread that bill) and chased every lead I had. They all seemed to lead to dead ends. Finally, finally, finally on February 6, I got a call from someone that I had worked with many years ago. She was in a hiring position, had an opening, and found out that I was available. We met on that day, talked about the position and one week later, I accepted a formal offer. More details to come on that.

The coinciding event that makes that day special, however, was a conversation that I had with another friend from days gone by. We had recently reconnected and was catching up on the previous 25 years or so. She mentioned that she and some friends from the past were meeting for an impromptu reunion. I asked who she was meeting because we went to school together and I probably knew some of the folks she was meeting. As she was listing the names, I knew most of the folks she was meeting...then....lightning struck, she mentioned a name that I hadn't heard or thought of in years.

Hopefully, you are old enough to remember the Donnie Osmond song 'Puppy Love'. One of the things that I can remember my mom saying was "It may be puppy love....but it's real to the puppies". Many years ago, when I was in the 5th or 6th grade, I became infatuated with someone. She was in a grade below me, but she was the most beautiful thing that my eyes had ever seen. Curly blond hair, an infectious smile, she lit up the lunchroom ;-)

At the time, I was scared to death of girls. That is a very scary time in a boy's life, you have no idea how the whole relationship thing works, or at least I didn't. I don't know that I ever spoke to her in those days. Much to my chagrin, I recently found out that she had no idea who I was, but that's ok.

As it turns out....the girl with the curly blond hair and the infectious smile, is single now. One evening, we met at a restaurant, we wound up talking for about 3 hours. As we were talking, I experienced what I refer to as an emotional sneak attack. It was unbelievable, some of those emotions that I felt in the lunchroom 35 years ago came back....I remembered that feeling....in some small way...I healed that night.

Divorce is tough in every way. I can remember thinking, "I will NEVER EVER put myself in a position to be hurt that way again" Along the way, someone told me, "You will know that you have healed when you realize that you COULD fall in love again, because there is nothing like being in love".I didn't fall in love mind you...but...I remembered the feeling....and in some small way began to see the glimmer of a hope....that some day....I would be able to fall in love again.....for that.....I am grateful...

He won't let you go....

2009-02-11T05:58:00.000-06:00

Something I'm struggling with....

2009-02-08T09:30:00.005-06:00

Ever since the photo of Micheal Phelps taking a hit off of a bong surfaced, I've been struggling with how I feel about it. The parental side of me tends to be angry because I know that so many young people look up to him and his achievements. Now, seeing him 'take a hit', sends a terrible message.

Another side of me is sympathetic, how many of us at 23 years old could handle the fame, money and scrutiny that Mr. Phelps has been handed by his success? Could any of be put in that sort of situation without making some error in judgment?

Much of the problem, I believe, is in our expectations. Micheal Phelps went from a little know athlete in a sport that most people watch once every 4 years to a household name and larger than life 'hero'. If you think about it, he didn't ask to be a role model, he simply did his best at a sport he loves. It was the media and the public at large that placed the 'role model' tag on him and placed him under the glare of public scrutiny.

Most people love a 'rags to riches' story....unfortunately, my fear is that the 'riches to rags' story has more appeal for some. As soon as someone becomes a household name, there are those that immediately look to find something to tear them down. The real question becomes the motivation. Is the publicity around this photograph motivated by the media's desire to 'protect America's youth from the influence of a bad guy' or, is their motivation to sell magazines/commercials/advertisements. I know my opinion...you can decide for yourself. I take some comfort in the fact that a poll indicated that most American's opinion of Micheal Phelps hasn't changed much. The penalty to him so far has been the loss of a cereal box endorsement and a suspension from competition for a while. There should be consequences for bad behavior, this is enough in my opinion.

Please understand, I'm not defending the behavior, I'm saying look at the circumstances, put yourself in his shoes, and ask yourself if you could withstand the scrutiny that he is put under.

The other thing this brought to mind is how violations are handled between the different sports. I don't remember the tournament, or the golfer, but there was a situation several years ago where a golfer had put himself in a bad situation. As I remember it, his stance was on a creek bed or some other surface with small rocks. As he was preparing to make he shot, he was shifting his feet and 'digging in' as golfers tend to do. During this preparation, one of the rocks beneath his feet moved. He took the shot, finished the hole and the round, signed the score card and was done for the day. Some time later, a viewer called the PGA and mentioned that the rock had moved during his preparation and that he should have taken a penalty stroke on the hole. Since he didn't, and had signed the scorecard for the round, he was disqualified from the tournament for signing an incorrect scorecard.

Compare this to the NFL, who has a strict policy on what can and cannot be reviewed after a play has completed. When a call is made, it is possible for it to be challenged. However, if no call is made, it isn't possible to go back and say that the play included a violation and assess any penalty for it. It is fairly common for flagrant violations to be displayed on the jumbotron after a play and yet no one can go back and change the result.

Every sport has the right to set its own standards for on the field rules and off the field expectations. The differences are sometimes interesting to look at from a distance. In my opinion, I think we should all lighten up on our expectations of the personal conduct of our heroes.

I wonder if there is someone out there trying to dig up some dirt on Captain Sullenburger?

Radnor Lake.....

2009-02-08T01:37:00.002-06:00

I took a walk today with some new friends at Radnor Lake. Got some much needed excercise, took some photos. Here are the best ones...

Radnor Lake 2/7/2009

Nostalgia....

2009-02-07T18:13:00.003-06:00

1006 W. McKennie, Nashville 37206
Originally uploaded by DonnieHall

I went to see my parents the other day and drove through the neighborhood that I grew up in. I guess everybody has fond memories of the house they grew up in. My parents bought this house right after my dad returned from WWII and we lived in it until I was about 13 years old. It was wild, because that year was the first year that I went to 'band camp' which was a week long trip out of town to focus on learning the show for the upcoming football season. I left for band camp from one house...they moved they week I was gone....and I went home to a different house. That..my friends.....is the way to move!

I drive by whenever I'm close just to check on it. I've never gotten up the nerve to knock on the door. Maybe I will some day...

A very rare occurence....

2009-02-05T08:00:00.002-06:00

I spotted a very rare occurence today...I thought I would share it with you....

A very rare thing....

Be aware of DHMO.....

2009-02-05T06:11:00.002-06:00

This information has been available for a while, but I thought I would post it here to let you know about it....

Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division Website

The most important statement on the website appears in the frequently asked questions....

Research conducted by award-winning U.S. scientist Nathan Zohner concluded that roughly 86 percent of the population supports a ban on dihydrogen monoxide. Although his results are preliminary, Zohner believes people need to pay closer attention to the information presented to them regarding Dihydrogen Monoxide. He adds that if more people knew the truth about DHMO then studies like the one he conducted would not be necessary.

do the research....the facts speak for themselves...

Absolute power and Absolute Corruption....

2009-02-04T05:03:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, I posted a link to this story on my facebook profile. It led to a fairly heated discussion between some friends about liberals vs. conservative ideals. I have never been one to shy away from discussions on political and spiritual matters. I didn't participate in this one primarily because it went on while I wasn't on the computer.

Anyway, the withdrawal of the nomination of two of President Obama's cabinet appointees in the same day for the same reason is pretty interesting. In my naivety, I somewhat expect those who are responsible for the spending of our tax dollars to be extremely cautious about their own tax bill.

I had a class in college where we talked about lawmakers and their motivations for the laws they make. The idea presented by the professor was that lawmakers are typically selfish in the laws that they make. The example given was the IRS code that allows a person to deduct mortgage interest on two homes, not just one. I realize that there are many non-lawmakers that have two homes, but who is more likely to have two homes than a member of Congress (one in their home state, one near Washington DC)

I try my best to not be cynical, and to believe that lawmakers seek higher office for the good of the country, but situations like the one with Tom Daschle, makes it obvious that our lawmakers really have nothing in common with the regular citizen. There may be some that can relate to a $100,000 'oversight', but for me and most people I know, 'oversights' fall in the $5 to $10 range. When you consider that part of the oversight was the failure to report free limousine service as income, it's pretty clear that these folks have nothing in common with blue collar folks that work everyday and typically have too much month at the end of the money.

One of the comments on this story on facebook said "this is not a liberal or conservative problem, this is a political problem" I tend to agree. Our political system is broken, but the ones who could most readily fix it are part of the problem.

I'm not here to be a millionaire.....I just need gas....

2009-02-01T06:32:00.002-06:00

Last night my daughter and I were out and I realized that I needed to stop and get some gas. I had the misfortune of getting behind some folks that were buying lottery tickets by the double armload. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, I told the cashier "I'm not here to become a millionaire, I just need gas". They all laughed and he took my money and set up the pump.

As money tightens and times get tough, it seems the 'get rich quick' schemes become more and more aggressive. I'm reminded of an old joke about a guy that saw an ad in the paper that said "Send in a dollar to find out how to make $500 in a week without doing anything" he sent the dollar in to find out the secret a week later, the secret came. It said "Put an ad in the paper asking people to send in a dollar....".

I've mentioned before that my parents are older than most people my age. My father was born in 1925 and my mom born in 1927. This put the depression in their early childhood. I was talking to my mom's brother at Christmas and he was telling my some about that time. He was laughing at the news that said unemployment had hit a high of 7%. He said "I can remember a time when unemployment was 20%"

He told me a story about an ice cream company put an ad in the paper that they 13 jobs for people to push ice cream carts around Nashville. They had a 'job fair' of sorts at the fairgrounds and he said that several thousand people showed up to try to get one of those jobs.

On my drive back from St. Louis the other day I found an NPR station and listened to it until it eventually broke up. They had a story about an ad campaign in some foreign country (I forget which one, Denmark maybe?) where they were encouraging people to spend spend spend during this global economic downturn. The logic being that when you spend, you feed the economy. They compared it to a campaign here in the states that was encouraging people to save save save. The were tied together because they both used a piggy bank as the visual for the ad. The foreign ad portrayed the piggy bank as 'evil' while the domestic ad portrayed it as good. They had some economists comment on the ads and the philosophy of both. The economist's opinion (which I agree with) is that the saving pig is the way to go.

I must say that there is one area that anyone should consider at a time like this. Usually, the first thing to go in a tight economy is giving. Church collections drop, non-profit organizations suffer. I believe that this runs counter to the way it should be. My feelings on this are based on a verse in the Bible that I can't get out of my head when it comes to finances....

Malachi 3:8-12

8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

Someone pointed out to me years ago that this is the only place in the Bible where God says "Test Me"

Maybe we should try it...

That's my King!

2009-01-31T07:15:00.001-06:00

A friend sent this to me yesterday....all I can say is wow!

Beauty and Destruction....

2009-01-30T09:46:00.003-06:00

Kentucky Ice Tour

I just got back from a road trip to St. Louis. Having heard about the ice storm in Kentucky, I took my camera along. It was amazingly beautiful yet very destructive. I met scores of electrical trucks from other states that had come to help restore power.

Some of the pictures are fuzzy because they were taken while traveling at 70 mph. They really don't capture the beauty or the destruction that I saw there. I did want to share them though.

KY Ice Tour

Good ride cowboy....good ride.....

2009-01-28T21:54:00.003-06:00

John Dillard Connor
March 29, 1929 - January 25, 2009

Mr. Connor was my sister-in-law's father. I've known him since I was probably 4 or 5 years old. Although I wasn't very close to him myself, I was close to his daughters and grandchildren. You can tell a lot about a man by the way his children and grandchildren feel about him.

Today, he was buried....as I was at the funeral and at the burial there were a couple of poems that kept running through my head.

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.

The second one I had heard before, but read again on some artwork in the funeral home...

The Dash
copyright 1996 Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth...
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars....the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard...
are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile...
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read
with your life's actions to rehash...
would you be proud of the things they
say about how you spend your dash?

Rest well my friend....

Happy Birthday Eddie....

2009-01-27T07:56:00.002-06:00

I heard on the news that yesterday was Eddie Van Halen's birthday. He just turned 54. That's hard to believe. Yeah, I know he's a mess with a lot of addiction problems and all that mess, but I can remember the exact time and place where I heard Van Halen's first album for the first time.

I was involved in a musical ensemble in high school and one of the other keyboard players (Cary Gant for those of you that know him) took me out to his car to listen to something. He had a cassette of that album. I listened to Eddie's guitar solo 'Eruption' about a dozen times. It was one of those 'Jukebox Hero' moments where you hear something that changes your life forever.

I've listened to Van Halen ever since. To be honest, the latest album that I listened to was 5150 where Sammy Hagar joined them as lead singer. I still listen to some of their older stuff, there is a lot of suggestive lyrics and things, but they are still one of the groups that I listen to when I just want to turn my brain off and jam.

Eddie and I had a little bit of a falling out when he married my childhood sweetheart Valerie Bertinelli. I can remember going to see them in concert here in Nashville long ago. The Municipal Auditorium was packed, the pre-concert noise was pretty loud. All of a sudden, the noise died down and you could see that the focus of the crowd was following someone walking through one of the aisles. After a few moments, the point of focus walked up on the stand in the back of the auditorium where the sound board was located. It was Valerie Bertinelli taking her place to watch the show. It was a memorable moment for a teenager like me.

Their music doesn't quite have the same effect on me now that it did then, but I remember the line from Bad Company's "Shooting Star"

Johnny was a schoolboy when he heard his first Beatles song
'Love Me Do' I think it was and from there it didn't take him long

Music didn't turn out to be my life's calling, but I know exactly what that moment feels like...

They didn't die just because they aren't on the radio...

2009-01-19T06:02:00.002-06:00

I've been listening to a couple of guys lately that I thought I'd share with you. Both were very popular at one time, haven't had a radio hit in a long time, but are still making some great music.

Marc Cohn is a name you may not recognize, but I bet you remember his hit "Walking in Memphis". What a song...what an album...I still listen to it regularly. Music subscriptions give me a chance to download and listen to a lot of music with out costing me a lot of money. Marc Cohn makes a lot of great music. I've downloaded all of his albums that I can, they are all good. Here's on of my favorites...

Bruce Hornsby is a name you probably remember. One evening I was watching a jazz festival and he played. Unbeknowst to me, he was trained as a jazz musician. I became intrigued and downloaded some of his later music. It has too much of a jazz feel to it to be 'popular', but it is very good in my opinion. He is very improvisational and is a musical genius....here is a great example...

This one's a keeper....

2009-01-18T22:28:00.004-06:00

More recipes from the Don-guy this one is easy and very very good....

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
modified from food.com

Ingredients
3 lb pork tenderloin
Olive oil
Cajun Grill Rub
Shredded pepper jack cheese
Some vegetable, original recipe said fresh spinach, I used red bell pepper.

preheat oven to 325
baste the tenderloin in olive oil and apply the cajun grill rub
bake for 35 minutes
split the tenderloin length-wise, put in the vegetable(s) and cover with pepper jack cheese
Sandwich the stuffing between the two pieces of the tenderloin
bake for another 35 minutes (mine took another 50 minutes)

Serve immediately.....wow, it was great...fed myself and three teenagers with a little left over.

Stone Cold....

2009-01-16T06:33:00.002-06:00

Today is an interesting day in Nashville. When I woke up this morning it was a balmy 9 degrees. All of the school systems in the area are closed because the buses won't start in the cold. This is Nashville's response to cold, don't get me started if there was actually snow or ice on the ground.

A lot of times, I hear folks from other parts of the country laugh about Nashville or other cities in the mid-south and how we react to winter weather. It's usually not pretty, the forecast of snow means hours of long lines at the grocery store. We panic, that's for sure.

In mid-South's defense, we really don't get enough winter weather to invest in the equipment to handle it. We don't get enough for people here to get used to driving in it. When it hits, things go nuts.

Years ago, I used to spend a week every year in Chicago. I was amazed at the size of the city, but I was also amazed at how it was prepared for cold weather. Every building downtown had revolving doors to keep the cold out. Every restaurant has a coat check closet, some of the hotels even had heat lamps installed under the entrance canopies. They had street sign designating 'snow routes'. That's a city built for cold weather.

On the flip side, I remember one summer, it was blazingly hot here and I was scheduled to spend a week in Detroit. I was looking forward to it, thinking it would be a lot cooler up there. As it turns out, the heat wave was nationwide. I was more miserable up there than I was in Nashville. Please understand, here we deal with more hot weather than cold. Our air conditioners are high-powered, the cooling systems in cars are more effective. Nashville is built for hot weather. In Detroit, the air conditioners couldn't cool, cars were overheating and breaking down on the interstates.

So....go ahead and laugh at us in the winter...it's cool. But when a heat wave comes and your cars breakdown....just remember....we are laughing at you too...

God's sense of humor...

2009-01-15T21:27:00.003-06:00

A few years ago, we realized that the only way to survive financially with teenagers was to have unlimited text messaging on the phones. It doesn't take many $600 phone bills to realize that. Anyway, when we got that set up, I signed up for a free service on Yahoo! to send me a Bible verse everyday. I've had it for several years now and have been continually amazed at how appropriate the verse was for what I was going through that day. I call it my "Text Message From God".

On another note, 16 years ago, I moved to Lebanon Tennessee from Nashville. I had gotten a job at the corporate offices of Cracker Barrel, we were expecting my son Chris, and the house we had in Hermitage was on a pretty dangerous road, so we moved. Lebanon is an interesting town, there are a lot of great things about Lebanon, but there are some bad as well. On the good side, it is a great place to raise children, everybody there watches out for each other's kids and you know that if your kids get in to something that they shouldn't, you will hear about it eventually. On the bad side, Lebanon is one of those towns that if you aren't "from" there, you will never be "from" there regardless of how long you live there. I don't think I'm speaking out of turn, because I've had several people who are "from" there tell me the same thing.

Well, I lived it for about 15 years or so. It's true. I have some good friends there, my children live there (and I'm glad that they do, they are now "from" there) but given all that happened, I can't say that my experience there was completely positive.

Over the last year I've been cutting the ties with Lebanon slowly but surely. Today was a big day because I renewed my automobile tags in Nashville where I am "from" and I also took care of some final details that finalized my ties with that town. It was a big day.

Now back to my text message from God.....today's message was Judges 9:15 (this is absolutely true)

Let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon

That may be a little harsh, but I'm glad to be back where I am "from".

Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry....

2009-01-14T09:19:00.002-06:00

A small view of Tennessee Politics

A chuckle from a friend....

2009-01-13T16:29:00.001-06:00

My good friend Don McMunn sent me a link to this video...

Isn't gravity wonderful....

Finding someone you can trust.....

2009-01-13T12:31:00.002-06:00

On top of everything else...I got the paperwork to renew the tags on my car this month....

Over the past few weeks, I had noticed the check-engine light had been coming on intermittently so I decided to get a mechanic look at it. Based on the experience with my truck (chronicalled here about a year ago) I knew that the emissions testing people don't mess around when it comes to the check-engine light.

I took the car to Superior Auto Repair in Lebanon. They have done a good job for me in the past, so I took it back. After a diagnostic test, they told me that it was the catalytic converter (ouch!) and when you replace it, you have to replace an AFR sensor at the same time (I don't know what an AFR sensor does, but it sounds expensive and it is) The total estimate was $873.

I told them that I really couldn't afford to spend that much right now and that I needed to do the minimum to pass the emissions test, they said the AFR sensor could wait for a little while, so it knocked the total down to a more manageable number.

They ordered the part and I took it back to have the repair done this morning. They worked on it longer than I had anticipated (which is always a bad sign) and came in to tell me that the check-engine light was still coming on and that I may need to replace that AFR sensor after all.

I was emotionally preparing myself to pay the additional $300 plus dollars when the mechanic came in and said "Nope, your good!" I was relieved. I'll need to get it replaced anyway, but now is not the time.

My point is this, I hear ladies talk all the time about being at the mercy of auto repairmen and feel like they are just opening up their wallets when they go inside. To be quite honest, on any car newer than around 1976 or so, I'm about as clueless as they come. I don't know an AFR sensor from anything. If they told me I needed to replace it, I would replace it, no questions asked.

At some point, there has to be a level of trust between you and anyone you deal with. I found these guys to be honest and friendly and straightforward in their business dealings. That's worth a lot in my book....

Go to India....but avoid Facebook?

2009-01-11T13:47:00.003-06:00

I did my best to keep my thoughts to myself on this....I promise I don't mean to be mean spirited or vengeful. After writing this my fear it sounds a bit cynical...I apologize if that is the case....

This morning I ventured to Church for the first time in 6 months or so. As I've mentioned before, my relationship with God is as good as it has ever been.....my relationship with organized religion is somewhat on the rocks.

I'm finally to the point where I feel like venturing to Church again. It's going to take a special place though...on Sunday mornings I many times watch televised Church services and have watched the telecast from The Cornerstone Church here in Nashville. I was somewhat hesitant to go there because of its palatial size. I have a basic problem with congregations building large facilities...but that's another post.....

The people were friendly enough, the music was fantastic....they obviously have an orchestra full of professional musicians. The songs were custom written (as far as I could tell) and were very moving. During one song that I particularly connected with, I was in tears.

After the music, their minister, Maury Davis hit the stage. There were the usual announcements about upcoming events and stuff. While working toward the lesson he began promoting a project that someone within the Church had started called HisSpace.com. This was going to be a social networking site similar to MySpace or facebook for Christians. He was excited because a member was starting it because he would tithe based on the profits. Typical preacher stuff...

He mentioned that MySpace and facebook had been taken over by adult content so Christians should avoid them and use HisSpace.com. The comment was made that someone did some poking around and found that within three contacts of a friend they were 'somewhere they shouldn't be'. During this section of this service he made an off-hand comment about not understanding bloggers....putting their opinions on the internet for people who don't care about their opinions. After this promotion, he launched into promotion of a evangelistic effort to India talking about the millions of people that could be reached there. After this they launched into some music and I left....

This experience has been on my mind ever since and I'm hoping that by getting it off my chest here, I can forget about it and move on...

Here are my thoughts...

1. I'll probably set up an account on hisspace.com, but I do not feel that Christians should segregate themselves from places like MySpace or facebook (I particularly like facebook) the fact that there is adult content out there doesn't bother me (to be honest, I've never seen ANY adult content on facebook, maybe because I don't go looking for it) I have, however, debated atheists on the existence of God and become good friends with them. Personal evangelism is by far the most effective tool. If I remember, Jesus was most often criticized for associating with sinners. Aren't they the folks we are supposed to be reaching? How do you reach them if you avoid them. The boat has to be in the water to do its job, its when the water gets in the boat that you have a problem.

2. Blogging is something that a lot of people don't understand. I've had many people ask me why I do it. For many years I've had thoughts that I wish that could share. Thoughts about God, life, anything. I've tried public speaking...I'm not good at it, I am better at writing. I doubt anyone would buy a book with my name on it, but many stop by and read. I have had many experiences and they are not different from many others. Everybody loses jobs, has divorces, raises kids. I just try to give my views on all of these issues. And just for the record, over 1200 unique people stopped by at one time or another last year. The average time spent on my blog was close to two minutes, so, blogging is an effective tool. The fact that Mr. Davis doesn't understand it is his deal. I thought it was a bit arrogant for him to discount others opinions while freely posting his own.

3. According to a theory, everyone is just Six steps away from anyone else on the planet. The fact that someone is three steps away from a pedophile, sex addict, drug addict or some other convicted felon shouldn't surprise anyone. I found this attitude a bit condescending coming from a convicted felon. Given Mr. Davis' past, I had high hopes for him as a minister of the Gospel. I must say that I was a bit dissappointed. It is this sort of attitude that gets me with 'Church people'....they minimize their own sins and magnify the sins of others. We are all in the same boat....lost without Jesus. I'm looking for a Church that really really understands that.

Ok, I got that off my chest...

No respect.....No respect at all....

2009-01-10T08:05:00.002-06:00

Today is a big day for Tennessee Titans fans....the hated Ravens have come to town.

Listening to the news this morning, the Titans are the underdog even though they have a 13-3 record this year. The reasoning they said was "That's really not as impressive as it sounds because so many of those games were so close"

Well Well Well....a W beats an L every day of the week....

No matter what success you have...you will have your detractors. For some reason this reminds of a scene in the Jim Carrey movie Liar Liar. Because of his son's birthday wish, Jim's character is unable to tell a lie. He meets with his son at school to try to convince him unmake the wish because he is a lawyer and needs to be able to lie. As they are talking his son says "My teacher says that true beauty is on the inside" to which Carrey's character responds "That's just something that ugly people say" :D

True strength is strength where you succeed in spite of your detractors....

Go Titans!

Ok....I'm a little angry...

2009-01-09T05:55:00.002-06:00

This is a huge story here in Tennessee....it was big enough to attract the attention of Erin Brockovich (love that movie).

Now, take into consideration this story where Tennesseans are struggling to pay their electric bills due to the economic downturn. The most important part of the story is the last paragraph....

TVA said the cost to clean up the Dec. 22 ash spill in East Tennessee is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars and will be passed on to customers. TVA officials testified in Washington about the spill.

I watched a little bit of the news story where the head of TVA testified before Congress. From what he said, they knew that there was a problem....they chose not to fix it, the clean up is going to cost 100 more than the repair would have...

And let me get this straight.....their customers have to pay for it?

That's good....no, that's bad.....

2009-01-07T09:34:00.002-06:00

Things are tough all over....our President elect said that things are bad and getting worse...this morning I found these lyrics to a song I've never heard before....

OH THAT'S GOOD, NO THAT'S BAD
Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs

SPOKEN:
(The Shamettes) Ohhhhh, That's Bad.
(Sam) No, That's Good.

(Verse 1)
Not long ago I was walking down the street
When a woman in a car knocked me off my feet.
(The Shamettes) Ohhhhh, That's Bad.
(Sam) No, That's Good.

(Verse 2)
My insurance paid me a lot of dough,
More money than I'd seen in a year's payroll
(The Shamettes) Ohhhhh, That's Good.
(Sam) No, That's Bad.

(Verse 3)
My doctor's bills is where my money went
And all I had left was a very bad limp

(The Shamettes) Ohhhhh, That's Bad.
(Sam) No, That's Good.

(Bridge)
Cause the way I walked, got me a role
as the marshall's partner on a TV show
Pretty young actresses started hanging round
and every night we'd do the town

(The Shamettes) Ohhhhh, That's Good.
(Sam) No, That's Bad.

(Verse 4)
I ended up back in a hospital bed
Cause my horse fell on my bad leg

(The Shamettes) Ohhhhh, That's Bad.
(Sam) No, That's Good.

(Verse 5)
Cause just when I was feeling my worst
I fell in love with a beautiful nurse

(The Shamettes) Ohhhhh, That's Good.
(Sam) No, That's Bad.

(Bridge)
Cause I found out she was the doctor's wife
Now I'll be in a wheelchair the rest of my life
Cause no matter how I pleaded and begged
He operated on my good leg.

(The Shamettes) Ohhhhh, That's Bad.
(Sam) No, That's AWFUL.

I learned a long time ago that we tend to have our own definition of success and happiness, the problem is, that definition may be different from God's. We tend to think that when everyone is healthy, the bills are paid and money is in the bank, then things are good. Otherwise, things are bad.

It is interesting though, that in several places the Bible discusses the benefits of trials.

2 Corinthians 8
1And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.

2 Thessalonians 1
4Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

James 1
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

I Peter 1
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

It's difficult, but I'm trying to see this time as a trial, refining my faith by fire...

An Audio Tour of the Nashville Number System...

2008-12-31T10:00:00.008-06:00

Well, I recorded the audio in one take....there's lot's of "ummmmssss...." and even a few sniffles, but I just wanted to see if I could pull this off....The animation doesn't sync up perfectly either, but I'm just learning...

I'd appreciate any feedback....

Facebook profile pics....

2008-12-27T16:14:00.004-06:00

As you may or may not have noticed, I've become quite active on Facebook which is similar to MySpace, but appeals to a different audience. Anyway, during halloween, I got the idea of 'decorating' my profile pic there based on events or holidays. It's been fun...but I thought I let those of you who aren't on facebook see what I do with my spare time....

A listening suggestion...

2008-12-27T05:56:00.002-06:00

This week, I started loading all of my CDs onto my home computer so that they would be available more easily. It's been fun to listen to them again. I ran across one of my all time favorite albums (I still call them that) and I thought I would make a listening suggestion to you. The CD is "Brother to Brother" by Gino Vanelli.

I first heard this album in high school. I've owned it ever since and listen to it regularly. It has tremendous songwriting, unbelievable musicianship and Gino Vanelli is simply a great singer. There was one hit (that I know of) off of this CD called "I Just Wanna Stop". Each track though is great.

Buy it, you won't be disappointed....

My Audio Christmas Card To You...

2008-12-24T22:33:00.004-06:00

Click Here

You better watch out....

2008-12-21T07:21:00.002-06:00

On my midnight trip to Walmart last night, I spent a lot of time waiting in line. Walmart is packed on the Saturday before Christmas even at midnight. When I finally reached the cashier, she was wearing a Titans jersey. I told her that I felt like doing a touchdown dance because I had finally gotten there.

Anyway, I paid with a check...Walmart has the cool thing where they read the check and submit it electronically. When I did it, I told the cashier about an earlier trip that I had made to Walmart...I think the cashier was trying to scam me.

I handed her the check to print...here's what happened...

Cashier"I need you to sign the check"
Me"I'll sign it after you print it"

The cashier got a disgusted look on her face, ran the check through the reader, handed me my receipt, the printed check and had me sign a separate slip.

Me"You don't need me to sign the check?"
Cashier "no"

I never understood that. I like to believe in the goodness of people, but I'm just wondered if she was going to somehow find herself with a signed blank check.

If she had, she would have been sorely dissappointed in what she would have been able to get with it anyway.

Just a thought...

I'll take whatever you can give me.....

2008-12-21T06:40:00.003-06:00

As you may imagine, the Christmas has the potential of being very emotional and a downer for me. When the holiday season started, however, I found myself being excited. I couldn't explain why, I was just excited....

Being in the situation I'm in, I've found myself trying to reach my kids. Show them that I love them in whatever way I can. My time with them is limited. I have to pack a lot in. Reaching Sarah has been easier than reaching Chris. Sarah and I are a lot alike in personality. I think it's because we are both youngest children. I saw a video series by Kevin Leman called the Birth Order Book. He makes a great case about how much of your personality is determined by your birth order relative to your siblings...

Anyway, I had to delay Christmas shopping this year because I was waiting on some checks from my clients. A check finally came Friday. Christmas was finally on...

Chris and Sarah both love music....which is great. Chris loves to play guitar hero which taught him to love classic rock which is the music that I grew up on. It's one of the ways that I connect with him. Sarah loves music too....but she likes the more modern styles. Being a frustrated musician, I've always wanted to help my kids translate their love of listening to music into a love for making music. Chris took piano lessons several years ago. He has innate musical ability, but he hated every minute of it. He loves athletics, that's cool.

Sarah has never had the opportunity to take music lessons. We tried several times, but couldn't get it worked out. Over the past few months she's expressed an interest in playing guitar. I told her that one of my goals, is to play something with her at her school's annual talent show. I don't know if she'll ever get up the nerve to perform in public. We'll see...

Anyway, so back to the Christmas story...yesterday mornining, I went to the music store that is close by. I had been in their several times just browsing around. Passing a music store for me is about as hard as passing a Starbucks. Anyway, I finally was ready to buy something....I bought a beautiful red electric guitar. It's not a brand name, but it is gorgeous. I bought a small amplifier, it is really cool because is has a headphone jack and a separate input for an mp3 player. I can make some tracks for her to practice with, or she can plug her zune in and learn to play along with her favorite song. It's cool....really cool. I bought some good headphones (so that she can practice anytime, without me getting in trouble with her mom).

The kids will be with me all week, so I went ahead and gave them the guitar stuff. I figure we can play together this week so that they can learn some stuff with me before they go home. Sarah loved it, Chris wouldn't admit to it, but I think he loved it too. I'm hoping that they'll both use it. But the thing was, it really didn't reach Chris as a gift like I hoped it would. I was in a bit of a dilemma.

God, in his infinite wisdom, handed me an opportunity to reach Chris. Chris has a lot of friends, and a lot of them invite him to go with them to events and stuff. Last night, a friend texted him and invited him to go to the Titans game today. We were plotting and planning what to do since the high temp was to be 31 today. I told him, go to bed (he was going to have to get up at 6am, these guys make the Titans game an all day event) and I'll get you some longjohns. Off to Walmart I go...

While I was there, I realized the opportunity that I had been given. In addition to longjohns, I bought a Titans sweatshirt, thermal socks, a cool hat, gloves and a thermal jacket. I laid it out by the fireplace and told Chris "Santa came last night" when he woke up. Chris is a funny guy, he is very emotional about somethings, very stoic about others. However, I think I hit a home run because he said "I like that jacket". He had also never owned a pair of thermal socks.

We spent a few minutes together by the fire this morning before he left. We talked, I think we connected. That is very important to me. He is excited about today. I'm very happy that he gets to go, and that it provided me the opportunity to connect with him.

The other cool thing is, now Sarah and I get to spend the day today learning to play guitar....

Every little thing's gonna be alright...

2008-12-17T04:54:00.001-06:00

This morning I woke up earlier than usual. My usual tendency when I first get up is to get on the computer, check email, may post to the blog check facebook...whatever. I usually wind up getting involved in work.

This morning, I told myself not to do that. There were a few things like folding laundry and getting the ashes out of the fireplace that I needed to do. I went to fold clothes, which obviously has to be done to music. I picked up my Zune and tried to decide what I wanted to listen to. I was scrolling through the artists on there to choose what I wanted to listen to. Now you need to know that all of the music on my Zune is not controlled by me. Chris and Sarah download music all the time when they visit and I've also subscribed to some 'channels' that just download music according to someone's suggestion.

As a I scrolled through the menu, the name Bob Marley scrolled by. I backed up to see what I had. I had never listened to Bob Marley much, but I know he is an icon to many. I expected to see 'I Shot The Sheriff', but the Bob Marley song I had was called 'Three Little Birds'. So I listened....

You know, these are pretty tough times. Every time I turn around I hear about more layoffs. People who have worked for a company for decades are being asked to leave. I don't know if you believe that God only speaks through the Bible. My belief is, he speaks to me in the way I need spoken to. Sometimes its a song, meeting a particular person and on the very rare occasion, he'll use a preacher. The one thing I know for certain. He spoke to me this morning through Bob Marley.

As I was looking for a youtube video to post, the first version I found was this one. It's pretty good...

Sad News....

2008-12-15T14:02:00.001-06:00

I received this sad news in an email....

Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community.
The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch .
The grave site was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flakey at times, he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, three children: John Dough, Jane Dough and Dosey Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Merry Christmas....

2008-12-13T18:12:00.002-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Update on a new driver....

2008-12-13T08:15:00.001-06:00

Chris passed the driving test, he was angry about failing it the first time. In my opinion it was the best thing that could have happened. It humbled him a bit. If you are in Lebanon, beware of a Gold Chevy pickup.

The most difficult words in the English language....

2008-12-12T07:25:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was supposed to be a big day...

My son Chris turned 16 on Wednesday and had an appointment to take his driving test yesterday. His mom was going to take him to take the test, after that I was going to take him to the insurance office to get the insurance changes, we were going to go eat dinner to celebrate his birthday together and then go to Sarah's basketball game. It was going to be a big day.

We had a 'wintery mix' of weather here in Nashville yesterday, so I called to find out if he was still going to take the driving test. I found out that he was so I headed to Lebanon to continue the day's planned festivities. While I was on the way, I got a phone call, it was Chris, the conversation went like this...

"How are you doing?"
"Not Good."
"Why?"
"She failed me."
"Why?"
"I drove too fast, you aren't supposed to drive the speed limit when its raining."

I then went into father mode and talked about handling failure, he was very angry, he didn't want to go out to eat and obviously, we couldn't go get insurance. The wintery mix forced the game to be canceled. All of the big plans fell through.

So, what are the most difficult words in the English language? "I failed"

I don't mean to brag but...
Chris has always been gifted athletically. He's fast and has great hand eye coordination. When he was playing baseball in the little league years, he was the only 11 year old to make the 11-12 year old All-Star team. There are a bunch of very gifted athletes in his age group and the team did very well. They made it to the Tennessee State Championship, but lost.

The next year, he changed from Little League to the local Dixie Youth league. He made the All-Star team as a 12 year old. Again, there is a group of very gifted athletes, they made it to the State Championship again, and lost again.

His reaction to losing that game was heartbreaking, he was crushed. In his mind, he was a failure. I kept telling him....

"Do you realize that you are the only boy in the area that has played in two State Championship games?"

"But, we lost them both"

He felt like a failure, I saw it as a tremendous achievement, some day I hope he sees that.

Teenagers aren't the only ones
This morning, the news channels are buzzing about the Senate's rejection of the automaker's "Rescue Package" (formerly known as a bailout). The auto maker's are forecasting a very dark day for the economy and blaming the Senate.

This may be a very dark day, the auto industry is a very large part of our economy, but I'm pretty sure that it isn't the Senate's fault.

I've become quite familiar with failure this year. It has been a tough year, but, one of the most important things about failing, is learning from it. In my children's athletic pursuits I always tell them "You learn more from losing than from winning".

I've posted this quote several times here, but it is something I think of often...

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt

The Nashville Number System....

2008-12-11T18:26:00.006-06:00

Last night I attended a meeting of a group called Digital Nashville. It was a fairly eclectic group of video, audio, photographic and software people (most WAY younger than me) who are networking to find some sort of synergy to create something neat. It was cool, I really enjoyed it, and met some wonderful people.

A lot of people don't realize this, but computers and music are closely tied together. Meaning many times, people who have a natural gift for music, also have a natural gift for computers. It's all about patterns and symbols.

I had dinner with some of my new found friends and we got to talking about music and songwriting and he mentioned that he was trying to learn the "Nashville Number System". I was fortunate that when I was a young piano student, I had a teacher that taught me the Number System very early on (I was probably 14 or so). So, it's something that I've used for years. I mentioned it was pretty easy, but after I said that I realized he was a guitar player and I learned it on the piano. The piano is a much easier instrument than the guitar for learning chords than the guitar, so I now see that my "It's pretty easy" comment may have come across as arrogant, but it's just a perspective thing.

I invited him to come over and I would him what I know about it, then as I was sitting here alone, I thought "Why not blog about it and teach more than just one person?" So, here we go....

First, What is the Nashville Number System? For this, I let Wikipedia do the talking...

The Nashville Number System is an informal method of transcribing music by denoting the scale degree on which a chord is built. It was developed by Neil Matthews in the late '50s as a simplified system for the Jordanaires to use in the studio and further developed by Charlie McCoy. The system is similar to the Roman numeral system traditionally used to transcribe a chord progression, but more typically uses Arabic numerals and does not explicitly state the quality (e.g., major or minor) of the chord. By writing chords as numbers, music may be transposed easily. As a simple system of transcription, it can be used with only a rudimentary background in music theory, and may not be as intimidating to learn for musicians unfamiliar with traditional notations. If a set of musicians has basic familiarity, improvisation and jam sessions can be quickly explained using numbers, and chord changes can be communicated mid-song by holding up the corresponding number of fingers. The system is flexible, and can be embellished to include more information (such as chord color or to denote a bass note in an inverted chord) as the user desires.

If you look at any popular sheet music, you are very likely to see chord symbols above the melody line. These are denoted by the root note and a chord quality. You will see symbols like C Em Am and so forth. Guys like me who don't read music use these to 'Fake' the progression behind the melody. There have been many times (when I was younger) that I would backup a singer and that is all I had to go one. In this situation you read the chords and fly by the seat of your pants. You do it long enough, you can feel comfortable with it and make it sound pretty good.

The problem comes when the singer hands you a chord chart and says "here's the song, but that key is (too high, too low, too hot, too cold, too something). At that point you have to see one thing and translate it into a different key all within the very limited time provided by the beat of a song. It can be done (some do it very well) but sight transposition is difficult.

Thus the Nashville Number System was born. Using the Number System, numbers are used instead of Chord names and the translation is much simpler. Here's how it works:

I Know That This Is Basic, But It's Kind Of Crucial
As you know, music is composed of notes and notes are typically used from a particular scale (or key) There are many many many types of scales, but the Number System is based on the major scale so we will limit this discussion to that.

The major scale is based on a pattern of intervals (or steps) a half step is playing notes that are right next to each other, a whole step has a note in between.

The major scale has the following pattern

whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half

Start with any key on the keyboard, and follow this pattern and you've played the major scale in that key. In the diagram, there are two scales represented. The C scale has 'all white notes', but if you look you will see the pattern mentioned above. The D scale, contains 'black notes' at tones 3 and 7. But if you look at the pattern above, you will see that it still fits.

What the number system does is just say, instead of using the note names, let's refer to the chords by their numbers on the major scale. Wyen you do this for a little while, you begin to be able to translate the number to the scale tone quickly. The number simply refers to the position on the major scale of the key you are playing in.

We are dealing with triads though, what are the other notes?
In most case the other notes fall on the major scale also. The triad built on the first tone of the scale is going to include tones 1 3 5 from the scale. The chord built on the second tone is going to include tones 2 4 and 6 the chord built on the third tone of the scale is going to include 3 5 7 and so forth. When you get into the upper half of the scale, you just extend the same scale for another octave and maintain the same pattern. The chord built on the 6 will contain tones 6 8 10.

This is the basis of the Number System, there is a bunch more to talk about, but I've probably bored you enough already.

You'll need a carpenter for that....

2008-12-10T05:19:00.004-06:00

Over the past few weeks my blog has been more political that I ever thought it would be, but I just write what's on my mind.

Anyway, when I first wake up, I usually make coffee, turn on the news and check email etc. So the news stories filter in.

Yesterday there was a story about the Auto Worker's Union was angry because of what they perceived as a "lack of concern" about the current state of the automotive industry. CNN did a poll to find out how the everyday people felt about it, and most were opposed. This evidently made the union angry.

You may be able to guess that I'm not a pro-union kind of guy. I'm not going to rant and rave about it, I just want to tell a funny story.

Early on in my career, I used to do a bit of traveling for work. I worked for a company in the Medical Physics business and part of my job was to travel and work the company's booth at trade shows.

I had never gotten to travel much growing up, so it was fun to travel to different cities. I didn't go to a lot of places, but every year I got to go to Chicago. Chicago was my favorite. We always went the week after Thanksgiving for a meeting of the "Radiological Society of North America" (RSNA)

Being a "ham and egg" southern boy, Chicago was quite an eye opening experience. At that time, the closest thing Nashville had to a museum was "Barbara Mandrell Country" Chicago had several museums. The first time we went, I talked my boss into giving me half a day off and I visited 3 museums in an afternoon (any one of which would have taken a full day to really appreciate).

Anyway, to the union story. The RSNA show was held in the McCormick Place in Chicago, it is a huge facility especially designed for large conventions and trade shows.

The first year I went, I learned a lot about unions. The McCormick Place is a union shop which means you can't do anything there "without taking somebody's job". We sold software and QA equipment so we had to have electricity at our booth to plug everything in. Well, as you might guess, you can't plug anything in at the McCormick Place, you have to go to the Shop Steward and hire an electrician. The minimum amount of time that you can hire for is one hour. I think it cost us something like $80 to have the guy come to our booth and plug in an extension cord. After that job was done, my boss wanted to make use of our helper who we had for another 59.5 minutes. He said "Why don't you put those brochures in that rack there" the electrician quickly responded "You'll need a carpenter to do that"

P.S. The story I just heard this morning was about Kim Kardashian appearing nude in playboy, when asked for her thoughts on it her response was "When you're naked, you're exposing a lot of yourself" thank you Kim for those words of wisdom....

A billion here...a billion there....pretty soon you are talking some real money...

2008-12-08T05:09:00.003-06:00

The current financial crisis has caused the government to start handing out billions and billions of dollars to private businesses. In many ways, this makes me angry. I am a huge proponent of the free market system. Companies should live and die by their decisions. Employees of those companies should also feel the effects, it's the basis of our country. The problem is, the companies get too big to allow to fail.

The first bailout that I heard of is AIG. Just a few years ago, AIG was in trouble for defrauding investors, now they are in trouble and the government is helping them out.

Next came the bailout of the entire financial industry, well known for extravagant spending during the glory days instead of saving for a rainy day (which you know will come).

Next comes the American auto industry, who has let Unions run up their costs and have designed sub-standard vehicles for so long that they have to appeal to our patriotic senses to sell cars instead of contending in the global market.

I realized that allowing businesses of this size to fail could be catastrophic to our economy, but I agree with the Congress when they force these guys to give them a plan. We aren't going to finance "business as usual"...we want a plan for change.

As a small business owner who has had a tough couple of years, I'd just like to mention that I don't need a bailout in the billions, a couple of hundred thousand dollars would set me up for a long long time...

I need your help...

2008-12-06T12:41:00.002-06:00

After about 3 trips to the Verizon store to try to get a phone that would survive the onslaught of a 13 year girl, I finally decided to buy a new phone. I had carried an LG model with the flip face and full qwerty keyboard for several years. The phone was very durable, I decided to buy a new phone and let Sarah Destructo have my LG. After looking at several models, I decided to buy the LG Envy.

I was very proud of my new phone until last night when my son told me that it was a "very girly phone." When I look at it, I don't see girly at all. Help me, did I buy a "girly phone?"

The Christmas Spirit....

2008-12-03T15:07:00.003-06:00

Today I went to Target and found a display of Christmas movies, most were $10 each...I bought 5....

A combo of "It's A Wonderful Life" and "White Christmas"
"The Bells of St. Mary's"
"A Christmas Story"
"A Charlie Brown Christmas"

I know of several more I need, but this will get me started...

A couple of days ago, I loaded my Zune up with Christmas Music...

"East Tennessee Christmas" by Chet Atkins
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" by Vince Guaraldi
"The Lost Christmas Eve" "Christmas Eve & Other Stories" and "The Christmas Attic" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
"A GRP Christmas Collection" and "GRP Christmas Collection Vol. 2" by Various GRP Artists
"A Christmas Album" by Amy Grant
"Traditional Celtic Christmas" by Eric Rigler/Scarlet Rivera
"A Very Special Christmas" by Various Artists
"Light Jazz Christmas Eve" and "Light Jazz Christmas" by Various Artists
"Christmas Portrait" by the Carpenters

Any suggestions on great Christmas movies or music that I'm missing would be appreciated....I know of several movies I'm missing...

"

Taking a swipe at the great Satan.....

2008-12-03T11:24:00.002-06:00

Before I start this, I need to tell you that I depend on Microsoft for my livelihood. Years ago, I was faced with a decision as to whether I was going to learn Microsoft based languages like C# and their products, or was I going to expend my time learning non-Microsoft technologies like Java and now PHP etc....

At first, I was trying to study the products and compare them to figure out which I thought was "better". Suddenly, the thought came to me that it doesn't matter which is better, what matters is what my client base uses. When I looked at it that way, the choice was simple, you must learn Microsoft. I simply don't have the brain cycles (or want to take the time) to learn them both. I feel certain though, that if it came to a choice between learning Java and starving. I could learn Java.

I am a Microsoft guy...but not a MICROSOFT GUY if that makes sense. I make my living using Microsoft tools, but, I take a pretty pragmatic approach, I don't think its a good idea just because Bill Gates and his marketing machine says so....

Anyway, to my story. I am about to do some traveling and I wanted to be able to charge my Zune (Microsoft's answer to the iPod) in the car. I went to Target to look into buying a car charger. The Microsoft car charger for the Zune is $70. Microsoft tends to over-engineer everything so what should be a simple product becomes very expensive.

I took a stroll over to the automotive department and Bell makes a power port splitter that amazingly enough has a USB connection on it. It was $12. I bought it and plugged the Zune cable into it (which comes with the player) Voila! Zune charges in the car now! Bell doesn't show it on their web site, but it should power anything (cell phones, music players, GPS systems) that charge from your computer's USB port.

Just a tip from the frugal tech guy ;-)

The state of our society...

2008-12-02T07:59:00.002-06:00

Yahoo did a press release stating that the most searched subject for 2008 was Britney Spears....wow.

Some time ago I heard someone say...

"You know our society is in a mess when you consider that there has never been a movie made about Leonardo DaVinci, but there have been three made about Joey Buttafuoco."

So true....

Do we really understand the world we live in? (Postscript)

2008-11-30T15:22:00.002-06:00

Shortly after I posted the final part of the "Do we really understand the world we live in?" series (can I call it a series?) anyway, an article was published on Yahoo stating that Einstein's most famous equation E=mc^2 had been corroborated for the first time. Here is a link to the article e=mc2: 103 years later, Einstein's proven right.

It's difficult to explain how, but this equation was derived from his Theory of Special Relativity. I just watched a special on the History Channel about Einstein. It explained how another one of his theories, the Theory of General Relativity was validated. If you think Special Relativity is wild, the theory of General Relativity will absolutely blow your mind. Anyway, the amazing thing is, we are just now able to verify one of his ideas, and they've been working on it for over 100 years, and are using supercomputers to do it. He changed our view of our world, its taken 100 years for us to catch up to him.

So, you are probably thinking, ok, so Special Relativity is cool to think about, but what does it have to do with my everyday life? This validation that was recently annouced, kind of bring it all into perspective. Here is the important phrase in the article:

A brainpower consortium led by Laurent Lellouch of France's Centre for Theoretical Physics, using some of the world's mightiest supercomputers, have set down the calculations for estimating the mass of protons and neutrons, the particles at the nucleus of atoms.

According to the conventional model of particle physics, protons and neutrons comprise smaller particles known as quarks, which in turn are bound by gluons.

The odd thing is this: the mass of gluons is zero and the mass of quarks is only five percent. Where, therefore, is the missing 95 percent?

To simplify the jargon a bit, think of an atom as an egg, the egg has a certain mass (or weight kind of). When you crack the egg open and look at the component parts, you find that when you add up the parts of an egg, you can only account for 5% of the mass of the whole egg. Where is the rest of the egg?

Einstein said that mass is increased by energy (expressed as the orbit of the components of the atom) and these guys proved that this accounts for 95% of what we see and touch. Amazing stuff.

I'm reminded of a quote that I heard somewhere (not sure where)

"Talent hits a target that no one else can hit, Genius hits a target that no one else can see"

Absolute Genius....

2008-11-27T07:02:00.001-06:00

I had never heard Einstein's voice before....

* "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."
* "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
* "Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love."
* "I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details."
* "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."
* "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
* "The only real valuable thing is intuition."
* "A person starts to live when he can live outside himself."
* "I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice."
* "God is subtle but he is not malicious."
* "Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."
* "I never think of the future. It comes soon enough."
* "The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility."
* "Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing."
* "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."
* "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
* "Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."
* "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
* "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."
* "Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it."
* "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
* "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."
* "God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically."
* "The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking."
* "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."
* "Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."
* "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."
* "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
* "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."
* "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."
* "Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."
* "Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity."
* "If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut."
* "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
* "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality."
* "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."
* "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
* "In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep."
* "The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead."
* "Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves."
* "Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!"
* "No, this trick won't work...How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?"
* "My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."
* "Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever."
* "The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking...the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker."
* "Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence."
* "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."
* "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeeded be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
* "The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."
* "Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."
* "You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."
* "One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year."
* "...one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought."
* "He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."
* "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
* "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." (Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton)

Christmas Music...

2008-11-25T06:16:00.007-06:00

Ok, I have it on good authority that you cannot listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. Since that day is quickly approaching, I'd like to make a recommendation on the first music to listen to. One of the great things about music is that it can bring back memories.

Back when Charles Schultz was developing the Peanuts television shows, they were searching for just the right music to go with it. The producer of the show heard the song "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" on the radio. He contacted a jazz columnist from the newspaper and was put in touch with the composer Vince Guaraldi. He proposed that Guaraldi compose the music for the television series and a classic was born.

Vince Guaraldi and Dave Brubeck lived in the same area. I think they were both pretty much shunned by the jazz community because they appealed to the masses. I think the jazz community was jealous because these guys made money playing jazz. Anyway, the Music from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special contains several classics, most notably "Christmas Time Is Here". It also contains jazz renditions of "O Tannenbaum" and "What Child Is This"

I highly recommend this as your first Christmas music this year. It can appeal to you as an adult and as a grown up child.

Your services are no longer required...

2008-11-19T19:33:00.004-06:00

I heard this today. It's always a bit of a jarring experience, but being a contract programmer, you learn to live with the idea that you can lose your job on any given day for any given reason.

It is amazing how my attitude has changed over work. When I was younger, I was very emotionally attached to my job. I gave up everything that was really important for work. My attitude toward work was probably instilled in me from seeing my dad. My parents sent me to a private school because the schools in my neighborhood were bad. Being a fireman, he had to work side jobs when he was off to keep the bills paid. It really wasn't until I was working to send my kids to private school that I really realized and appreciated what he had done for me.

Thankfully, I have a lot of contacts here in Nashville and some other cities so I already have things in the works...however, it seems to be a good opportunity to let you know my thoughts about jobs work and whatever else I can think of....

1. Do everything that you can to get along with the people that you work with and your employer in general. I can't stress how important this is. I've been out of college and working for 22 years now. When I decided to leave my first post-college job, I responded to an ad in the newspaper. As far as I can remember, that is the only time I've ever done that. Every other job or contract that I've had has been the result of knowing someone.

2. You are not your job. At one time, I allowed my job define who I was. If you are in that state, and you lose a job, you lose your whole sense of who you are. Satan likes to do that, he wants you to define yourself based on what you have or what you look like or what you do. Then he takes that away from you.

3. Don't get emotionally attached to a job. There was a day, when the employer/employee relationship was a commitment almost like marriage. Employers would offer pension programs such that if you give us some number of years, we will take care of you for the rest of your life. Those days are gone. If times get tough, employers will drop you if they need to. In my opinion, employees should have the same attitude.

4. Keep the relationship clear. My first job was at a grocery store. I can remember that was where I became aware of what a salary was. I thought, wouldn't it be great to be paid a salary. That way you get paid the same whether you work or not. After I got my first salary job, I realized that the salary was not for the employee's benefit, it is for the employer. Right now, I work on a contract basis and get paid by the hour (though the hourly rate is a touch higher than it was at the grocery store). Work an hour...get paid an hour....the relationship is clear, my employer's goals and my goals are the same. There is no concept of 'hang around we might need you'.

5. Your security does not come from an employer. I've talked to many people since I became self-employed who say "I'd love to do what you do, but I need more security than that". My response is this, if you feel that your security comes from an employer, you have a false sense of security. Jesus makes it clear, God feeds the birds, how much more valuable are you than they? (Matthew 6 25-34)

If you are going through work related changes (surely I'm not alone), read the book Who Moved My Cheese?.

By the way, you can call me Scurry...

The things you learn from watching professionals....

2008-11-18T22:12:00.002-06:00

This afternoon, the landscaping crew was at my client's office raking leaves. The way that they did it was so simple and elegant that I was truly impressed.

They laid a tarp on the ground, raked the leaves onto the tarp, then two people picked it up by the four corners and carried the leaves to the back of a pickup truck to be hauled off.

Brilliant!

Being someone who solves problems for a living, I've seen the progression in my own thinking about problem solving. At first, we would try to create the most complicated solution possible. As you gain experience, you quickly realize that the best solution is the simplest solution that everyone can see and understand.

Let's have some fun now....

2008-11-17T06:06:00.003-06:00

I'd just like to tell you one thing before I move on. The previous two posts had been on my mind for years. I kept trying to find the time to write them and finally I just made myself sit down and do it. I stayed in Chattanooga Friday night after Chris' football game and finished part 2 in the hotel room Saturday morning. After I posted it, it was like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I've never experienced anything like that before.

Anyway, I bought a new toy last week, I don't know how to use it completely yet, but what I do know about it is pretty cool.

As many of you know, I've started studying music again. What I'm studying is not written music, it is more music theory and improvisation. The lesson last week flew by, it seemed like I sat down to the piano and then suddenly the teacher was looking at his watch saying it was time to go. What we are doing is basically taking a simple song (specifically Amazing Grace) and applying chord substitution techniques and things like that to make it different and more interesting, its pretty cool.

Anyway, the teacher sat down to play for a second and he played something that was really cool, it went by so fast that I didn't catch specifically what he did, and by the time I had a chance to ask him, I couldn't remember what it sounded like and he couldn't remember what he did. (Improvisation is like that)

Anyway, I decided that I needed to find someway to record the lesson. I went to Best Buy to buy a pocket recorder (like a digital dictation machine) Best Buy has begun selling music equipment at some locations, so obviously I had to go see what they had. I found my new toy...It is a Boss Micro BR Digital Recorder. This is an amazing device. Is is a four track digital recorder, it has a built in microphone, line in and guitar inputs. It has built in drum patterns and effects. It will play MP3 files at any speed. (This is valuable if a musician is studying a piece of music and wants to slow it down to learn passages that are played too fast to learn at full speed.)

It can mix down recordings to an MP3 or WAV file that can be downloaded to a computer to be placed on a web site or put on a music player. It can run on batteries or AC power (it goes through batteries pretty quickly). But it is about the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. Perfect for songwriters or musicians that want to use it for capturing ideas, learning songs or practice.

When I get a chance (and have some time to get my chops back) I may post some music from it. This is going to be fun.

Do we really understand the world we live in (Part 2)

2008-11-13T22:36:00.007-06:00

Years ago, I can remember watching a Saturday Night Live episode (I think it was SNL, I don't know for sure) but anyway, Robin Williams was on the show and was doing his thing. All of a sudden, he picked up a picture of Albert Einstein, he took on a serious tone and said "Look at those eyes, the lights are on and everyone's home".

I told a friend at work about that recently, she asked "Why did he say that?"
At the time Robin Williams did that, I didn't understand, not sure that I do now, but my guess is because Albert Einstein completely changed our understanding of the world we live in.

When Einstein was alive, there was a lot of work going on by many scientists in trying to understand things like electricity, magnetism, nuclear forces, gravity and light. These are the basic forces that our world operates under.

Light was a particularly interesting subject. In many ways, light behaves like sound it is a 'wave' that is transmitted, there is no physical particle of sound. The problem though, is that a wave must have a medium. Without water, there is no such thing as a wave in the ocean. Without air (or some other medium such as water) there is no sound. The problem with light was that it travels through the vacuum of outer space.

Scientists at the time theorized that light was a wave and therefore, there had to be a medium, we just didn't know what that medium was. They referred to it as the 'ether' and spent a lot of time and energy trying to find it. All of these experiments led to an interesting observation. No matter what they did, the speed of light was always the same. Let me take a stab at demonstrating.

Pardon my crude diagram, but imagine you are looking at two people from above. They are standing next to each other and 'Blue' throws a ball at a target that is 45 ft away. He can throw the ball so that it travels 90 ft in a sec (about 60 miles per hour). Both guys see the ball as traveling 90 ft/sec and it take half a second to travel the 45 ft to the target.

Now picture the same scenario, with a change, 'Blue' and the target are on a platform (picture they are on a train)that is traveling by at 60 miles/hr. 'Red' is watching from the ground. 'Blue' throws the ball at the target at the same speed. From his perspective, the ball has traveled the same 45 feet. But think about what 'Red' sees. Since the whole thing is passing by at 60 miles an hour, he sees the ball as traveling 180 ft/sec and the ball has traveled 90 feet instead of 45.

This is referred to as the concept of 'Relativity'. What you see and how you perceive things is based on your particular perspective. But what would happen if the ball had a speed limit that it couldn't break?

See, Einstein started thinking about the fact that the speed of light was the same no matter what they did during the experiments, and they did a lot. And he came up with the notion that "The speed of light is the same for all observers"

Now picture in diagram two that instead of throwing a ball, 'Blue' has a flashlight and turned it on. 'Red' and 'Blue' are (somehow) able to watch the light and tell you how fast it is going. 'Blue' says "it's going the speed of light" (big number), Red looks at it and says "you're right, it's going the speed of light". But hey wait just a second 'Red', it's going the speed of light plus 90 ft/sec right? Nope, it's going the speed of light. See, light has a speed limit, it travels at its speed limit all of the time. You can't add to it, it can't go any faster.

This fact has some huge implications.

Einstein was thinking about it and started thinking about questions like "What happened to the 90 ft/sec we just tried to add to the speed of light?" Well, the conclusion he came to was pretty startling. Time and space are adjusted to make up the difference. This was the basis of The Theory of Special Relativity.

This gets pretty difficult to explain, but work with me here. Let's assume that instead of going 60 miles/hour, 'Blue's' platform is traveling much much faster. And, let's say that 'Red' and 'Blue' have watches on and were able to see each other's watches (I know it's hard, work with me) When 'Red' looks at 'Blue's' watch, he sees it as being slower than his own. What's weird is, when 'Blue' looks at 'Red's' watch, he sees 'Red's' watching as being slower than his own. The greater the difference in speed between them, the bigger the difference in their watches would be.

It is at this point, you are saying, Donnie hasn't seen his marbles in a long long time. Just in case you think I'm making this up, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity. Einstein, changed our perception of the world we live in. His theory of Special Relativity has been verified by experiments. If you don't believe me, just google around on 'Special Relativity' and 'Time Dilation' stuff like that.

Ok, so I'll get to the point. Many times, religious folks look at the Bible where God says "In the first day I did this, in the second day I did that" and scientists look at the apparent age of the earth and say that Christians are nuts.

Was God speaking in Relativistic terms? I have no idea. When the Bible says "A thousand years is like a day" did he mean it literally, again, I have no idea. What I am saying is that time is not a physical constant in our universe. Christians need to include that into their interpretation of the Bible.

Holding it all together
I know that this is getting incredibly long, but like I told you, I've been thinking about this for a long time. In part one, I mentioned that a physics teacher told me about a verse in the Bible that really caught my attention. If I haven't lost you yet, please stay with me just a bit longer.

I mentioned that in Einstein's day, scientists were studying gravity, nuclear mechanic, electricity and magnetism. In simple terms, these are the forces that 'hold are world together'. I won't bore you with equations and stuff, but if you look at these forces mathematically, they are all very very similar, but different. Einstein theorized that these forces were all manifestations of a single force that exists. He called this his Unified Field Theory. Back in 1820, a big step toward unifying everything was made by James Clerk Maxwell. Prior to his time, magnetism and electricity were thought to be different. He found that magnets could be used to produce electricity and that electricity produced magnetism. Thus we now have the electromagnetic theory (and generators and hydroelectric dams).

Einstein was unable to find the Unified Field. Scientists are still working on it. Check out the Theory of Everything Scientists are working hard to formulate some explanation for how our world is held together.

Colossians 1 has a very interesting verse where Paul talks about the Supremacy of Jesus Christ. Here is the verse that is so interesting....

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Are scientists searching for the connection between our physical world and the spiritual? I don't know, but, in my humble opinion, I think they are. Like I said, if we are all searching for the truth, we will wind up at the same place...

P.S. When I finished this, I thought about a similar post that I wrote a year or so ago. If you are interested please read A Geek Finds God?

Do we really understand the world that we live in? (Part 1)

2008-11-11T22:25:00.008-06:00

This is one of those blog posts that has been brewing for a long time. I'm even more excited about it because today I decided to break it up into two pieces. (My first multiple segment post)

To get your attention, I'll ask a science question.

If a bullet is fired from a gun (parallel to the ground), and a second bullet is dropped from the same height, which bullet will hit the ground first? (Assuming the ground is perfectly level and the bullet fired from the gun doesn't hit anything first)

If you (like I) you watched Bugs Bunny as a kid, you might think that bullet fired from a gun would travel at a level height until it ran out of speed, and then fall to the ground. (A lot of stuff in Bugs Bunny was really funny on a scientific level, but I digress). The fact of the matter is, the bullets will hit the ground at the same time. The path of a bullet, if allowed to travel unobstructed, is actually a curve, not a straight line.

In college, I had to study a lot of physics and a lot of math. I was very fortunate because my first job was in the field of Medical Physics, so I actually got to use some mathematics and physics in real life, and I have an appreciation for science and scientists. I am by no means an expert, but at some level I have at least a basic understanding.

I've been troubled many times because many people think science and religion are at odds with one another. One of my long standing beliefs has been that if scientists and religious folks are honestly seeking truth....then they will both arrive at the same conclusion. Many times I watch for scientific breakthroughs that confirm statements that are in the Bible. A few years ago, I had a high school physics teacher reference a verse in the Bible that amazed me. I'll tell you the verse and why it is so amazing in a minute, but its going to take some discussion to get there.

The reason that the bullets hit the ground at the same time is because of gravity. Under Newton's Theory of Gravity, it can be described mathematically as

The m1 and m2 are the masses of the two object being studied, r is the distance between them and G is the gravitational constant. (Sorry, had to get geeky there for a second.) In the case of a bullet, m1 might be the mass of the bullet, m2 would be the mass of the earth, r would be the height that the bullet was at when it started. As you might notice, the fact that the bullet is traveling at a high rate of speed has no effect in the equation.

The fact that the two bullets hit the ground at the same time surprises many folks. (I know a certain middle school science teacher that subscribes to the Bugs Bunny theory of gravity.) I was explaining this to my son and I demonstrated it by doing this simple little experiment.

Take two tennis balls, or any other kind of ball that wont hurt anything. Set one on a table, hold the other at the same height as the table. Push the ball on the table off as hard as you want to, but try to drop the one in your hand at the moment the first one leaves the table. You will find that no matter how hard you push, the balls will hit the floor at the same time.

Newton figured that out a long time ago. He understood the world he lived in....as far as he knew. The next post will expand on that just a touch....

Some political thoughts...

2008-11-09T07:24:00.002-06:00

When I was growing up....I hated arguments...I couldn't even watching the political talk shows on Sunday mornings, because I hated to watch people argue. It made me uncomfortable.

Whether its because I'm older, or because I've spent the last year arguing in one way or another, I'm completely comfortable with arguments. I've found that I can listen to someone's points respectfully and respectfully present my own thoughts and ideas. If we cannot reach an agreement, the we can agree to disagree....respectfully. (See the theme here?) You don't have to agree with me, whether or not you can respect my point of view, I will always respect yours.

The recent Presidential election along with some friends with differing political viewpoints have helped me to refine my own political views. Some may be exactly what you expect...some may surprise you...but I'd like to express them here. Your comments are always welcome, though, if anyone gets too nasty, I'll edit them or delete them. That is my right as the blogger.

Let's tackle the toughest ones first.

Abortion
One of the problems with a lot of issues, is that they are discussed as black and white issues when there are usually many many shades of gray. Abortion is one of those issues in my opinion. Since I've never carried a child, I can't imagine what it is like. I know that I've heard many reasons that someone would want to end a pregnancy. The government can't possibly pass a law that addresses all of the circumstances surrounding that decision. There is also a lot of arguments about when the 'fetus' becomes a 'child'. When does this new life have rights separate from the rights of the mother? I don't know the answers to these questions. What I do know is this, regardless of when an abortion occurs, you are ending the life of a child. Should the government allow that? They have decided that they should. I'm ok with that. I don't have to like it, it's more of an acceptance than anything. However, I cannot and never will support the idea of two people making a bad decision, creating a child, and then ending that child's life. I call it retroactive birth control. I can't accept it, there are too many people that would love to have a child.

Marriage (Gay or otherwise)
My viewpoint: Marriage is a spiritual union created and controlled by God. He defines marriage and is the ultimate authority on it. His perfect plan for marriage is defined here...

Genesis 2

 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

 18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
      But for Adam [g] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [h] and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [i] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

 23 The man said,
       "This is now bone of my bones
       and flesh of my flesh;
       she shall be called 'woman, [j] '
       for she was taken out of man."

 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

(Sorry, I had to include the naked part)

Anyway, my point is, God defines marriage. To my understanding (which I haven't researched fully) men began leaving their wives during the middle ages because they were unhappy for whatever reason. Since it was not accepted for a woman to work at that time, these women were left destitute. The governmental authorities stepped in and began holding men financially responsible for the welfare of theirs wives even when they left them. So, as I see it, in any marriage, there are really two connections, one is spiritual (the real marriage) and the other is legal (financial responsibility).

Now some reality. God's perfect plan for marriage is this: One man, one woman for life.

Matthew 19

 1When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

 3Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?"

 4"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'[a] 5and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'[b]? 6So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

 7"Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"

 8Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

 10The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry."

 11Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage[c]because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."

Many years ago I had someone ask me "Would you allow an 18 year old to control all of the decisions in your life?" The obvious answer is NO! His next statement was sobering...."Do you realize that most of the decisions that control your life are made when you are 18?"

The truth is...our world is horribly broken. Some people decide that a homosexual relationship is what they want and need. Some decide after some period of time that the promise that they made when they were in their teens or twenties was a mistake. We all change over time, God knows that, he made us. His plan for marriage had to be that you would accept and adjust to the changes that your spouse goes through. Some decide they cannot do that and decide to divorce. Some states have made that very easy by instituting the "No Fault Divorce". No legal proof of grounds is required, you just decide it's not working, let's end it.

So, back to my point, Marriage is a spiritual institution defined by God. In a perfect world, marriage as defined by God would last a lifetime. In our broken world it does not.

The problem with 'Gay Marriage' is the word marriage. I think if a different term was used, it would be more widely accepted. The homosexual community is asking for the legal rights that heterosexual couples have. This may shock you, but I really don't have a problem with that. However, it is not marriage, it is a legal partnership. All of the rules applying to married couples should also apply when ending a homosexual partnership.

My belief is that we will all stand before God and give an account for our lives. All of our lives are broken in one way or another. Spiritually, our only hope is Jesus. It is only through his sacrifice that we can be reconciled to God.

Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society.

Egalitarianism (derived from the French word égal, meaning equal) is a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights.

To me, the effects of socialism comes if you take economics out of the picture. The best example of its effects comes from education. In any classroom, you will have children with an amazing amount of intellect. You will have some with less intellect that work really hard. You will have some with intellect that choose not to use it. Lastly, you will have some that work very hard, but simple do not have the intellect required to pass. In a socialistic classroom, all of these students received the same grade. This may seem very ideal and fair. But what does it do to the drive and incentive for those with high intellect or those who are willing to work very hard? They see that even though there are those who choose not to work hard, they are all treated the same. The incentive to achieve, is taken away. In my opinion, all students become mediocre.

In reality, we give higher grades in education as an incentive. Economically, those who are talented or work hard should also receive incentives to continue to achieve.

How then are the poor to be taken care of? In reality, there are those who, through no fault of their own, are economically challenged. Single mothers who are poorly educated, the disabled (mentally or physically) and many many others who are unable to care for themselves financially. Those who do well financially are responsible for helping the poor. There are many who do. Unfortunately, there are many who are selfish and refuse to give to others. These are usually used as the examples to show that unbridled capitalism is bad. They deserve to be chastised. But when the government gets involved, the effects are usually bad. The government (and our newly elected President) have made it clear that they intend to forcibly remove the financial incentive from the wealthy and give it to the economically challenged (moving towards the egalitarian society) If that is the best answer we can come up with, that's fine. However, just in the education example, please don't gripe when the overall effects of that come to fruition.

Public Education
I support the ideals of public education, but I send my children to a private school. The goal of public education is that every child should have access to education. This is good and correct. My only problem with public education is that they are now required to remove God from the entire education process. Based on my beliefs about our world and its creation, I do not believe that you can ignore God and accurately teach mathematics, science, human behavior, history or any subject.

There are others in this world that do not believe in God, and wish to be free from and forced education that includes him. That is fine. However, that results in a warped view of this world as I see it. Therefore, I pay the taxes to support public education, and I also pay tuition to educate my children as I see fit.

Unfortunately, being an institution run by the government, public education is in quite a mess. I hate that. Raise my taxes to help pay for the poorly run program if you must, my children will go to a private school. If you can give me some credit for not using the services I'm paying for, I would appreciate it.

Well, I can't think of anything else at this point. I'm sure that I am incorrect on some points. It's ok to be wrong. But it's my blog, I'll cry if I want to (cry if I want to)

And the week starts off great too....

2008-11-03T11:33:00.000-06:00

Fulmer Reportedly Resigns

A weekend to remember....

2008-11-03T10:24:00.003-06:00

Friday Night....Halloween on 2nd Avenue

Spent the day with Sarah on Saturday

Her surprise 13th birthday party was Saturday Night Happy Birthday Sarah

Sunday, I went to an AA meeting with my nephew followed by a real Sunday Dinner at Momma's house.

Watched the Titans win.

Got the books set up for my new business and mailed my first invoices this morning...

God is so Good...

You can't get more Nashville than this....

2008-11-01T06:02:00.002-05:00

One of the tracks on my "Chet Atkins -- A Master And His Music" CD is a track of Chet Atkins and Dolly Parton playing and singing "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind". To be honest, I don't know that I had ever heard that song before, but after I did some looking into it, I found out that Dolly Parton wrote it, and it has been done by several artists.

Anyway, in listening to that track, I couldn't help but notice the mutual love and respect between these two artists that comes shining through. I don't think I've ever heard a song where two people care for each other so much and are having a great time playing music. I found it on youtube...

Ever since I bought this CD, my guitar player friend and I have been talking about it. We talk about the styles of different musicians and what makes them great. Chet Atkins, though he had the ability to smoke a guitar like none other, was famous for not playing a single note that wasn't necessary. That's one of the things that made him great.

My friend (who is from Washington state originally) made the remark that while living in Washington, everybody there thought that Nashville was a hick town, no shoes, uneducated, hillbillies. After moving here though, his eyes have been opened to what Nashville is all about. I gave him my usual speech that we like for everyone to think Nashville is backward, and, that he is welcome here as long as he doesn't call a bunch of friends and relatives and get them to move here ;-)

When I moved back to Nashville during the summer, I started going out and experiencing some of the night life in this town. I had really never done that before. I must tell you, it is a great time. Lot's of great music and people come here from everywhere. On Halloween night, I went to 2nd Avenue just to see what was going on. Luckily I took my camera. What a great time. Here are some photos..(If you dislike guitars or pretty women, then don't look.)
Photos

Sad News Today...

2008-10-31T03:55:00.002-05:00

One of the best purchases I've ever made was a CD called "Chet Atkins -- A Master And His Music". I found it at the flea market...$2. It has some phenomenal tracks on it. One of my favorites is "Jerry's Breakdown" featuring Jerry Reed. I was playing it for a guitar player friend and he told me that Jerry Reed had died earlier this year. I had no idea, I was floored. I guess I was too self absorbed when it happened.

In this post I told you about Raegan Echols who was Jerry's nephew and a good friend of mine in college. The summer before my senior year in college, Raegan called me and told me that the guy that normally sold t-shirts for Jerry had just gotten married and was on his honeymoon. He asked me if I wanted to go. My answer was "Absolutely".

As far as I know, Jerry loved life, he always seemed like one of those guys that was having a blast wherever he went. He did several movies, and many people remember him for that, but, he was also a phenomenal musician. One of the highlights of his show was a song he called "Moggy Fountain Breakdown". He had converted the classic "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" to a minor key. This was the song where he and his band really showed what they could do.

I'll alway remember that week. Nobody can take it from me. It was a tremendous experience. I'm sorry that I missed his passing.

Check out this video from 1975. This is Jerry at his best.

The original Homeland Security...

2008-10-30T06:31:00.003-05:00

Last night, my apartment complex had a mixer at the clubhouse. Since I am fairly new here and haven't met a lot of people, I went. There weren't a lot of people there, but I did meet a few.

One lady that I met had moved here in August. She works for the Federal Government in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (something like that). Anyway, we had a good conversation about the Indian tribes that remain in the US.

I said something about being part Indian (my grandmother on my dad's side was part indian, though I don't know the details). Though cordial, she was a little irritated by that. After she explained,I understood why. To an Indian, you are only Indian if you maintain the connection to the traditions. They are a very proud people. It's kind of like the people that move to the United States from other countries and call themselves Americans but don't learn the language or the culture. You can only refer to yourself as Indian if you remain connected to the culture. I understand.

We discussed several things about Indian culture and how important they have been to our nation. I told her about seeing something on the History Channel about "Code Talkers". Her face lit up when I mentioned that. During WWI and WWII, the military recruited Indians as an integral part of their communications system. They could freely speak to each other in a coded language that was based on their native tongue. Encryption can be broken, but a language must be studied for a long time before it can be understood. They were critical to the military. It is a proud moment in time for the Indian culture. We should thank them.

A few thoughts from a sinner...

2008-10-28T05:52:00.004-05:00

Sometimes, I will see something that hits me funny and I'll take a picture or just post it here and I'll spend a very few minutes and I'm done. Sometimes, I'll have an idea of something to post here and I'll think about it (sometimes for months) before I write anything. These usually take a long time, and I usually wind up crying while I'm writing it.

This one has been brewing for months...
There have been many things that I've been thinking about. It's finally done, I'm ready to write it. I'm going to lose some friends over this more than likely. And that's ok. The main question in my mind is...

Is organized religion what Jesus intended to establish?

If you are an avid reader (thanks mom!) you know that I've mentioned Andy Stanley's video series "Go Fish". This video series was amazing, I enjoyed every minute of it. It's been a while since I saw it, but as I remember, the basis for the whole series was Jesus' invitation to his first followers.

Matthew 4:18-22
The Calling of the First Disciples

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Andy talks about that Jesus didn't say "I will make you Holy" or "I will make you wealthy" or "I will make you a better person" he simply said....I will make you "fishers of men". He then says (as I remember) "followers fish, that's what we do".
The rest of the series is about what it means to fish. It's worth a listen if you get the chance.

I've attended worship services most of my life. My parents took me "every time the doors were open" when I was a kid. There have been periods where I did not go, but when I went through a very difficult period in my life about 12 years ago, there was a congregation (one man in particular) that was very instrumental in pulling me through it. Ever since that time, I attended worship services regularly....until this past January.

Divorce is a nasty ugly business. Most people, don't know what to say or how to handle it. It's easier just to stay away and "not get involved". I understand that...it's cool....really. My divorce has taught me several things that are very valuable to me now.

All my life, my relationship with God was represented by my faithfulness in attending worship services. I have learned that your relationship with God is separate from your relationship with a congregation

People really need other people to help when things get nasty and ugly.

The term "Church" as it commonly used today, is used incorrectly. When you attend worship services, you are not "going to Church".

I want you to understand, I am not angry at organized religion or at any of the people that I've known or been close to. This is just where I am in my thinking. This blog is my outlet.

Over the past few months, I've tried to begin attending worship services again. There is a congregation that is close to where I live now where some of my friends go. They have a very active singles program, so it sounded like a good fit to me. I visited a couple of times. The last time I attended, I was a little late. One of the ushers tried to help me find a seat. We could see some empty seats near the front so we headed there. When we arrived at the pew, we saw that there were song books in the pew. The lady let us know that the seats were "saved" (an interesting use of words now that I think about it). I told the usher that I could find my own seat. I saw some empty seats in another section, near the front. I walked there only to again find songbooks in the seat. I went to the balcony near the very back. I wound up leaving during the sermon.

Please understand, I'm not angry, I'm not taking any sort of revenge by writing this. I'm just telling you my thinking and my experiences.

One of the ideas that I realized while watching Andy's series (I don't know if he said this directly or not) was "If all of your time is spent with people that think just like you....you aren't fishing".

I'm reminded of something that happened years ago...one congregation that I attended had a teacher who is one of the men that I admire most. In one of his classes, he focused on the sin of homosexuality. It was very good, and very Biblical. I can't remember what was happening that afternoon (maybe a men's business meeting) that I attended. I was early and one of the elders and I were alone for a bit. The elder opened the conversation with...."Wasn't the class good today". My response was "Well...I had a brother who was a homosexual, I guess I think that there is Grace for homosexuals too". Needless to say, we didn't see eye to eye on that point.

Later in the afternoon, some men were standing around talking, the topic of the class was also the topic of conversation. One gentlemen who I hold in high regard remarked that he just couldn't deal with someone who he knew was a homosexual. I was a little taken aback by that statement. During the same conversation (this amazed me) the topic of discussion turned to the features and functionality of the latest radar detectors. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I guess I was pretty sensitive at that particular moment. Homosexuality was reprehensible, speeding was ok, even celebrated. For years I've wondered, are they different in God's eyes? I honestly don't know, my current thinking is that they are not. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. Someone pointed out to me years ago, that Jesus never ever rebuked anyone for being a sinner. His harshest rebukes were saved for those who considered themselves sinless.

I've mentioned several times here that one of the things that I love to do is listen to live music. The best place to listen to music in Nashville is 2nd avenue. I probably go a couple of times per week. You can pay $8 to park and then go see everything from live bands that are really really good, to karaoke singers who are absolutely terrible. One thing that you are guaranteed to see there is people who think differently from you. I could tell you many stories about the people that I've met. You never know if the stories they tell you are true, but, I've talked to a guy that just got out of prison and needed bus fare to go home. Homeless people that just needed something to eat (I don't give cash, but I'll put you on a bus or buy you something to eat). I also have a very funny story about meeting two sisters that were strippers promoting the club they work at.

I was with a friend from high school, we were going to meet some people that I work with at B. B. Kings. We got something to eat and were walking to the club. We were approached by a man who asked for something to eat. I gave him my normal speech "I won't give you cash, but I'll buy you something to eat" Those that are really hungry will go with you. Somehow, as we were walking to the restaurant, we began talking about worship buildings. I honestly have no idea how that topic came up. Anyway, my friend made the statement that large buildings were built to honor God. I asked "Are we honoring God by buying this man a meal?" she said "Yes". My next statement was, "How many meals could we buy, if we didn't build big buildings?". I remember her stumbling over her response. When I say yes to those who ask for something, it has amazed me how many times the next question is "Are you a Christian?". The prisoner and I had an amazing conversation and prayer while we were waiting for the bus.

The next day, I was talking to the same friend, we enjoy asking each other deep questions. I asked, "What is the test to get into heaven?". Her response was, "There is no test, Jesus did it all". I said, "Well, I think there is a test, and it is pretty clear in the Bible". The discussion finally wound up leading to Matthew 25.

I plan to attend a worship service this Sunday. I will be attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting with my nephew. I'm not an alcoholic, but I've thought for years that AA meetings are probably closer to what Jesus intended to establish.

Judge me if you must, I'm going fishing...

That helpless feeling....

2008-10-26T15:12:00.003-05:00

About 7 years ago, when Sarah was five, she had appendicitis. It was a horrible experience. Kathy had taken her to the doctor earlier in the day. The physician's assistant that looked at her misdiagnosed it. She sent us home. In the middle of the night, Sarah was screaming in pain. We took her to the emergency room. It was in fact appendicitis, they rushed us to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. She had surgery the next day.

There is nothing that can describe the helplessness you feel when your child is taken to surgery. You know that there is absolutely nothing that you can do but wait. The wait is eternal. All you can do is turn it over to God.

After the surgery was over, Kathy and I both stayed in the hospital. The next day, Sarah was able to get up and around. She rode in a wagon to the child's play area and tried walked around some. She walked like an old lady, very small painful steps. It was heartbreaking.

While we were in the playroom though, we met children with much more serious conditions. Sarah's condition was very very minor compared to what some families go through. Where we had one routine surgery with a fairly certain outcome, there are some families who endure multiple surgeries with a tremendous amount of uncertainty. Right now I'm thinking of a young lady named Shelby Glisson who struggled with a lung condition that resulted in a double lung transplant. Shelby goes to the same school as my children. I can remember her dragging a breathing machine around with her everywhere she went. I saw her Saturday at the football game, she is free from her breathing machine and is a beautiful healthy young lady. She does still struggle with the rejection fears. I guess what I'm saying is...what we went through was horrible, but still nothing compared to what some people go through.

By the next Sunday morning, she wanted to go to Church. We wouldn't let her, but she went Sunday night. While we were visiting with friends after the service, we had to get on to her for climbing over the backs of the pews. Kids recover so quickly.

The FCS football game that was scheduled for Friday was postponed to Saturday because of the rain that we had. It was the biggest game of the season, both teams were undefeated and are huge rivals. The game meant a lot. Chris was on the starting offense and on the receiving team. He didn't see much action as far as passes being thrown to him, but I could see that one was thrown to him. From my vantage point, I could see that has was most likely the receiver it was thrown to, but the team was in my way on the sideline so I couldn't see what happened.

A little while later, I saw him and a trainer leaving the field. I ran over to see what happened, they told me that he probably had a concussion and was being taken to the hospital for a CT Scan. I left in front of them to see if I could do any necessary paperwork ( I couldn't ) but the team doctor had called ahead and the hospital was ready for him.

To make a long story short, Chris had a Grade 1 concussion which involves amnesia (he didn't remember catching the ball) but had no other injury. He can't practice or play this week, but he will be fine.

Though divorced, Kathy and I are united when it comes to the kids. we still work as a team where they are concerned. It feels good. But it reminds me that so much of life is out of our hands...

Facebook Funnies...

2008-10-23T09:17:00.002-05:00

I worked with a fellow by the name of David Hinson years ago. David lived in Sumner county until recently. He now resides in Florida. David and I have kept connected via facebook. Oh, I need to mention that David is one of the smartest guys on the planet.

Today, we had the following interaction on facebook. Geeks will get it, the rest of you don't need to worry about it.

I've been laughing all morning.

The most beautiful music in the world...

2008-10-23T03:08:00.003-05:00

Please pardon my current music kick...however...my love for music has returned with a vengeance. Last night, I went into the used CD store that is across from my apartment. I was thinking...ok.....what are the CDs that I've had in the past that I would like to replace. I browsed through what they had. I was amazed at some of the great music that people had sold. They had a copy of "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis. I took it out of the case and told the guy behind the counter, "No one should ever give this CD up" he said "Maybe they got the deluxe edition" hmmm....I'll give you that.

Anyway, I was thinking about the CD's that I used to have that I wanted to replace. One CD that I would absolutely love to have but can't find anywhere is one called "Los Lobotomies". It was a live CD recorded by some of the members of Toto. They did some jazz standards some Jimi Hendrix. It was great, but is not available much of anywhere. I bought a copy of it a few years ago when Walmart first opened their online music store. Somehow the license got screwed up with it and I can't listen to it any more.

I did think of one CD that I used to have that got broken somehow. It was the soundtrack to the show "Riverdance". Ever since the first time I heard that music it inspired me. This is music that reaches down in your soul. I saw the show when it came to Nashville about 10 years ago. I found out that it is coming again in February, the day that the tickets go on sale is on my calendar.

A sample of the music is available on their website. Just go to http://www.riverdance.com/ there is a button at the top right that says music player. It plays the music from one of the highlights of the show. Some of my friends and I have been reminiscing on facebook about our old marching band days in high school. One of the things we've talked about is some of the sayings from our band director. Somebody mentioned one that I don't remember him saying, but it applies here.

"If that don't turn you on, you don't have any knobs"

My musical goals....

2008-10-21T21:40:00.006-05:00

Last night, I got a phone call from Danny Ray Martin who runs a music school in my old neighborhood called the East Nashville School of Music.

I had been trying to get in touch with him for several weeks to begin taking piano lessons again. That's right, piano lessons. When I was younger, I took piano for many years and frustrated many a piano teacher because I would not buckle down and learn to read notes. I loved playing the piano, but reading notes off of the paper never appealed to me at all.

Finally, my parents found a teacher by the name of June Wolfe. She was absolutely amazing. She could site read Chopin but at the same time played all around Nashville with some of the top big bands in the area. She loved jazz. I can remember her visiting my parents a few years ago at Christmas time. She was playing the piano for us it sounded great, then something happened. I realized that she was still playing the same song, but her hands were playing in different keys.

Anyway, I was taking piano from Mrs. Wolfe. She didn't try to teach me to read notes, she taught me how to read chord charts, how to do chord substitutions, and the Nashville Number System. She took me a long way.

She tried to teach me some pretty sophisticated jazz techniques. The only problem was, I was 15 years old. I listened to rock music and didn't appreciate jazz that much. Thirty years later, I appreciate jazz so much, and I've been kicking myself for years because I could have learned so much.

In some ways, I feel indebted to her. I think she saw a lot of potential in me, but sadly, I didn't take advantage of that opportunity. I don't really see myself becoming a performing musician again, but I really do enjoy listening to music and understanding the underlying chord structures that make it up. In the back of my mind, I've thought about taking piano again, but I couldn't find the time or the teacher.....until now.

When I started working on the idea of taking piano there, I visited their web site (which is impressive) and looked at who their instructors are. I was blown away when I saw that Stan Lassiter was one of the instructors. He is a legend in this area. This is not a place where the little old lady that plays at Church is teaching, these are studio quality musicians with impressive resumes.

Anyway, when I talked to Mr. Martin, we discussed when I would start, and he told me to think about what I wanted to do. What were my goals? I spent today thinking about those goals, so I thought I would share them with you. I will be studying there about an hour a week and squeezing practice time in between work, side jobs, kids sport activities and other general stuff. I had to make my goals reasonable giving the time that I had. So here they are:

I want to be able to play honky tonk piano like Billy Powell from Lynyrd Skynyrd. The best example that I had was the solo on Call Me The Breeze. I want to be able to play gospel style piano like the guy with the Yellowjackets when they play Revelation. I want to be able to improvise and do chord voicings like Bill Evans on Freddie Freeloader. I I would also like to be able to just play like Jeff Lorber and Kenny Gorelick did on Wizard Island. (This was before Kenny Gorelick sissied up and became Kenny G, you have to read Pat Matheny's interview about Kenny G)

I also want to be able to play the Hammond organ like Keith Emerson on Hoedown or Rick Wakeman on Roundabout.

But when I was 10 or 11, the thing that made me really want to play the piano has to be the piano solo in Peter Frampton's Do you feel like we do?

I hope that I'm not being unreasonable ;-)

P.S. I'd also like to be able to play swing like Harry Connick Jr's piano teacher on the version of Stardust from his 25 album. I couldn't find a clip of that though.

The hazards of driving a Chevette.....

2008-10-21T19:01:00.003-05:00

The last big gas crunch was in the late 70's early 80's. My father had a side job where he drove a lot. Chevrolet started making smaller cars for fuel efficiency so my father bought...a Chevette. Being very interested in gas mileage, he bought one with manual transmission.

He actually had two of them. The first one he owned was silver, it was the first model they came out with. It met its demise before I was old enough to drive. My father inspected houses for an insurance company and drove all over Tennessee. On one particular occasion, the house was on a hill, he parked but didn't set the emergency brake. The car popped out of gear and was able to gain enough speed to jump a curb, clear a creek and nose dive on the bank. He bought a second one that I learned to drive with and yes it became my 'date car'. The unfortunate demise of the first Chevette was merely foreshadowing of things to come.

I'm sure that you can imagine the excitement of my dates when they saw me drive up in this fine piece of machinery. Little did they know the fun we were to have.

On one occasion, I was dating a girl that lived between Hendersonville and Gallatin. An area call Bluegrass I think. Anyway, at that time, it was a fairly new area and wasn't big on street lights yet. I drove my date home one evening, it was pitch dark we couldn't see a thing outside. She opened the door to get out of the car and immediately hit the ground. Unfortunately, I didn't get the car in gear when we stopped and we were rolling backwards and didn't know it. (We did continue to date)

On another occasion, I dated a girl whose driveway was at a steep incline. I went to her house one evening and when I left, we walked outside, the car was gone. We both thought it had been stolen (unlikely) I found it nicely perched in the yard of their neighbor across the street. It didn't hit a thing. I ran across the street, started the car, and drove home with heart pounding.

Right before my son turned 15, I bought a truck for him to drive. The one stipulation was that it had to have a manual transmission. He thinks it is because I want him to have certain driving skills. Little does he know that I just want him to have some stories to tell 30 years from now.

Color Me Gone....

2008-10-19T09:08:00.005-05:00

For the past 15 years I've lived in Lebanon, 30 miles east of Nashville. Lebanon is a small town in many ways. It is a successful city, a great place to live and a fantastic place to raise kids. However, due to a lot of factors that I don't really need to talk about any more. I lost contact there. I lost contact with myself, and I lost contact with many of my good friends.

For the past few weeks and months, I've been reconnecting...reconnecting with friends in Nashville and most importantly....reconnecting with myself. The biggest reconnection I've made lately is....my love for music. I love music of all kinds, I love to listen to it (my Zune and I are inseparable, though I did let my neighbors borrow it while they were stuck in the hospital) and I love to see it performed live.

I've also reconnected with many friends from high school. I was an athlete in my early years, but instead of playing varsity sports in high school, I joined the marching band. What a tremendous experience that was. I was a Charter Member of the marching band. This incredible group of people went from a rag-tag bunch of people learning to walk in a straight line, to a polished corp that won 4 consecutive State Championships.

Facebook has been priceless in my reconnection efforts. In the last 3 months I've reconnected with about 35 people from high school. We have spread across the country, but facebook let's us keep up with each other just like we were still stuck on the endless bus rides to the distant football game or contest.

One of the guys that I've reconnected with is a fellow by the name of Adam Hampton. Adam and I were two of the few in my graduating class that went to Goodpasture from the grades 1 through 12. In junior high and high school, Adam and I were in the band together, we played music together, even dated the same girls...what I'm saying is, Adam is one of the guys that I've known for the longest time.

Adam and I were both keyboard players, we both planned to make music for a living. There was one difference between Adam and I. I liked playing music....Adam LOVED it. He was willing to put more effort into it than I was. Today...I am a computer programmer...Adam plays keys for Ronnie Milsap (and others), has his own studio (Kokopelli Music) and a video business (ANR Productions) (Darn good web sites Adam!).

When Adam and I began an impromptu effort to reunite the members of the Marching Band, I visited his studio web site. I noticed that Adam's wife Rhonda (who sings with Ronnie Milsap) had a CD that was recorded and produced by Adam. Even though country music is not really my thing, I ordered it. An autographed copy arrived in my mail Thursday. (Thank you Rhonda!)

I began listening to it on the way to work Friday morning. As I listened, I busted out laughing. Knowing Adam like I do, I could hear his fingerprints all over it. I loved it...it is priceless to me now.

Here's a side note about the music business. I've only been loosely attached to it, but I know a little bit. Most often the artist and musicians get the credit for the music. In reality, it is the producer (in conjunction with the artist) that develops the vision of what the project will ultimately sound like. They select the songs, develop the sound for the song (it is many times very different from the way a songwriter presents it). And even though the musicians play the parts, it is the producer that works with them to develop the parts to be played.

This is the first time that I've listened to a CD where I knew the producer so well. The project is amazing. It is six years old, but to me, it is a classic (probably a little biased here).

The style of music is country....kind of. I've already let 3 or 4 people listen to my copy. Usually their first response is "I don't like country"..my response is "this is not your typical country album....just listen to the title track" after that...they are hooked and listen to the whole thing.

The reason it is not your typical country album is because (I'm guessing here) is because of Adam's early musical influences. Adam and I and our group friends listened to rock early on, but we didn't listen to the typical 3 chord rock, we listened to Rush, Yes, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Steely Dan and jazz influences like Gino Vanelli and Jeff Lorber.

First, let me say that Rhonda's vocals are amazing. She brings a lot to the table (she absolutely nails Patsy Cline in the bonus tracks, anybody that can do that is amazing) But when I listen to music, I typically listen to the background more than the vocals and lyrics. I busted out laughing when I heard some of the instrumentation, and musical techniques used on the album. The best example would be "Better Be Serious" there is tremendous amount of syncopation in that song (we did a lot of that in high school) and it also features a lot of the Hammond B3 organ (a classic instrument, not used much in country music). Somewhere on the album I heard a clavinet a clavinet is a funky sounding keyboard (not sure I've ever heard a country song that used one). Also there is a Supertramp/wurlitzer sounding electric piano used in "Color Me Gone". The piano fills in "I've Been Run Over By This Train Before" will make anyone that appreciates the piano laugh out loud.

I'm sorry...I could go on and on. The album is amazing...samples and online purchase are available here. Just in case you think I'm biased, there is another review of the album here.

Thanks guys...I hope to see you at the Ryman on Nov. 6.

P.S. "Color Me Gone" is my new theme song ;-)

False Advertising....

2008-10-16T07:37:00.002-05:00

I checked my email this morning. I had an email from the Wildhorse Saloon with the subject line of "Rockin Concerts". From the experience of seeing Foreigner (details in an earlier post), I was hoping they were announcing some new performers.

To my horror, the top concert they were advertising was....

The Boys Are Back...

2008-10-14T00:11:00.002-05:00

This evening, I went to Chris' JV game and then came back to the apartment to check my email and settle in for the evening. When I checked the email, I got a message that the Oak Ridge Boys were having a free concert at the Wildhorse Saloon. I had a lot of other stuff that I needed to be doing, but heck, seeing the Oaks for free was too good to pass up. So off I go....

When I got to the Wildhorse, the place was packed. Evidently there was a convention in town for IEBA (International Entertainment Buyers Association). They put on the show at the Wildhorse and invited the public. It was pretty cool.

When I got there, there was a band playing, I figured it was a warm-up band of some sort so I found a seat and was just hanging out until the Oaks came on. As I settled in, I realized that this 'warm up band' was really really good. I started listening but didn't recognize any of the songs. Shortly after I got there, the guitar player started into a riff that I recognized. As he played, I recognized that it was the unmistakable into to "Green Grass and High Tides".

For the unintiated, there are some rock songs that are 'good songs', then there are some songs that are anthemns. They define the period. Examples would be "Free Bird", "Stairway To Heaven", "Do you feel like we do". For the southern rock fan, "Green Grass and High Tides" was one of those anthemns. This 'warm-up' band was the Outlaws who originally did that song. It was amazing, I couldn't imagine that I'd ever see them perform that song live.

After The Outlaws finished, the Oak Ridge Boys came on. For some reason, even though their style of music is not my favorite, I have an emotional connection with those guys. They are local Nashvillians that did good. I went to high school with William Golden's sons (the one that looks like the missing ZZ Top member).

Anyway, they opened the show with a pretty good song called "The Boys Are Back" which is evidently the theme song for their comeback. Of course they had to do "Elvira" and a couple of songs that I'd not heard of before.

The featured song, was "Mama's Table" it was a pretty good song and is probably going to be a single when their new album comes out. They closed the show with "Bobby Sue". They came back out for an encore and sang "Amazing Grace" A Capella. It was pretty classy. William Golden even took off his hat.

I'm glad that I went, it was a good show.

A Diamond In The Rubble....

2008-10-11T07:08:00.006-05:00

As a result of my recent divorce, I had the distinct pleasure of laying hands on everything I own. As I was going through it all and getting rid of what I could, I came across a cassette tape that is (dare I say) 22 years old.

The tape is a recording that a friend of mine from college (Raegan Echols) turned in as his Senior Project for a music production class. Using what crappy equipment I had and whatever free software I could download, I was able to convert the project to an MP3 file. If you would like, you may listen to it here.

Here's the story behind the song.

All through high school, I was going to be a musician. Nevermind that I never learned to read music, I was going to be a musician. I had played piano since I was about 6 or so. Anyway, I auditioned and was accepted into the music department at Belmont College (at the time, University now). There was just one small problem, I was going to begin my college career on academic probation. So, I dropped the music major idea pretty quickly. Belmont also had a strong Music Business program, so I changed over to that.

One of my first classes was "Music Theory For Music Business Majors" or something like that. The professor was John Arnn, what a hoot that guy was. Anyway, we had to write a song for one of our assignments. I could write pretty good chord progressions,but lyrics came pretty tough. I wrote the chord progression that you hear in the song and had a friend of mine (Mike Bond, anybody know what happened to that guy?) write some lyrics. I turned it in and got a B, assignment done, no problem.

A couple of years later, Raegan told me that he had to produce an original song for his senior project. I told him that I had written a song years before and thought he might like it. We went to a piano room, I played it for him, he liked it, except for the lyrics (sorry Mike).

Now Raegan had some connections in the music industry, his uncle was Jerry Reed and Raegan was his road manager during the summers. So Raegan gets some members of Jerry's band to come in and play some of the parts. I played the piano and string parts, other members of Jerry's band played the rest.

After we had recorded the rhythm tracks, he took a cassette tape of it and gave it to Shelby Kennedy who was also a student at Belmont at the time and a very good songwriter (he's now a bigwig at BMI I think).

Anyway, Shelby did a fantastic job of writing some lyrics to fit what we had already recorded (we didn't have to change a thing). I was amazed.

I never met the singer and don't know his name. I did watch the lead guitar guy record his part, it was amazing. He listened to the song once, told them to record, then he played the part that you hear. As soon as he finished, he packed up his guitar and left. It was amazing.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this blast from my past. If you know someone that wants to take it and make it a hit, I could sure use the cash ;-).

Do Not Worry...

2008-10-10T06:21:00.001-05:00

Looks like another bad day for the financial markets...

In tough times, I always think of this verse....

Matthew 6
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

They've still got it....

2008-10-10T04:27:00.003-05:00

In the last month, I've had the opportunity to see two of my favorite bands live. When I was younger, I used to go to a lot of concerts. I've seen my favorite band Rush 9 times live if that gives you any idea. Anyway, I had never seen either of these bands live.

The first was the Eagles. I saw them when they were in Nashville a few weeks ago. After they did their first two songs, Glenn Frey said "We'd like to welcome you to the Eagles 'Assisted Living Tour'" He was hilarious. Theses guys still have it. Though Glenn Frey and Don Henley typically garner most of the attention for their vocals, I came away most impressed with Joe Walsh. Until you see them live, you don't realize that Joe Walsh is the guy playing most of the difficult guitar solos. Though, since seeing the "Hell Freezes Over" video, I noticed they seems to carry around another guitarist to play some of the licks. All in all, it was a great show...one of the greatest bands in rock history IMHO....however.

Last night, I took Chris to see Foreigner at the Wildhorse. Ever since he got the Guitar Hero video game, he has become a huge classic rock fan. Music from the 70s and 80s is one of the areas that he and I connect on, it is a big part of our relationship. A month or so ago, I saw that Foreigner was coming to Nashville and I mentioned that I'd like to take him. I got busy and didn't think about it (the tickets were kind of expensive) until I received an email on Monday or Tuesday that they were offering tickets 2 for 1. At that point, I said, "We have to go", I'm so glad we did.

Like I said before, I've been to a lot of live shows, but for overall atmosphere and music, I've never been to a show that compares with seeing Foreigner at the Wildhorse. The Wildhorse (for you non-Nashvillians) is a country bar built by Gaylord Entertainment (Grand Ole Opry folks). A few years ago, they started hosting some live concerts there. Some of the bands from the 70s and 80s play there (if they are still able to get around). The Wildhorse is an impressive venue, it has three levels, but no matter where you sit, you are close to the stage.

We got there about 7:30 when the opening act was supposed to start. Kip Winger opened the show. It was him and a 12 string guitar, he was good. I remember the band Winger from years ago, but to be honest, I couldn't remember any of his songs.

Foreigner took the stage about 9:00 or so. When they walked out on the stage, this wild looking guy with white hair came out carrying a guitar. He looked more like a lost high school science teacher than a rocker. When there is a band I like, I usually know all of the members by name, however, with Foreigner, I pretty much only knew the name of the (former) lead singer Lou Gramm (Louis Grammatico I just found out). Anyway, the wild haired guy was Mick Jones, he was one of the founding members, he co-wrote most of their songs and co-produced all of their albums. He's now 63 years old and absolutely brought the house down. The dude rocks, the guitar solos on their songs are his. He is only remaining original member.

They opened the show with 'Double Vision', followed by 'Head Games'. After that, I don't remember the order of the songs. I wasn't drunk, but it was a constant barrage of hit after hit. It was fantastic.

I do remember the song 'Urgent'. Their rhythm guitar player (I don't remember his name) played the sax part on that song. They expanded his solo time considerably from the original song. It was fantastic. That song has too much of a be-bop feel to it for me, but when he played that solo. It was incredible.

Chris and I listen to a lot of music together and it is usually a game about who can recognize and name the band and song first. When they started the intro for 'Jukebox Hero', I heard that distinctive synth sound that opens the song. I looked at Chris and said "come on son, what's the song?" He didn't know. They lengthened the intro and changed it a bit, so it wasn't just like the album. Anyway, I kept watching his face, when the singer hit the second line of the lyrics, it finally hit him what song it was. His face lit up and he said "That was them?" I said, yeah, Jukebox Hero, what a song. They changed it up quite a bit, Mick Jones really showed his stuff on the guitar solo. They even inserted a little of Led Zepplin's "Whole lotta Love". Definitely a highlight.

And I can't forget the singer. I have to say that Lou Gramm, in my opinion, was one of the real greats in rock vocals. When I realized that he wasn't singing for Foreigner any more, I have to say that I was a little disappointed and even thought "It's not Foreigner without Lou Gramm". I was wrong. Kelly Hansen, their new vocalist had the voice, range and emotion needed to pull off their repertoire. He was great. Mick Jones even said himself "He's brought new life into these songs".

Well, I could probably ramble on about that show for hours. I'll wrap it up by saying this....if a band that you like plays at the Wildhorse, spend the money, go see them...you won't be dissappointed.

In the interest of fairness....

2008-10-07T23:31:00.007-05:00

I did receive a response to my previous post from on of the commentors. He did not want to register so that he could leave a comment. So...I'll post his response here myself. I am of the opinion that we can disagree without being disagreeable.....

Hi Donnie,
http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/dobson.html

Give that a look for starters.
As for your belief that the Bible is God breathed fact, well I can point you to any number of books disputing that. I can take it apart piece by piece and have. Not on your blog because it is another thing I have to register on to post.

Am sure you are a great guy but we will never see eye to eye.

True my friend...but we can be friendly.

I would like to close this episode with a statement by Blaise Pascal. Blaise Pascal was a philosopher who also, by the way, developed one of the earliest know 'computing machines'. He made the following statement that is now famous: referred to as Pascal's wager....

The short version...

"If God does not exist, one will lose nothing by believing in him, while if he does exist, one will lose everything by not believing."

The long version....

If there is a God, He is infinitely incomprehensible, since, having neither parts nor limits, He has no affinity to us. We are then incapable of knowing either what He is or if He is....

..."God is, or He is not." But to which side shall we incline? Reason can decide nothing here. There is an infinite chaos which separated us. A game is being played at the extremity of this infinite distance where heads or tails will turn up. What will you wager? According to reason, you can do neither the one thing nor the other; according to reason, you can defend neither of the propositions.

Do not, then, reprove for error those who have made a choice; for you know nothing about it. "No, but I blame them for having made, not this choice, but a choice; for again both he who chooses heads and he who chooses tails are equally at fault, they are both in the wrong. The true course is not to wager at all."

Yes; but you must wager. It is not optional. You are embarked. Which will you choose then? Let us see. Since you must choose, let us see which interests you least. You have two things to lose, the true and the good; and two things to stake, your reason and your will, your knowledge and your happiness; and your nature has two things to shun, error and misery. Your reason is no more shocked in choosing one rather than the other, since you must of necessity choose. This is one point settled. But your happiness? Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.

"That is very fine. Yes, I must wager; but I may perhaps wager too much." Let us see. Since there is an equal risk of gain and of loss, if you had only to gain two lives, instead of one, you might still wager. But if there were three lives to gain, you would have to play (since you are under the necessity of playing), and you would be imprudent, when you are forced to play, not to chance your life to gain three at a game where there is an equal risk of loss and gain. But there is an eternity of life and happiness. And this being so, if there were an infinity of chances, of which one only would be for you, you would still be right in wagering one to win two, and you would act stupidly, being obliged to play, by refusing to stake one life against three at a game in which out of an infinity of chances there is one for you, if there were an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain. But there is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is finite. [9]

Facebook Fallacies....

2008-10-07T00:41:00.003-05:00

This evening I had kind of an interesting experience...

I have become fairly active on Facebook lately...I'm using it to make new friends and reconnect with old friends. As you may or may not know, Facebook is a social networking site similar to MySpace. You connect with people, you can post photos, links and information to your site and your connections receives updates about you automatically. It's very cool, and a little bit addicting....

Anyway, a friend posted the following status to her facebook account...

--name withheld-- urges you to go to www.citizenlink.com and read Dr. James Dobson's thoughts on our two Presidential candidates. Very good information!

Immediately she received some fairly heated political commentary from some of her friends. I added a comment myself and realized that we were going to get into a fairly heated political/religious/social debate on Facebook using someone's status as the forum.

I quickly mentioned that our friend's status was hardly the place to enter such a debate, so I added the fellows as friend's and invited them to enter into the debate in a more suitable forum. I thought that we could do it here. When I invited the debate, I set a few ground rules: we must all be open to new ideas, no name calling, and we must argue based on facts, not assumed ideas (someone made a conjecture about how Dr. James Dobson probably felt, I will not argue about conjecture, only facts)

I would preface this with a statement originally made by Voltaire

"I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it"

I would also like to quote a comedian that I heard recently who said

"I have very strong opinions, and I don't research any of them"

I am not a politically active guy. I typically don't get involved in political debate. I do enjoy mental exercise and pointing out logical fallacies. I also have have a great amount of respect for Dr. Dobson, I have not kept track with his political maneuverings, but from a personal point of view, his dedication to family has had a huge impact on my life.

So anyway, I would like to begin the debate....

My friend's endorsement of Dr. James Dobson elicited some pretty heated response from her friends. I will post them here (leaving names out) and respond to each individually...

The first response:

Commentor #1: Thank you for the link. As always, Dobson distracts with non-issues that are completely irrelevant to the problems facing this country. This further illustrates that whoever is selected as President, we can look forward to more poverty, increased militarism and needless carnage to support the wealthiest 1% in the manner to which they have become accustomed.

My Response: In the times that we live in, there are a huge number of issues that make up the total background for a Presidential election. I read some (but not all) of the newsletter article. He doesn't mention Iraq (at least not in the section I read) the financial crisis or any other of the myriad of issues that are now facing our country. I would point out that Dr. Dobson in this newsletter is focused on a specific audience, he is writing to subscribers of his 'Focus on the Family' organization. From what I read, he focused his attention on the issue that his readers would be most interested in from a family perspective. That primary issue would be the candidates stance on abortion. I don't believe that he is ignoring the other issues, he's focusing on what his audience wants to know.

As far as the statement about "supporting the wealthiest 1%", I would like to point out that based on the facts, the opposite is actually true. The latest data available (based 2006 tax returns) shows that the top 1% accounted for 22% of the income in this country, yet paid 39% of the total tax bill. We are not supporting the top 1%, they are supporting us to a certain extent.

Source: The Tax Foundation

On to the next comment:

Commentor #2: When Dobson and Focus on the Family speak, I hurl. Sorry --name withheld--, but this is guys has NUTS written all over him.

At this point I made a comment on my friend's status and said...

hmmmm....I detect some differences of opinion here...I don't know specifically the views that qualify him as being nuts. I've found his concepts on raising children and handling family issues to be dead on. Maybe you guys have a different world view? Please remember that just because you disagree with someone doesn't make them nuts...it just means you have a different opinion....

At this point Commentor #1 responds:

Point taken. I have an anti-fascist world view. James Dobson's use of his tax-exempt evangelical corporate status to pressure politicians is the essense of Fascism. I also find his pro-forced birth attitutde barbaric and more suitable to a medieval backwater than to a supposed first-world nation.

My Response: The tax-exempt status of churches and other religious organizations is always a matter of concern. If a church or other tax-exempt organization gets involved in the political process, they risk losing their tax exempt status. Please understand that I am a spiritual guy, however, I am no big fan of 'organized religion'. Corporations and other organizations have set up 'Political Action Committees' for years. These committees allow their parent organization to be politically active (which is their right) without having the donations taken directly from the parent organization's bottom line. I'm not saying that its right or wrong, but corporations have set up PAC for years. In Dr. Dobson's newsletter referenced above, he makes the following statement:

"Considering the stark differences between the two presidential candidates and the critical issues that are hanging in the balance, it’s not difficult to understand why Campaign 2008 has been such a spirited affair. I’d like to take a few moments to consider what is at stake in this year’s election, particularly for those of us who embrace a biblical worldview. Please understand that I will share these thoughts under the umbrella of Focus on the Family Action™, which has supported the preparation and distribution of this letter. Focus Action is, in turn, supported by
contributions from those who do not receive tax deductible receipts for them. Thanks so much to you who made it possible." (emphasis added)

What he is saying here is that he is making his comments through 'Focus On The Family Action' which is obviously a PAC. This allows Dr. Dobson to use his influence and reputation to make political statements without involving 'Focus On The Family' organization. I admit it is a fine line, but it is one that is walked everyday in this country.

On to the second part of this comment

"I also find his pro-forced birth attitutde barbaric and more suitable to a medieval backwater than to a supposed first-world nation."

This threw me a bit, I have never heard the term "forced birth" before. Sir, we obviously have a very different view of the birth of a child. The birth of a child is a tremendous experience. The growth and life of a child (I have two) is the meaning of my whole life. Am I to accept the idea that the birth of a child is barbaric and that the humane approach is the killing and dismemberment of that child? We will have to agree to disagree on that point.

I will concede that there are conditions under which I can see abortion as the preferred option to the birth of the child. However, the concept of using abortion as "retroactive birth control" is not a concept that I will ever endorse.

I would suggest checking out The Constitution Party. I was going to vote for McCain but he's right up there doing the same things that he's always done - OBama's the same way. They're both just crooked politicians telling us what they think we want to hear. They don't represent my views. The Consitution Party does. It's a party that stands for America's Constitution and getting back to what the U.S.A.'s forefathers stood for. They're getting my vote next month.

My Response: I've not heard of the Constitution party, like I said, I'm not very politically active. I had someone tell me years ago about the libertarian party which endorses a lot of concepts that I believe (small government, personal responsibility). If I get a chance, I'll look into the Constitution Party, sounds great. My favorite preacher (Ravi Zacharius) put it best..."I have no idea who is going to be President, I just hope its no one that we've seen so far"

At this point Commentor #2 re-enters the fray.

He actually said the world was created in 6 days. Is a rabid homophobe. Bilks people out of money(he has hundreds of millions). Add that he probably thinks God talks to him personally and you got NUTS..oh and a crook.

As crazy as it may sound, there are those of use who believe the story of creation in the first book of Genesis to be a true and factual account of our beginnings as a human race. I have spent a lot of time studying evolution and other world views. I am familiar with the ideas presented by scientists that our universe is billions of years old. I would simply point out that I believe the Bible to be God breathed and that it is true and factual despite all evidence to the contrary. I would simply refer you to the tag line on my blog which is a statement by Edith Hamilton which says...."Faith is not belief without proof, it is trust without reservation." I respect your right to believe differently, however, I and many others disagree. Please respect that also.

I don't know anything about Dr. Dobson being a rabid homophobe, so I can't speak to that.

As far as him bilking millions out of people, I can speak to that. When I was in my pre-teen years, I tended to get into some trouble. The most common punishment for me was that I had to sit and listen to some cassette tapes called "Preparing For Adolescence" written by...you guessed it....Dr. James Dobson. This was over 30 years ago. He has written many books about raising children and keeping families together. He is a successful author. When you write books and sell them...you make money. The better books you write, the more you sell, the more money you make. It's the American way. I don't know if he asks for donations or not, he may...I doubt it.

As far as him probably thinking that God speaks to him directly or any indication of him being a crook. I would simply ask that you present facts, not conjecture.

Commentor #2: When the two mainstream candidates are both minions of the CFR (Council On Foreign Relations), you can bet the loser will be the US taxpayer. The US has had its nuts in a vice since 1913 and can't seem to shake the criminals that control the White House, Congress and Senate, the judiciary, the State Dept., the treasury, and the police and military apparatus. This is how we ended up with privatized profit and socailized loss.

I don't know anything about the CFR, can't speak to that. It's late, I'm tired and don't feel like researching it. As far as the criminals that control everything...I remember a statement I heard one time, I don't remember the source but they said "Democracy isn't perfect, but it's the best we've got"

Well, there it is. I have invited the original commentors to post their responses here. Anyone else is welcome to as well.

Good night.

Watch out Starbucks...

2008-10-06T00:48:00.003-05:00

There's a new kid in town....

Look at it this way, Starbucks is over $23 a gallon...

The thrill of victory...

2008-10-05T15:06:00.002-05:00

It's been an amazing weekend in sports for Tennessee....

The Titans just came back to beat Baltimore to remain unbeaten.
Vanderbilt came back from a 13-0 deficit to to beat Auburn 14-13 to remain unbeaten.
The Cubs, who had the best record in the regular season, gets swept in the division series.

Amazing stuff....

Oh, for those of you that aren't in Tennessee, you need to hear some of the jokes going around about UT.

1) The rumor is Phil Fulmer will be leaving at the end of the Season to work for FEMA. They have found that he can move 100,000 people quicker than anybody.

2) The City of Knoxville has decided to Neyland Stadium (UT's home field) as a tornado shelter. They have found that a touchdown is very unlikely there...

My Favorite Shirt

2008-10-04T12:06:00.005-05:00

My current favorite shirt
(estimated age 11 years)

It's potential successor

I don't know if all guys are this way (or girls for that matter) but for me significant events are typically marked with the purchase of a t-shirt. When I was younger, and went to a lot of concerts, I always bought a shirt to commemorate the event. By wearing the shirt you were making a statement: "I like group X and yes I went to see them in concert".

I know it isn't just me, t-shirts are used to make a statement. Sometimes, in the IT world (and I assume others), significant projects or teams are bonded together by someone having t-shirts printed.

Although I don't buy nearly as many t-shirts as I used to, I still have many from the past. T-shirts are ranked in my mind, on the weekends, I pick out the t-shirt that makes the statement for the day.

As new t-shirts are added to the collection, they start out very low on the totem pole, I'll wear them every once in a while. But, over time, shirts earn there spot at the top of the pecking order. After many years and many wearings, they reach the lofty status of being the "Favorite Shirt".

Today, I was folding laundry and came across the current "Favorite Shirt" (picture to the right). I bought that shirt in Daytona Beach on vacation some 11 years ago. I liked it because of the denim look it has. For a fleeting moment I thought, "You know, this shirt has had it, I should throw it away". Once that thought passed through my head, I recoiled in horror. I can't throw that shirt away, its my "Favorite Shirt".

Due to the apparent wear and tear (I think it probably only has another 2 or 3 years left in it) I decided that I needed to open up to the concept of letting another shirt become the "Favorite".

A few weeks ago, The Eagles came to town on their last final tour (we'll see). I have wanted to see them for years, but for one reason or another was unable to attend. I was able to attend thanks to a gift from a dear friend. I had to buy a shirt. They had many to choose from, one with the cover from their greatest hits album was the easy winner.

I need to work on it, but it has the potential of replacing "The Favorite". It'll take some time, but maybe it will get there.

Hey buddy, can you spare a dime?

2008-10-03T06:27:00.002-05:00

People are always asking me for money. I don't know if I just look like a soft touch, or what, but I can't go out on 2nd ave without being approached several times a night for cigarettes or money or food or something.

Because of the way I was raised, this always presents a challenge for me. The words of Jesus always go through my head...

Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

At the same time, Paul tells us

"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

So what is your opinion? How do you apply these scriptures when someone asks you for money?

Years ago, my counselor told me that when God gives seemingly contradictory statements like this, he is giving us permission to apply each concept as we see fit. My opinion is that we are commanded to help the needy, but don't be an enabler.

I have adopted this policy, If someone asks me for money for some specific purpose, my response is "I won't give you cash, but I will get you what you need". If someone asks for money for food, I take them somewhere and buy the food. If in fact, they need food, they will be appreciative, if they were wanting the cash for some other purpose, they will walk away.

Just about any night of the week, you can go out in Nashville and find those on the sidewalk who are begging for change. It is very difficult to walk away. However, the Union Rescue Mission posts signs asking you not to give to panhandlers. I guess this is where giving becomes enabling. It's a difficult problem, but one all Christians should consider.

I'd like to introduce you....

2008-10-02T07:40:00.002-05:00

Since I was in high school I have been a fan of musicians like Jeff Lorber, Kenny G, David Sanborn and many others. Within the past few years, I've begun hearing the term "Smooth Jazz".

Many times, when people hear the word Jazz, they immediately say "I don't like Jazz..." The reason is that when you hear jazz, you think of a quartet who seem to be playing different songs at the same time and are oblivious to each other.

Smooth Jazz is much more melodic, there is not so much improvisation. I appreciate improvisational jazz, but when I listen to it, I listen for a totally different reason than when I listen to Smooth Jazz.

A few years ago, I somehow came across the web site or myspace page for an artist named Euge Groove. He was the first self-promoted artist I'd ever listened to. I immediately liked his work, though sadly I didn't keep up with him.

A couple of days ago, I remembered the name and downloaded some of his work. He's now with the Narada label which is a big jazz label. I was listening to his albums yesterday and came across the song "Get 'em Going" This is the kind of song that really does get me going. I thought I'd share it with you. You just might find yourself a jazz fan as well..

Now I'm certain the Cubs are going to win the World Series...

2008-10-01T15:56:00.001-05:00

My my...the relative placement of Vanderbilt and Tennessee is absolutely amazing.

On the subject of politics.....

2008-10-01T09:02:00.003-05:00

I read a news story about this speech this morning...

Proof more than ever that the more things change, the more they stay the same...

Franklin D. Roosevelt's Commencement Address at Oglethorpe University May 22, 1932

Labels....

2008-10-01T04:59:00.002-05:00

I had an experience yesterday relating to politics. I had a friend that is going through a bit of a rough time. His political views are quite different from mine. Anyway, I copied the Theodore Roosevelt quote from my last post and sent it to him. Every time I read that quote, it charges me up and prepares me for the battle of the day, I thought it might do the same for him.

Well, I don't remember the exact response, but it was something about Theodore Roosevelt being a Republican. Apparently, the quote didn't do anything for him because of Teddy's political views.

To be honest, I had no idea if Teddy Roosevelt was a Democrat or Republican when I sent the quote, I had to look it up to see if he was serious. I said something like, regardless of the man's political views, its a great quote.

If someone has different views than you do, does it mean everything they say is worthless? This relates to politics, religion and everyday life. If you listen to a preacher from a different faith, is their sermon worthless because they see God differently?

I realize that this is the political season and that nothing polarizes people like religion and politics, but if you use labels to put people in a box, then you are very much over simplifying the situation. I heard someone say "Eat the meat and spit out the bones" that is very true. In the words of the sage of the age Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

Wild at Heart...

2008-09-29T06:48:00.004-05:00

This morning, I began rereading "Wild At Heart" by John Eldredge. I didn't get very far, but the opening quote of the book is one of my favorites...I've posted this before, but it simply bears repeating....

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt

Selling Some Stuff...

2008-09-29T06:12:00.003-05:00

Hey gang, I've been meaning to do this for a while, but just haven't....

With all of the changes in my life over the last year, I find myself with some "stuff" that I just don't need any more. I'd like to first offer it to my friends before I use something like ebay or craigslist to offer it to strangers. I have a very nice Oak Steepleton pool table. It is in perfect condition, but simply too large to put in my apartment. I spoke with Jeff Hallums (who some of you know) who is an awesome pool player and also an auctioneer. His opinion was that it is worth about $750 (plus the buyer moves it)

I am also selling my first digital camera, it is a Sony Cybershot model DSC-F707. 5 mega-pixels 10x zoom (fixed lens). You can find the specs and here. I poked around on ebay a little bit and it seemed like the going price is about $200-$250. It has a 128MB memory stick and a wall charger.

I have some other stuff that I'll post details about later. But if you are interested in this stuff, just let me know (615) 584-2729. We'll work something out.

Donnie's Weight Loss Plan....

2008-09-28T11:30:00.002-05:00

I've lost about 25-30 lbs over the past few months. Jokingly I tell people that the Donnie Hall weight loss plan is pretty tough, but it works. The plan really really comprises two components 1) life altering stress 2) eating my own cooking.

Part one might not be too appealing, and if you can cook, part two might not work either, however, the plan works for me.

Now I grew up in the South, Middle Tennessee to be exact. In the south, we eat simple, this is the land where "meat and three" was born. We grill out a lot, I tell folks that I can't cook much, but if the recipe is meat + fire, I can do pretty well.

Several months ago, I was in St. Louis on business and stayed over the weekend. I was staying in the law district in St. Louis and everything was kind of high brow and expensive. On Saturday morning, I walked to a street where there were several small local restaurants. No chains, just small quaint restaurants, antique shops, that sort of stuff. Anyway, I found a "Wine Bar" (I don't think we have those in Tennessee) that served breakfast on the weekends. I looked over the menu and found something that sounded interesting it was a "Turkey and Vermont White Cheddar omelette". I had one on saturday. It was so good, I went back on Sunday and had another. This weekend, I was thinking about what we would eat when the kids were visiting. I decided to try it, I may not be much of a cook, but breakfast I can do pretty well.

Anyway, I'm no Rachel Ray, but here is what I did.

I bought about 3 smoke turkey slices from Kroger, had them sliced thick (about 1/8").
I cut them up into small cubes. I took about 1/4 of the block of Cracker Barrel Vermont white cheddar and cut it into cubes (I don't have a cheese grater, but will get one). I took about six eggs, scrambled them up and put them in a large skillet. I let them cook until stiff. pile on enough turkey and cheese to make you happy. Let the cheese melt a little bit. Then serve. It's awesome. You might try getting some Pillsbury Cinnabon Cinnamon rolls as well. It's a good time. Just had it this morning.

Enjoy

Sometimes its the little things....

2008-09-27T06:41:00.002-05:00

Earlier this year, I worked for Oakwood Systems Group in Nashville. The director that I worked for was Bubba Mullen. We became pretty good friends, and he helped me through a rough time. Anyway, as my tenure there was drawing to a close, we were talking one day and for some reason (I don't remember what led to this) he mentioned that he always kept a couple of band-aids in his wallet. "They don't take much room and you will always have them when someone needs them." It's a simple thing, but something I'd never thought of before.

Last night, my son's football team was playing in Robertson County. I drove straight there after work and had not had dinner. After entering the game, I went straight to the concession stand to get a burger for dinner. While I was waiting for the folks to get my stuff together, a little girl came to the window and asked if they had a first aid kit. I overheard her ask and I asked if she needed a band-aid. She said yes, and I pulled one out of my wallet. The folks behind the counter were amazed. I went back to the concession stand later, and was greeted as the "band aid man". The fellow behind the counter explained that the little girl was his neighbor, he even gave me the Snickers bar that I wanted.

After the game, I went back to get a Mountain Dew for the road. Once again I was given a heroes' welcome. It's funny how the little things can make such a big impression.

And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.
Matthew 10:41-42

Has facebook reached the 'older' crowd?

2008-09-26T04:18:00.002-05:00

I've had an account on facebook for about a year or so I guess. When I first signed up, it seemed that it mostly appealed to college and high school students. There would be the occasional uber-geek, but most of the crowd seemed to be folks that were born after I graduated high school (still dealing with that).

Anyway, recently, it seems that I've made more and more connections with classmates or folks that I went to church with years ago. It is quite fun. My facebook profile is listed on my blog. If you have an account, add me as a friend, if you don't have an account, check it out. In my opinion, it's a lot more classy than myspace, just my opinion though.

Later

A father's dream.....and worst nightmare....

2008-09-23T07:05:00.006-05:00

When I found out that Kathy and I were having a girl, my first response was "I hope she's ugly". Later, I recanted and said "Ok, she can be pretty, but she will learn Taekwondo". Someone then pointed out to me that she had to be will to use the Taekwondo at which point I abandoned all hope.

A couple of weeks ago, Sarah was elected to be an attendant at her Middle School Homecoming. Leading up to the event, I kept getting updates on the amount of money it was going to cost me. Finally, the event came and I saw her. Oh my goodness what a site. I took over a hundred pictures that afternoon. This one is my favorite.

I've been showing the pictures to just about everyone that will take the time to look at them. Usually, I'll show them to guys that I work with. I show a picture, they say "Wow!", the I tell them that its my daughter and that she's 12. At this point they express their condolences, buy me lunch or show some other act of kindness because they know I'm in deep trouble.

The coolest thing, from a father's perspective, is that she was also voted Most Athletic in her class. What a special girl.

Do you have God all figured out?

2008-09-22T06:47:00.003-05:00

It has been my experience that many people believe they have God all figured out. Worshiping him involves a set of rules, regulations, organization and rituals. A few weeks ago, at the suggestion of my counselor, I read "The Shack". This book challenged my view of God in a way that I've never experienced before. Since reading this book, I have given away about 5 copies and encouraged many others to read it.

If you are open to the challenge, please read this book. I would love to hear your reactions. I'm sure that there are some who would consider it blasphemous because it presents many concepts that challenge deeply held beliefs about God.

Please read the book, it is short, and once you begin reading it, you won't be able to put it down. I've been buying the paperback at Walmart for $10.43. If you buy it and feel it was waste of money, let me know. I'll reimburse you.