Desmerizing

i will not post here again

2009-02-06T22:40:00.001-05:00

I obviously suck at this.

I didn't at one point.

I won't at another point.

See here.

WOW

2008-10-07T00:08:00.001-04:00

Wow.

I haven't posted since July.

Crazy

Des

Sent from my iPod Touch

The App Store is Up

2008-07-10T08:56:00.002-04:00

With iTunes 7.7 released today - the app store is up.

roots

2008-07-09T23:42:00.002-04:00

Here's something I've been working on lately. I like it a lot.

It's still being tweaked . . . but I do have it set as my wallpaper right now.

Des

another green

2008-06-22T10:05:00.003-04:00

Here's another version of the "Green" wallpaper I've been playing with.

Firefox 3 Download Day

2008-06-17T15:33:00.002-04:00

The guys behind Firefox are looking to set a new world record for the most downloaded piece of software in a single day . . . that is Firefox and that is today.

So, help 'em out and get yourself a much better browser overall than FF2 was . . . at http://www.getfirefox.com.

Why am I so into wallpapery goodness lately???

2008-06-16T23:00:00.002-04:00

I've been enjoying my newfound love of photoshop . . . ah, digital composting . . . I mean compositing.

Des

WP

2008-06-16T16:54:00.001-04:00

Another wallpaper today.

Des

Photos from Camp

2008-06-11T20:57:00.002-04:00

One of the things that I love about my job is that I still get the opportunity to go to Camp Walter Johnson from time to time and take part in various programs that are going on there. I got to do that today - with the sole purpose of taking photos of kids arriving at camp.

I'm not going to post the photos here, but you can see them at this link.

There are some decent shots in there. All of these were shot with a Nikon D40 with either a 18-55mm lens or a 55-200mm lens.

Let me know what you think.

Des

Shots of Brody

2008-06-10T19:57:00.002-04:00

another go green

2008-06-05T17:13:00.003-04:00

I didn't like how the text looked on the other one.

Here's another one.

Des

Girl Effect

2008-06-03T16:40:00.001-04:00

Thanks, Sarah, for showing me this video today.

http://www.girleffect.org

goGreen

2008-06-03T15:47:00.003-04:00

I'm feeling graphically inclined the past few days.

And environmental.

This is at 1900x1200 if you need a new wallpaper.

Des

Images

2008-06-02T16:07:00.003-04:00

So, it's really cool that as I've been checking out some of the profiles around mychurch.org/salvationarmy I've seen some people using an image that I put together several months ago for their youth ministry. I was just messin' around, but I'm glad that someone has been able to use it and benefit from it.

Here's that image.

http://desmerizing.blogspot.com/2007/03/sally-ann-and-her-strange-friends.html

I was messing around today and came up with this:

If you like it, let me know. I have it at a higher res if anyone needs a better copy of it. It would be good for desktops or backgrounds for powerpoint/mediashout stuff too.

Peace,

Des

The Gods Must Be Crazy

2008-05-30T08:06:00.002-04:00

This is crazy! I didn't realize that there were about 100 tribes of "uncontacted" people still in the world. Here are the first few paragraphs from the CNN story. Read it all at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/05/30/brazil.tribes/index.html

Researchers have produced aerial photos of jungle dwellers who they say are among the few remaining peoples on Earth who have had no contact with the outside world.

Indians are photographed during an overflight in May 2008, as they react to the overflight at their camp.

Taken from a small airplane, the photos show men outside thatched communal huts, necks craned upward, pointing bows toward the air in a remote corner of the Amazonian rainforest.

That's amazing to me.

Grace,

Des

This is an error as well . . .

2008-05-26T21:01:00.001-04:00

I've been having some funny errors. Here's another one just like the other one.

Des

That's an Error???

2008-05-01T18:03:00.001-04:00

So, you know that I love my Macs.

But even they have their interesting errors.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Really???

And that's bad??

Des

Kaki King - Playing With Pink Noise (Live)

2008-04-30T22:57:00.001-04:00

Heard Kaki (like Khaki) on NPR last night.

Dang.

Des

The Meter is Running (A Spotlight on Fox News)

2008-04-21T13:15:00.002-04:00

The best line is from Mr. O'Reilly . . . "Bush is doing justwhat Jesus would have done."

Yes . . . I'm aware that I just published a post on taking things out of context . . . and I understand that these are a bunch of snippets of things taken out of context. I wouldn't use this as a source of political information.

It's still quite funny.

context

2008-04-16T21:44:00.003-04:00

found this today.

I hate when things are taken out of context.

follow me on twitter

2008-04-16T07:37:00.002-04:00

What is twitter you ask?

Think of it like the Facebook "status" message on some crazy, expensive mind-altering substances.

I guess it's a little geeky . . . but you have 140 characters to express whatever sentiment you may choose to. Some of mine are on the right of this page . . . . you can twitter about something your doing, thinking, or involving any other random activity.

But it's at least interesting so far . . . I've only been doing it for a few days.

Follow me.

Des

Eureka

2008-04-11T23:17:00.002-04:00

About 7 months ago I was in Atlanta for some meetings. Of course, being a technophile . . . I travel packing a considerable amount of gadgets: my weapons of choice, if you will. Of course, I also love when I come across amazing deals on technology too . . . like the time that I found a Linksys Travel router online for $12.

Here's what it looks like.

Naturally, my need to be connected drove me to bring this router of mine to Atlanta with me just in case I couldn't hit a wireless internet access point. If there was a port in the wall, I can make my own wireless.

It worked flawlessly as usual.

Unfortunately, it was a few days later when I gave in to the harsh realization that I had left this prized piece of networking technology in the big crapple (sorry, I know it's not that bad - I'm just not a fan).

Reality is a cruel, cruel mistress.

Especially when she's wrong.

Tonight, while looking for something else incidentally (I lose stuff) . . . buried in a box in our closet I came across the long lost router - sitting there so lonely and ready to "packet" all in (networking joke). It's like being reunited with a long lost friend . . . that's about 5 inches tall and has the ability to transmit and receive radio frequencies.

Oh happy day.

Des

Christians are Nuisances Too

2008-04-10T23:22:00.003-04:00

If you know me, it's no secret that I find several of my neighbors to be nuisances . . . completely because of noise and the inconsideration they show to Kristy and I. They play loud music late at night - and there must have been a sale on sub-woofers because evidently EVERYBODY in our stinkin' building has one. I've started a nuisance log where I keep track of when the music is too loud. I started it on Tuesday . . . I've got entries for every day so far.

As usually happens, Kristy went to bed, I was up finishing some web stuff for a client and at about 10:30 PM I feel the boom of what is usually my favorite kind of notes through the wall (i.e. bass notes . . . just in case you weren't sure). As I usually do I put my ear up to our various walls to try to figure out where this sound is emanating from. Unsuccessful, I remembered that I can often figure it out by going outside . . . now that the weather is warming up . . . and sitting on the balcony. It definitely worked a few nights ago when the party upstairs was in full swing.

And it worked again tonight.

Only instead of what is usually vulgar end hip hop, toinght it was Kirk Franklin and his merry band of gospel elves.

Let me tell you something . . . nothing about that was screaming the name Jesus . . . and I can't imagine that any of my other neighbors were appreciating it too much either. Now, in the past week we've had to call the police and submit a few complaints to the office.

And sister, let me tell you, I have no trouble reporting that you're stompin' all over my peace and quiet . . . which by company policy I should add starts at 9:00 pm. I'm actually recording as I'm typing . . . maybe I'll post it so you can all hear it . . . that may be a fun project in fact: posting the sounds that I hear at night if for no other reason than to document them.

Great . . . now she's singing.

In all seriousness, it's keeping me up because I'm wanting to document start and stop times for all this stuff. We're paying good money for this place and to be CONSTANTLY disturbed like this is horrible. We are never guaranteed our peace and quiet and I'm just about as sick of it as I can get.

So, Christians can definitely be nuisances too . . . she's certainly not doing anything to show me the love of Jesus tonight let me tell you . . . and the thoughts that I'm having about what I should say to her . . . they're probably not from Jesus either.

And you'll be happy to know that as of right now (11:50 pm) the music has been turned off and it SEEMS as though peace has been restored once again.

I may see if Kristy is still asleep.

Grace,

Des

Bad Things Happen

2008-04-01T19:17:00.001-04:00

I had put the video portion of this together for youth councils . . . but then never finished the audio and subsequently never actually showed it.

I think I'll probably make it available from WebandFlowDesign.com for download in a few different formats.

I'm sure someone would find it useful.

What do you think?

Grace,

Des

Professional Cable Wrapping

2008-03-28T09:25:00.001-04:00

As I have been wrapping a lot of cables lately, I've been reminded about one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to audio cables, etc.

There IS a right way to wrap a cable.

Please don't crank it around your elbow for the love of all that is good and decent in this world!!!

Enjoy this wonderful demo.

Des

heaven v. hell

2008-03-23T21:46:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I've waxed philosophically here. Mostly I haven't been thinking philosophically much - not sure why.

Let's just say that I'm emerging from a long, dry spell.

I've been thinking about heaven and hell.

It's something that I've written about before and something that I've definitely continued to think about. I guess it all started with the Brian McLaren and his writings - Generous Orthodoxy and the "A New Kind of Christian" series in particular. Then there's Rob Bell too.

At Watershed lately, they've been talking about the questions that some of the peeps there have had. It was part of the "Quandary" series. So it's been back in my mind.

We've got this dichotomous view of heaven and hell. Black and White. Or, we'd like to think it's black and white. We also have this view that heaven and hell is a "something to come later" concern. All this combines and results in a group of people that try to convince people that they're wrong and need to "turn or burn."

Here's what I've been thinking.

First: Heaven and Hell are present realities. They happen in various amounts and through various means every day. There are some big things we can cite - Darfur does far too much to increase the amount of hell that we encounter. At the same time there are countless moments of heaven on various scales that make the kingdom of heaven a little more of a reality. Jesus talked about the Kingdom of heaven being at hand - being present. Our job is to make that a reality.

Secondly: Rather than being a dichotomy, heaven and hell represent endpoints on a scale. I don't want to get to scientific with this - all I mean is that if we think about the kingdom of heaven (that is a reality where things are as God intends them to be) as being one endpoint and the kingdom of hell (that is a reality where thigns are exactly the opposite of what God intends them to be) then the things that happen here place us somewhere on the scale between heaven and hell.

Thirdly: We can AFFECT where we are on that scale. The decisions that we make and the actions that we take culminate in such a way that can move mankind towards one of those endpoints (either heaven or hell). We can choose to bring heaven to earth or to bring hell to earth. In practical terms, when we choose to be kind to our neighbors that are far too loud late into the night (not that I have any experience with that) we bring heaven to earth. When we choose to sit and talk with a homeless man rather than just pass them by or maybe just blindly throwing them a couple of bucks, we bring heaven to earth. In the same way, we can choose to bring hell to earth by choosing to do things that are less than what we know we should be doing.

All that to say I wish we could stop thinking about hell as a place that "sinners are condemned to" and start thinking about how heaven "is a place where people act as though every one is a child of God; where His love for them is greater than our condemnation of them."

It's dangerous to think this way - or at least threatening. People think that you're universalist and that you're throwing out what it says in the scripture. In reality, I feel like it's holding more closely to it. There's no judgment - that's not my role. I'm doing to others as I would like them to do for me. I'm loving my neighbor regardless of who they are. I still think there's a "right" way to live. It's not heretical.

Anyway - just thoughts.

Grace,

Des

wikimedia

2008-03-18T22:02:00.003-04:00

I really like getting images from Wikimedia Commons. There are some really interesting photos there. Lots of old interesting stuff. I've found some great anatomical drawings there that I used as the basis for some of the Youth Councils stuff.

They have an image of the day that I try to download as often as I can remember it too.

Des

Live from Youth Councils 2008

2008-03-13T17:13:00.000-04:00

Giving Google

2008-03-10T13:05:00.002-04:00

This is incredible.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23377190/

So - for the homeless people in our communities, it is difficult to get back on your feet because you don't have an address, you don't have a phone number - imagine applying for a job and telling your prospective employer that "I'll just come back in a few days . . . I don't have a phone number for you to contact me."

Google is giving homeless people in San Fran a free phone number for life with free voice mail.

It may not change the world. But it's something.

Grace,

Des

Tony Campolo

2008-03-04T17:09:00.001-05:00

Found this today on a friend's blog. It's taken from a television show recorded in Toronto.

Youth Councils Time Lapse

2008-02-22T16:31:00.001-05:00

We captured this footage a few years ago at youth councils . . . 2005 maybe. Either way, it's been sitting on my hard drive collecting virtual dust ever since - me not really having any time to do anything with it.

Until now.

I put this together as a little promo for youth councils at work. It lives at http://hisspace2008.blogspot.com. But I figured I'd share it here too.

It's neat to see it again. I'll try to remember to do it again this year too.

Let me know what you think.

Grace,

Des

welcome to chai-na town

2008-02-21T21:37:00.002-05:00

a couple posts ago I revealed the one-way first-name basis that I have with some of the employees at my friendly neighborhood starbucks.

Today it got one step better.

It's been a few days since I last patronized starbucks . . . i was due for my drink of choice.

I pulled off and drove up to the drive through intercom . . . the conversation went a little something like this:

(des pulls up to intercom and rolls down the window accustomed to the typical, "Hi, How are you today?" question.)

starbucks: Hey - can we get a grandé non-fat chai latté started for you?

des: (shocked) . . . . why . . . yes . . . .that's it. Thanks.

starbucks: We'll see you at the window.

WHAT??

I mean, I guess it only makes sense that if they know my name then they would remember what drink I have ordered LITERALLY every time that I have been there. It just sort of takes this chai addiction to the next level, don't you think????

It was extra good today by the way.

I like being a regular. I'm starting to feel like I belong.

Des

Andy Wells - I Will Miss You

2008-02-19T20:58:00.002-05:00

I've not lived in St. John's since 2002.

However, even then I learned to love Mayor Andy Wells.

Now that he's leaving office to take up a provincial government job it's a sad day. I'm sure that he'll still be in the news because of great comments like this.

St. John's Mayor Andy Wells tendered his resignation Monday evening with anything but tender words for some of his colleagues.

"Look, there's five, I can guarantee you, that I will miss like the bubonic plague," Wells, who said he will leave on March 3, told the council meeting.

You can read the whole story at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/02/19/wells-bubonic.html.

Des

chai lattés

2008-02-19T18:21:00.002-05:00

so, not so far off the beaten path to my office (probably even close enough to be considered "on the way") is a friendly neighborhood Starbucks. I like it. I've warmed up to this crown-jewel of corporate america.

I have two things to say:

1) Grandé Non-Fat Chai Lattés are the best
2) The barista today greeted me at the window by saying "Hey Desmond"

What does THAT tell you?

Grace,

Des

tree of life

2008-02-10T22:51:00.000-05:00

As often is found true, Kristy and I were watching National Geographic tonight and they had a great special on about the amazing-ness of Yosemite and the wonders therein. One of the things that struck us both was about the giant sequoias that grow there.

Firstly, they can be 3000 years old and 300 feet high. That in itself is incredible.

But then they were discussing the way that water travels up inside the tree for nourishment. Three hundred feet is a long way for water to travel . . . especially considering things like gravity and pressure and logic. However, what mr. narrator said was the the sequoia has the most efficient hydraulic system on earth . . . more efficient than anything man has been able to recreate.

So that's amazing.

But there's more.

Every day the average sequoia moves 1 ton of water through it's system . . . 1 ton. That's about 907 litres ( which is 907 liters spelled in American English . . . or 240 gallons).

One tree, one day, one ton.

There was also a piece of granite that fell from one of the mountain faces that was bigger than two football fields (approximately 1.89 Canadian Football League fields - they're 110 yards each) that caused a shockwave when it landed that snapped trees for about a half-a-mile. The air that rushed out from underneath on the leading edge of this shockwave was travelling at 300 mph.

There are a lot more stats in this post than I thought there would be . . . but it's all good.

Grace,

Des

Vance Chiropractic Center

2008-02-05T18:02:00.000-05:00

I've recently finished a new site for a client . . . you can read about it at http://blog.webandflowdesign.com/?p=60 or see it live at http://www.vancechirocenter.com.

eyes

2008-02-05T17:39:00.000-05:00

I live in a world where pornography is ok - where objectifying people (not just women) is ok if it sells products, makes money, serves some "greater good." I'm not gonna lie - I know that it can reek havoc on your brain, your heart, and your mind.

Too many guys know how powerful it is and how hard it is to leave behind.

So, I've been thinking about these things. Seems like every couple of years or so God really challenges me on some big issues . . . a few years ago it was homosexuality . . . if you look back through the annals of this blog, I'm sure you'll find more than one post on it.

Recently, it's been porn. What it does to your brain, your relationships with others, with God...

I've been forced to think about what it means to look at someone through God's eyes.

I'm convinced it's looking at people through the eyes of children. Not being a parent, of course, I have to get my information from other people - from parents that have kids with eyes.

That happened this week at watershed. We've been in the middle of a series called Stogies and Stilettos for a few weeks and this week was about "inside the feminine mind." It was good stuff. On somewhat of a tangent, Taryn (who was sharing at the time) spoke of how her son had bought her a gaudy $1 hair band from the dollar store. To spare you the details however ugly she thought it looked, Colson (her son) thought it was beautiful. She went on to say that he thought she was tall (she's not tall), she's young (she is . . . but not as young as her son) and all these things that she thought she was not.

I took a mental tangent of my own after that. I want to look at people, no matter who they are, through the eyes of a child - to see that there is value and beauty and greatness in everyone - in fact, that the opposite of those things don't even exist.

I went on to think that there are no sexual complications through the eyes of a child. There is no lust. There is no objectifying. How do we get there? What do we have to do to be restored?

They're pretty powerful thoughts . . . another measure of wisdom from the mind of a child.

God, help me, a guy in objectified society see people as valuable, free, wise, caring humanity. Restore my eyes, my heart, my mind to that of a child.

O, to be a child again.

Grace,

Des

Mac vs. PC

2008-02-05T08:16:00.001-05:00

So, the writers at the NYT must really understand the way I think.

Check out this story:

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/04/nyt-obama-is-mac-clinton-is-pc/

Except for the fact that they endorsed the PC . . .

Change (to a mac) 2008.

Yes we can.

Des

remember me?

2008-01-31T00:16:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I forget how altogether life-changing this experience was for me and maybe some of these people too:

Helen
Reality
Micky
John
Vince
Pat
Michael
Christian
Sherry
Alicia
Vincent
Mark
Julienne
Carl
Pat and his wife
Joe
Kendrick
Peggy Hayward
Sgt. Bennett
Belinda & Jamayah
Ronnie & Fontella
Perry
Tony
Moe
EJ Webber
Eric
Willis
03.20.2005
Claude (and Tyrel)
Hatchet (AKA Josh)
Dan (Accepted Christ?)
Kenneth
LaMays (from India - didn't want prayer, but we're covert!!!)
Buck
Tito
Carlos
Justin (Unborn Baby)
William Alvarez (CATS Bus Driver)
David (the encourager)
03.24.2004: Urban Ministries
Susan Bame
Gregory
Warren Wright
Jedelle
Tony Fister
Tyrone
03.27.2005
David (from last week)
Doug (needs place to stay)
Phillip
Rosalyn
Curtis, the guardian Angel
Carlos (pray for our troops)
Seleek
Brandon, Janine, Darren
Don (in communications)
Bel Air (needs to get to New Orleans)
04.03.2005
Archie (Homeless believer with Arthritis)
Eric
Sherriff Steve "Biggie" Small
Derrick
Altrice
Richard
Kevin
Daniel (Kids Christopher, Tiffany, Jessica)
Dorothy (Concern that young daughter is sexually active)
Donelle Moses Brown ("Keepin' it Real")
Jeff (Needed a blanket, sleeping outside)
Rusty
Cora
Butch
04.10.2005
Dionne
Rodney & Banayah
Sgt. "Crazy" Carl - back from Iraq
Sgt. Mike - Carl's friend, having PTSD problems
Haywood
Moriah
La Mays
04.17.2005
Ken
Isaiah & Robert
Katherine
Michael
Olly
Jody
Tony
Nnaji
Glen (SA Shelter Resident)
04.24.2005
Colby & Rachel
Steve
Niema, Marlon, D'Angelo, Merlanda, Kenyelle, BeyoncÃ©
Jack Stratton & Elijah
Archie
Rusty & Rob
ChantÃ©
AndrÃ©
Chester
Samuel
Sgt. Bennet & Willis
3rd Shift
05.01.2005
Rob, the bassist
Mosha & Deborah
Eric & Joyce
Marquis
Anthony McClure
Kenneth
Steve
05.08.2005
Dirk Thune, seeking
Barry & Virginia
Henry, 9/11 cameras
Jamie (Military)
Archie
Brandon, expired transfer?
Tracy & Charles
Brenda
Jeremy
05.30.2005
Archie
Robert
Gabriel
Yusef
Michael
Nicole & Arthur
Basha (their mom)

These are all people that we met at the bus station - it's cool that their names and stories are still out there on the internet - at http://charminultra.blogspot.com. Maybe we'll do something like this again soon.

Good times. Really good times.

Des

web and flow blog

2008-01-31T00:11:00.000-05:00

Once again, I've committed to keeping yet another blog up and running when I can't even seem to keep this one fresh . . .

In any case, I've got my blog over at webandflowdesign.com back up and running and finally themed with the rest of my site - it was pretty nasty there for a while.

You can check out some of the things that I'm up to over there at http://blog.webandflowdesign.com.

I've got a post about a new site that I'm working on and will be launching soon.

Grace,

Des

from the inside out - Joel Houston

2008-01-28T23:41:00.000-05:00

A thousand times I've failed Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again still I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending Your glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all else my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing You praise
Everlasting your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart and my soul I give You control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
let justice and praise Become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

inactive

2008-01-24T23:46:00.000-05:00

2006 was my most active blogging year so far.

If I keep making short quick posts . . . I'm sure I can catch up.

Des

happy

2008-01-24T23:25:00.000-05:00

I am at least as happy as I have ever been.

Last night, I was getting ready to go to a practice for the watershed band and before I left I told Kristy that I really am happy.

If you know me, you know that's awesome.

Grace and peace.

Des

Foux De Fa Fa by Flight of the Conchords

2008-01-21T08:43:00.001-05:00

The more I hear these guys . . . the more I laugh.

je voudrais une croissant . . .

et maintenant le voyage a le supermarché. (and now, the trip to the supermarket).

Too, too funny.

des

mlk

2008-01-18T20:24:00.000-05:00

A banner that I created for work at http://www.salvationarmycarolinas.org.

Des

Bono at the NAACP Awards

2008-01-10T23:28:00.001-05:00

I like this guy . . . and the things he has to say.

Flight of the Conchords- Business Time

2008-01-08T20:10:00.001-05:00

Even funnier, funnier stuff.

Flight of the Conchords

2008-01-08T20:09:00.001-05:00

Funny, funny, funny stuff.

Blind Beggars

2007-12-31T12:29:00.000-05:00

Found this image today when going through some pics . . .

It's the Blind Beggars from about 8 years ago.

Wow . . . 8 years ago.

Fun.

celebrate abundance

2007-11-24T11:59:00.000-05:00

kristy and i were at pier 1 just a few days ago - we're still in the "putting the finishing touches on our new place" mode - because we wanted to buy a mirror or something for the large wall in our dining room. pier 1 really is a lovely place - though the random scents often throw my nose into a downward spiral - literally (at least the downward part). while browsing all of the knicks and knacks available for purchase, i noticed a sign that said "celebrate abundance" which i guess is part of their holiday sales campaign.

of course, it got me thinking.

firstly, i'm realizing more and more that kristy and i just tend to think differently from the masses - "we are all individuals" from life of brian - and i'm guessing that's a good thing. secondly, we live an abundant life - we're not swimming in wealth, but we're also not swimming in debt (providing that student loan debt is good debt!). we have more than enough. certainly, we have everything that we need.

how, then, should we best "celebrate abundance" while maintaining an awareness that this abundance isn't universal? having this "abundant life" is the exception rather than the rule when thinking globally - it's probably true even when thinking domestically.

one of the things that we really dig is world vision's catalog for giving "life-changing" gifts in honor of someone. for us, this started last year when we gave tilden and stephanie a "gift" by giving a goat to a family through world vision. this year, we noticed that there is an entire catalog of these gifts available - from the very inexpensive to the "well-beyond-our-reach" expensive. for example:

tangible gifts like:

or, more intangible stuff like:

it really is an incredible service. and i really don't need an ipod touch . . .

now, we're not giving up on christmas. we're just looking at abundance through a different lens. we've still got a tree (in fact, my wife tells me it's going up today) and we'll still decorate and eat food.

but this year, celebrating abundance (which, at first, really turned me off), will transform our lives.

abundant grace,

des

Please won't you be my neighbour?

2007-11-16T22:41:00.000-05:00

I'm looking forward to meeting my neighbour.

You may know that Kristy and I have had some interesting neighbours in our relatively short marriage. There were the two guys that lived downstairs at our first place in Charlotte . . . their big thing was their temper . . . lots of yelling. In the mountains, we lived across from a Russian family that had 17 people living in the apartment . . . maybe not EXACTLY 17 . . . but lots.

Now, we live by a rapper.

Yes . . . a bona fide rapper.

Now, he's not very good. I mean I'd love to tell you that he's been improving since we moved in here about a month ago. He's certainly had plenty of practice. At least he's persistent, and, the Good Lord willing, one of these days he's going to tearin' it up, fo' real.

But for now, I have "the pleasure" of hearing his little casio keyboard, complete with booming bass, pounding through my walls, and his creative lyrics - the latest was a great, albeit repetitive crafting of "Whacchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?"

All that to say I'm sure he's an incredibly interesting individual that has a fantastically interesting story and I'm really hoping to get to know him (or perhaps them) soon.

Des

Playing with Photoshop

2007-11-14T07:57:00.000-05:00

This summer, my wife and I were fortunate to be able to accompany a team of musicians to conduct a music camp in Spain with The Salvation Army. We were also fortunate to take a lot of photos - but with a point and shoot camera, you never know exactly what you're going to get - some photos are great . . . some are over-exposed, or blurry, or just not nice enough to display.

Kristy has been wanting to print off a few of the more scenic photos to display around our new place. There's one that she really liked from a city called Toledo but the church in the distance was over exposed and the beautiful old buildings in the foreground were very much underexposed.

Of course . . . I break out the ol' Photoshop.

I played with it for about 15 minutes and here's what I cam up with . . . . still not GREAT but not bad - I figured I'd take out the powerlines too.

Let me know what you think.

Des

Apple Wireless Keyboard, $59.99

2007-10-31T23:52:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting a new Apple Bluetooth Keyboard for a long time - but other things have come up that have caused me to avoid the $79.99 pricetag. So imagine my surprise when I showed up at my local Best Buy store tonight and saw the new "mini" Apple store section - and tucked away on one of the shelves were several of the new Bluetooth KBs selling for a cool $59.99!!!

I thought - this HAS to be a mistake . . . but I picked it up and rushed to the checkout anyway. Sure enough, they checked it in as $79.99.

"Are you sure?" I asked, "They're definitely labeled as $59.99."

Long story short - after some checking they confirmed that they had the price set at $59.99! I walked out the door with my shiny new keyboard for $20 cheaper than anywhere else I've seen it.

Rush out to see if your best buy made the same mistake.

Des

GMail IMAP

2007-10-24T18:35:00.000-04:00

Hey.

If you're an email geek you will appreciate this.

GMail is now supporting IMAP. This is very good news for many reasons.

Peace.

Des

The Diamond in the Rough (day of packing)

2007-10-19T12:08:00.000-04:00

For the record, while I'm VERY excited to be moving back to Charlotte, I am NOT overly excited about the week of packing that I'm (thankfully) just about done with. However, one of the great joys of packing is finding old stuff that got stuffed away in random places and forgotten about.

Enter the Diamond Rio 500.

This, my friends, was my first MP3 player. It was the first portable media player that Diamond Multimedia sold, according to my quick research. It had a whopping 64 MB of internal storage and room for an expansion card.

How many hours walking to University was I thankful for this little device? It really was incredible and probably did a lot to solidify my fascination with electronic media.

So, I find it and take the perfect opportunity to take a quick break from packing my life into boxes. I thought, "I wonder what would happen if I plugged this into my iMac?"

Wouldn't you know it, iTunes picked it up right away without me having to do ANYTHING other than plug it in. It knew exactly what it was and added it under the "Devices" heading in my iTunes sidebar.

Not too shabby - I can transfer MP3s onto it just like the good old days. Granted . . . I can only hold about 13 songs . . .

Grace,

Des

What is Your Offering?

2007-10-11T17:08:00.001-04:00

This is a video that I did a few years ago for the Music and Gospel Arts Festival. I had to pull it out to share with a friend of mine, and since the new iMovie allows you to post directly to YouTube I just couldn't resist.

Let me know what you think.

Des

Conan and Jim Carrey - Quantum Physics

2007-10-05T18:06:00.001-04:00

One of the many reasons I love Conan O'Brian.

Des

Goofy Snoopy

2007-10-05T01:09:00.001-04:00

Before I begin - yes, I recognize that this post may be dangerous.

So does anyone besides me feel that hip hop is finally getting goofy? Now, I'm not anti-hip-hop by any means. Yes, there are horrible messages in some hip hop, perhaps the majority of hip hop, but I also try to recognize the good in everything as much as I can. It's had a long run too - It started when I was kid - I'm 27 now. That's a long time!!!

But tonight, the reigning godfather of Hip Hop, Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. (aka Snoop Dog) was on Conan O'Brian. In fact, he JUST finished his schtick as I write this. Perhaps it was the context. Conan isn't necessarily the best complement to the hip hip scene.

I felt kind of sad. Here was this 37 year old man talking about "burnin' a blunt" and selling merchandise named Snoop This and Snoop that. It just felt wrong. So I'm trying to fgure out if this is indicative of Snoop and/or Hip Hop becoming goofy or me getting old.

Both?

Sometimes I forget that Snoop and people like him are entertainers and for whatever reason we find the gang-bangin', blunt burnin' rapper worthy to throw millions of dollars at. Sometimes I forget that it's all an act (or at least, I hope it is) and that he's a father that wants to raise his kid well. Is it like the circus? Circus families pass the family act along to the kids. Does Snoop invite the kid into the dog house?

What's more interesting is that this was during Conan - perhaps the goofiest man on TV right now. And Snoop seemed goofy even compared to the C-izzle. It really seemed like Conan was trying to find something worthwhile to chat about.

I don't want to be 37 and feel like I haven't accomplished anything. I have no desire to sell a Snoop de Grille (Snoopy-themed BBQ) or a Snoop de Ville (Snoopy themed Cadillac). If, Lord willing, I ever find myself sitting across from Conan I want to be able to talk about something of value.

And I don't want it to be goofy.

Grace,

Des

Cost of Sending 11 Missions to Mars = 1 Mission in Iraq

2007-09-27T12:05:00.001-04:00

This seems pretty incredible. It's amazing how much of life is about priorities and choices, even in the highest levels of our leadership.

read more | digg story

A Bit of Fry and Laurie -

2007-09-24T21:15:00.001-04:00

So . . . I'm a big fan of House. Jason Riggs turned me on to it a few years back during season one. I now have a couple of seasons on DVD.

Now, it's pretty amazing to me that his British accent isn't at all aparent on the show and it throws me off when I hear him speak out of character.

It has also thrown me off to realized that he and Stephen Fry used to have a comedy show on BBC.

I will likely be posting more soon.

It's just funny stuff.

Des

Edmonton Oilers Fans sing O Canada

2007-09-07T23:29:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, I miss Canada.

Carl Sagan

2007-09-07T23:26:00.001-04:00

I love Carl Sagan. This is a very humbling passage no matter what your beliefs may be.

Des

Apple Event: September 5th, 2007 CONFIRMED

2007-08-28T19:44:00.001-04:00

The long awaited new iPods are on their way. An invitation was sent out today from Apple to members of the media depicting "Cover Flow" with the tagline, "The beat goes on." Can only mean one thing . . . new touch screen iPhone-esque iPods based on OS X. THAT would be incredible. I can't imagine that they would incorporate cover flow into anything with a click wheel. If they do, I'll be pretty disappointed.But there's no need to even worry about that, right? Awww, and I seem to have misplaced my nano . . . . I guess I'll just have to wait and see what comes next.Des

read more | digg story

Using OS X built-in Stationary Pad Feature

2007-08-27T22:28:00.001-04:00

We often have occasions where we need a template - maybe stationary for a letter in Word, maybe an XHTML or CSS file that you use a default for many projects, maybe a spreadsheet, anything at all. Well in OS X there is a little-known feature built in for just this situation.

read more | digg story

Newfoundland is Great

2007-08-15T21:06:00.001-04:00

Newfoundland is a pretty amazing place.

I love it here.

Des

Long Vacation

2007-08-07T07:38:00.001-04:00

So . . . it's been a long time. I haven't blogged since before camp. Honestly, it's just been crazy, with Conservatory, traveling to Spain, doing school work, and wanting some time to myself, there really hasn't been much time for anything else.

But, here I am.

And, to make up for lost time, I have pics!

White and Nerdy?

2007-05-29T21:58:00.000-04:00

I've recently begun to enjoy the lyrical styling of one Weird Al Yankovic. I have also begun to realize how much I can relate to some of his songs.

So, here I break down "White and Nerdy" and argue that it indeed could have been written about me. Please see my comments in red.
-----------------------------

They see me mowin' my front lawn (Don't have a lawn, N/A)
I know they're all thinkin' I'm so white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Can't ya see I'm white and nerdy
Look at me, I'm white and nerdy (Yes, Probably)

I wanna roll with the gangstas (Yes, I would like to roll with the gangstas)
But so far they all think I'm too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
I'm just too white and nerdy
Really really white and nerdy (As above)

First in my class here at M.I.T. (Not at M.I.T. but otherwise true)
Got skills, I'm a champion at D&D (Never played D & D)
M.C. Escher, that's my favorite M.C. (I have a special place for M.C. Escher . . . he's good)
Keep your forty I'll just have an Earl Gray Tea (Never had a "40" but plenty of tea)

My rims never spin to the contrary
You'll find that they're quite stationary (My rims are definitely stationary)
All my action figures are cherry (I have a Sigmund Freud "Action Figure" unopened)
Stephen Hawking's in my library (No . . . but he is on my wish list)

My MySpace page is all totally pimped out
Got people beggin' for my top eight spaces (I hate myspace . . . )
Yo, I know pi to a thousand places (not a thousand . . . maybe 6)
Ain't got no grills but I still wear braces (No grills, never had braces)

I order all of my sandwiches with mayonnaise (I do)
I'm a wiz at Minesweeper, I could play for days (Minesweeper is so passe)
Once you see my sweet moves you're gonna stay amazed
My fingers movin' so fast I could set the place ablaze

There's no killer app I haven't run (run) (I have a lot of killer apps)
At Pascal, well, I'm number one (one) (No, but I know what it is)
Do vector calculus just for fun (No, but I know what it is)
I ain't got a gat, but I got a soldering gun (what) (Does a dremel count?)

Happy Days is my favorite theme song (It's a nice jingle)
I could sure kick your butt at a game of ping-pong (Everyone but Charlie Fisher so far)
I'll ace any trivia quiz you bring on (I had a subscription to Mental Floss magazine . . . nothing but trivia)
I'm fluent in Javascript as well as Klingon (Not a Trekkie at all, but I know me some javascript)

Here's the part I sing on...

They see me roll on my Segway
I know in my heart they think I'm white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Can't ya see I'm white and nerdy
Look at me, I'm white and nerdy

I'd like to roll with the gangstas
Although it's apparent I'm too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
I'm just too white and nerdy
How'd I get so white and nerdy?

I've been browsin', inspectin'
X-Men comics you know I collect 'em
The pens in my pockets I must protect 'em
My ergonomic keyboard never leaves me bored (Nothing in this section is true thankfully)

Shoppin' online for deals on some writable media (Yes)
I edit Wikipedia (Yes)
I memorized Holy Grail really well (Yes)
I can recite it right now and have you ROTFLOL (Yes)
I got a business doin' websites (Yes)
When my friends need some code, who do they call? (Yes)
I do HTML for 'em all (Yes)
Even made a home page for my dog (Not yet)

Yo, I got myself a fanny pack (NO)
They were havin' a sale at The Gap
Spend my nights with a roll of bubble wrap
Pop, pop, hope no one sees me gettin' freaky (NO)

I'm nerdy in the extreme and whiter than sour cream (Yes)
I was in AV Club and Glee Club and even the Chess Team (Would if I could)

The only question I ever thought was hard
Was do I like Kirk or do I like Picard? (Again, not a Trekkie)
Spend every weekend at the Renaissance Fair (No)
Got my name on my underwear (No)

They see me strollin', they laughin'
And rollin' their eyes cause I'm so white and nerdy
Just because I'm white and nerdy
Just because I'm white and nerdy
All because I'm white and nerdy
Holy cow, I'm white and nerdy

I wanna bowl with the gangstas
But, oh well, it's obvious I'm white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
Think I'm just too white and nerdy
I'm just too white and nerdy
Look at me, I'm white and nerdy

That's me. I'm white and nerdy. Yo! Me! Nerdy!

Paris, France

2007-05-27T21:17:00.000-04:00

Pics from my evening in Paris.

Des

Orleans, France

2007-05-25T19:57:00.000-04:00

Normandy

2007-05-24T17:38:00.000-04:00

Today we played at the Omaha Beach memorial in France. It was pretty moving. Here are some pics.

Des

Switzerland, Part 3

2007-05-23T19:21:00.000-04:00

More photos from my current trip to Switzerland and France. Most of these were from our second day in Zurich, and include some wonderful shots from supper that evening as well as the venue for that night's concert.

There are also a couple of shots from our day in Basel. If you look real close, you may even see an alpine horn of "Ricola" commerical fame.

Grace,

Des

Brody's Birthday

2007-05-20T19:14:00.000-04:00

Today is Brody's birthday and I'm not there to share with him. Thank the Lord for Skype.

Happy birthday!!!

Des

Bern, Suisse

2007-05-19T18:34:00.000-04:00

Shots from Zurich

2007-05-18T16:36:00.001-04:00

Joost Invites a Plenty

2007-05-09T13:49:00.000-04:00

Joost has gone unlimited. You still need an invite, but now there is no limit to the number of invites you can send, so if you still need in, drop me a line. Find my contact info on my website: http://www.webandflowdesign.com.

Grace,

Des

Crazy Week

2007-05-02T23:42:00.000-04:00

It's been a crazy week. I've been in Orlando for a few days now - since Saturday, actually - attending a youth workers conference. It's been good to connect with people that I haven't seen in a long time.

Here are just a few reasons why craziness has ensued:

We had to come all the way to Orlando, just to see family from Newfoundland,
Including this trip, I've now gotten into Disney four times for free,
New clientèle,
Designing websites may actually have been a good choice,
I brought my iMac to the hotel,
No one should be able to eat this much food and live,
Brody enjoys Orlando,
iPodcast,
My name isn't Derek, but I forgive you,
Photoshop finally photoshipped.

I've also been able to do a litte work on a prototype of the splicr site. It's not live yet, but if you want to check out a preview, you can do so at http://dcs533.aisites.com/splicr. It's coming along. I've been using it as an assignment for school which is forcing me to get a lot more done on it than I normally would.

Tomorrow, the craziness continues.

Grace,

Des

What's the Flip?

2007-04-23T08:42:00.000-04:00

Kristy and I (more her, than me, really) had the chance this weekend to conduct a Regional Junior Youth Councils for several kids in the immediate area (and some that came from much further away). The material we used was from Willow Creek and was called "Flipt" - the idea being that Jesus flips your life around.

It was a really cool experience and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves.

Here are a few pics of the set and the mini-worshippers!

Grace,

Des

Flock's Diner

2007-04-19T18:26:00.000-04:00

There's a new site coming soon: http://www.flocksdiner.com. You know it now as http://peoplesheep.blogspot.com. But Johnny has asked me to work on a new site for his blog and recently added podcast (click here if you have iTunes - click here if you do not - click here if it's still not working and ask me about how to listen to his podcast). So there's a hint about some of the color schemes et al over there at FlocksDiner.com and you'll also soon notice some new artwork on the podcast if you're already familiar with it.

It's good stuff. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks to get this thing up and running for real.

Also, check out my other blog at http://www.webandflowdesign.com for some of the other stuff I've been doing - including my first print advertisement in a newspaper.

Grace,

Des

ubuntu studio

2007-04-19T18:23:00.000-04:00

I'm excited about this: http://ubuntustudio.org/

i.e. free media editing for the masses

Des

active vs. passive

2007-04-19T18:09:00.000-04:00

Recently, I've been seeing a counselor. You may, or may not, have known that - I think it's the first time that I've mentioned it here. It's been incredible to have someone to talk to that can both remain objective and provide great insights into life, the universe, and everything.

Yes, that is a Douglas Adams reference.

One of the very cool things that I've been able to realize deals with the difference that the results of activity vs the results of passivity. She gave me a great example. She said that she recently had a client, a male, that would frequent bars and would "go home" with whatever woman would give him any attention. What he realized is that he would never be happy as long as he was passive - waiting for someone else to act - because they were making the "selection" - not him. He wasn't having the opportunity to find the woman that he wanted . . . he was waiting for the right one to find him. He was always the one being picked - never getting to the the picking.

In my life, the things that I am happiest with are the things that I have selected - that is, the things that I know are right and good and so I've taken action to bring them into my life. For example, my marriage. I am very happy in my marriage, because I was active in building the relationship. Another example: school. I am very happy with what I am studying in school because I selected it, it's EXACTLY what I want to do.

When you're passive about moving towards things, you're essentially letting someone else pick the details of your life. For me, much of my life has been lived passively . . . those things that I didn't actively choose, but rather just let happen, are the things that are most frustrating.

So, I'm done with just letting things happen. I will be actively choosing the next years of my life, in concert, of course, with my wife and my God. But it was an incredible lesson that I am happy to have learned!!!

Grace,

Des

Question of the Day

2007-04-15T22:14:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to post this for days now.

But the other day, Kristy and I saw a site that made us stop and ponder this question:

What is the Statue of Liberty doing with the chicken?

Grace,

Des

splicr getting closer

2007-04-05T20:54:00.000-04:00

Hey.

There's a little more info at http://www.opensourcearmy.org regarding splicr. So check that out. We're getting closer . . . I'm waiting on the final bits of a web server and then it should be ready to go.

Check it out and let me know what you think

Grace,

Des

More Joost Tokens

2007-04-02T16:27:00.000-04:00

I've got more Joost Tokens!!!

So, if you're wanting in a very cool new ipTV program that's currently in beta . . . go to http://www.webandflowdesign.com to contact me for a token. It's good for windows and Intel Macs.

Grace,

Des

New Podcast (more to come!)

2007-03-24T15:14:00.000-04:00

Greetings,

There's a new podcast that will have media from around the Carolinas division! The Divisional Media Podcast is available from iTunes or other readers at the following link:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=250030236

If you use something other than iTunes to get your feeds (like the great democracy player, for example), you can point that at this address:

http://www.salarmy.org/podcasts/nscPodcast.xml

Enjoy. I'll be posting all sorts of different content here. We've got our Music Festival/Main Streen Ministries Conference in about a week, so there will definitely be some stuff from there going up.

For now, I've been posting the sermons from Youth Councils to get us started as well as a highlight video.

Blessings,

Des

Kristy's Make Up Artist Debut

2007-03-20T14:31:00.000-04:00

This weekend at Youth Councils, Kristy was asked to turn one of the officers into a caveman for a Geico.com spoof (hopefully you've seen the commercials). She did an AMAZING job. Check out her blog for her story.

Here's a couple of shots!

Boy Scout Found Alive after 3 Days Lost in the Wilderness

2007-03-20T13:35:00.001-04:00

A boy scout with ADHD. who went missing 3 days ago has been found alive and well. From the story: "There are many things about Michael's personality that may be connected with the ADHD that are really wonderful, that are really positive: his imagination, his creativity," Auberry said.

read more | digg story

A Friend Reminder

2007-03-18T23:29:00.000-04:00

There have been a lot of happenings lately reminding me of the importance and the impact of my friends.

One of those things has been FaceBook. Yes, I'm well aware that there is a much cooler social networking service now called VIRB (http://www.virb.com) but I'm a recent facebook convert and I'm not quite ready to move!

(EDIT: I've got plenty of invites to virb - but I think it's open now, so you can sign up without an invite . . .if you need one or want one, just post a comment.)

In any case, it's been neat and encouraging for me (who has never thought of himself as having an abundance of friends . . . notice I'm not quite saying "loser" here, more that I have few, but very significant friends . . . . you may say loser if you wish) to see the connections that have been made over the years, even just in terms of acquaintances.

The other is that I just had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with some of those very significant friends that Kristy and I love dearly and simply have not gotten to see much of in the past 14 months or so. In spite of the distance, the significance has not faded; it's grown stronger. That's amazing to me.

I've never thought of myself as needing my friends to be present. If you know me, you probably know that I have an awful tendency to want to do things myself my way and to transform into a hermit in the face of stress - retreating to various locations of solitude.

This weekend I realized that for one of the only times in recent memory that I had a joy that has been missing for a long time . . . I wonder how long this fix will sustain me.

Don't know if it's the lack of sleep or the (2 month old) lack of caffeine talking, but . . . I think there's something in my eye.

Grace,

Des

Growing Up

2007-03-13T23:21:00.000-04:00

I never thought I would grow up. I've been a big kid at heart for a long time - ever since I was a little kid, I guess. But I thin, at 27, that I've finally gone and done it. I think I am officially an adult.

My thoughts are much more adult now. The way that I deal with the world is much more adult now. I know now, though I often do not want to admit it, that I am in fact not invincible. That's a weird thought to finally have to accept.

You see, I've never had to deal with mortality. I've been blessed in that my family, all the way up to all four of my grandparents have all had long lives are still with me. So the number of times that I have had people that were at all close to me that I've lost I can count on one hand without using all of the fingers on it.

I don't mean this to bring any one down of course. I know that I'm blessed to be in this situation.

Recently, I've been thinking about death and what it means for me as a Christian. There have been some people loosely connected with me that have been called home earlier than expected and through those experiences God has been dealing with me in some interesting ways. Primarily, in addition to realizing that I've only got a set number of years (maybe 60, maybe 70, maybe 80, who knows?), God has been teaching me to use the time that I have because we never know how much time that is. He's been helping me see that even though I've wasted great deals of time that I could have used to help people, to meet their needs, to serve with the love of Christ on pointless pursuits, I've still got plenty of time to do whatever I can to serve in his name.

I can't say that I'm afraid of my own death . . . I'm just so unfamiliar with it that I don't know what's involved. Kristy and I were talking and many people have this questions dealt with as teenagers - she's in a very different situation than I in that she has had to deal with these questions already a number of times.

I also don't want to eventually come to the end of my life and fear that I have wasted my time. Everything I do should have purpose. Everything I do should be about bringing heaven to earth, defeating hell, building relationships that honor God. Is my day to day life going to be one of those things that I regret someday? Am I doing what I love?

As you can see, I've been dealing with some heavy thoughts lately that have REALLY made me thing and physically (literally) forced me to process them. I continue to deal with them.

Thanks for listening.

Grace,

Des

splicr: the open source video project

2007-03-08T12:04:00.000-05:00

I've been working a little more on a concept for a project that is coming along nicely. I'm hoping to really be able to knock some stuff out soon and hopefully promo it at one of the big events coming up soon that I'm involved with.

More (obviously) to come. Enjoy the artwork.

Grace,

Des

Brody's New Shirt

2007-03-08T11:05:00.001-05:00

Brody loves his new shirt.

Amazing French Beat Boxer

2007-03-07T08:59:00.001-05:00

This is incredible. Found this today when just browsing around. I'm not sure that he actually breathes . . .

(disclaimer: I'm sure he breathes)

But, even with the breathing, it's pretty incredible to hear - he's got so much going on.

Oh . . . it's also in french.

Sorry 'bout that.

Des

SASF Flashback -Word Association

2007-03-04T22:54:00.001-05:00

I was browsing around YouTube.com tonight and came across this video. Those of you that were in the SASF during the years 1997-2001 may indeed remember a series of sketches that myself and my good friend Trevor Rodgers would "perform" (read: slaughter) at various events.

Her name is Antonia.

Grace,

Des

Sally Ann and her Strange Friends

2007-03-03T22:21:00.000-05:00

I need some help.

I'm trying to get a list of old (or new) Salvation Army terminology (we don't make much terminiology up any more . . . .do we?). No, I'm not trying to compile it into a book or develop a sermon series or make money at the army's expense (yet . . . . no, no, I kid, I kid). Rather, I'm simply looking for some inspiration.

I've also been playing with some Photoshop toys that I found a few days ago.

As you can see.

In any case, I'm in need of lots of good ol' army terminology. It doesn't matter how obscure . . . in fact, the more obscure, the better.

Thanks.

Grace,

Des

Got Joost?

2007-03-01T18:50:00.000-05:00

Follow this link and you may be able to get a shiny Joost invite . . .

http://www.webandflowdesign.com

Grace,

Des

the open source video project - coming soon

2007-02-28T23:28:00.000-05:00

There is a new project coming. The open source video project is a collaborative effort to build a worship experience. You'll be hearing more about how you can participate in it soon.

Get thinking about how you can portray worship through a multimedia presentation.

Grace,

Des

the CORE

2007-02-25T22:36:00.000-05:00

So, I've started in on a new project:

http://www.thecorevideos.com.

It's army specific - but I think it's going to be hot.

Des

Bandwidth Test II

2007-02-23T12:40:00.000-05:00

You may remember that I posted about a new bandwidth testing service some time ago. They're redesigned now but still very cool.

Calling all Salvationists to an Open-Source Army

2007-02-22T22:10:00.000-05:00

Attention Salvationists:

Your help is desperately needed.

For a couple of years now, some of us (in the USA South at least) have been crying out the mantra, "I am the Salvation Army," or "WE ARE the Salvation Army" in response to the thought that us soldiers are members of an organization that has become short-sighted at its upper levels. Whatever you believe about that statement, it is true that the Salvation Army will ultimately live or die by its soldiers, it's ground troops that either are or are not doing the leg work. We all have a role.

Those roles have the potential to cause reverberations that could shake the foundation of the army. Our actions, our thoughts, our passions have the potential to set of a nervous system response that will flow all the way the head of our army.

Your input is important - even when it seems as though it has not.

The concept of "Open-Source" has been around in software development for years. Essentially, it represents a community of people with different backgrounds contributing to a joint project resulting in a product that benefits the entirety of the community and the world at large. I know you want input into our army. We have griped and complained long enough. But that's the wrong approach.

You, no matter who you are, represent some of the most valuable assets the Army has. You are on the ground. You have a feel for the lay of the land. You know what some of the real needs are. If you're like me, you don't need the army or anyone to tell you what needs to be done because you can see it first hand. That requires you to act.

But you want to bring the Army to these new places too. You don't want to see the army die from stagnation.

There are lots of ways to contribute. Find a need and meet it - it may be simple or it may be crazy - ask God and your friends for help and then do it. Talk. Don't just argue or gripe or complain. Talk to inspire others (corps officers, soldiers, atheists, goths, skaters, etc). Defeat hell on earth by spreading the riches of heaven.

There's another project that involves thinking (a secret op that I'm letting you in on): for now, I'm calling it The Salvation Army Core. Read this and tell me what it means:

We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.

Dont' just tell me what it literally means . . . but what does it mean in terms of action? What do we do with this? Because we believe that to be true, how does it manifest itself in our lives from day to day? We have known (or should have an idea) what this literally means for a long time. Have you thought about how it translates into action? What's faith without action?

Claim it. Foot soldiers, you have the power to win or lose the battle. Leadership can do some things to reposition the troops, but who is fighting the battles?

Grace,

Desmond

Harper, Gates announce AIDS vaccine initiative

2007-02-20T11:38:00.000-05:00

Even to a hard-core Mac fan-boy Canadian living in America, this is very cool:

Canada will be the site of a new facility to manufacture and test vaccines to fight HIV/AIDS, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates announced Tuesday in Ottawa.
Ottawa will contribute $111 million toward the new Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, while the Microsoft founder, through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will donate $28 million.
Harper and Gates signed the multimillion-dollar agreement during a news conference on Parliament Hill.

The new initiative will accelerate the pace of finding a vaccine to fight the virus that causes AIDS, and move possible vaccines to the clinical trial stage more quickly, said Harper.

"HIV/AIDS is one of the most heartwrenching health crises the world has ever seen," said Harper. "It is one of the greatest scientific challenges of our time."

Gates said: "AIDS is a very tough problem. The long-term solution is a vaccine."
Gates sidestepped a question on whether he believed Harper, who didn't attend the 2006 Internatlonal AIDS Conference in Toronto, was making the announcement in a bid for support ahead of an expected spring election.

"I'm glad to hear that putting research money into AIDS makes people politically more popular," said Gates, drawing laughter from those at the news conference.

Efforts aim to prevent AIDS

Worth about $50 billion US, Gates is the world's richest man. He has endowed the foundation, named after himself and his wife, with $24 billion US to support global health, library and education initiatives around the world.

Through their foundation, Gates and his wife Melinda have donated more than $500 million US to AIDS, as well as tuberculosis and malaria.

Speaking to the CBC's Peter Mansbridge last week, Gates said he expects a vaccine will be developed in his lifetime.

Gates will address the Canadian Chamber of Commerce later Tuesday.

Roughly 65 million people around the world have been diagnosed with AIDS since it was first identified in 1981. The United Nations estimates close to three million people died from the disease in 2006.

Original Story at: CBC.ca.

Grace,

Des

Spirit of the Revolution

2007-02-18T21:52:00.000-05:00

New thoughts: Here -> http://spiritoftherevolution.blogspot.com

Grace,

des