There's something a-brewin' to keep your eyes peeled for. "Those People" started as an awareness/outreach campaign at the Waynesville, NC corps. You'll be able to read all about it soon - by next week at http://www.those-people.org. Keep your eyes peeled for it. There should be a lot going down there soon.
Let me know what you think if you get a chance.
Grace,
Des
Fort Prince of Wales
Another of the National Film Board Vignettes from my childhood. This one told the story of Fort Prince of Wales.
This one isn't as memorable as the Log Driver's Waltz from a few days ago . . . but at the same time, I know that, if you've ever seen it, and can't quite recall it now, you'll remember when it starts to play!
Grace,
Des
One of the things I noticed when I first moved to North Carolina was the sheer number of Christian-ese type stickers and decals that were plastered over the back of cars all around. I thought that this must be a very Christian place - which at the time I thought meant good.
It was later that I realized that the republican party has a strong foot-hold here and there are many George W. Bush supporters. This too was indicated by the number of Bush-Cheney stickers plastered on bumpers and/or tailgates, or merely the presence of a solitary "W" - also is sticker and/or decal form.
I THEN realized how much NASCAR really means. Needless to say, it is the center or attention: the highest priority.
It wasn't until yesterday as Kristy and I were driving to Waynesville that I realized how interconnected the three actually are. I also understood, for the first time, the theology of the Trinity.
On the back of a Nissan Maxima were three stickers:
My company (I still LOVE the sound of that) is coming along nicely. At least . . . the website is (http://www.webandflowdesign.com) . I'm working on some of the promotional stuff, trying to develop an identiry (logos, stationary, things like that). But, still no clients - so if you know of anyone needing a website designed (or redesigned!) let me know, I'll be glad to help out!
I've, admittedly, been spending a lot of time tweaking and just messing around with the layout and feel of the site. Kristy is probably gone off of her rocker. I definitely need to manage my time a little better. I'm starting to dream of the day that this can be it, you know? That would be incredible.
So my next step is to get to market. Asheville is a busy place and there are a LOT of crappy web designers here! And a few good ones too. If anyone among you is a marketing genius - please give me some tips. How do I get my name around the city?
I'm not only interested in Asheville, of course - obviously there are several countries around the world now that use computers! But I figure starting here is a good first step. I'm not against the possibility of picking up clients in other parts of the state, or even the country.
I am thinking about a redesign to this blog again, too . . . I'm really starting to understand the blogger code and how it all works so we'll see if I can get to that soon. I've got a couple of days away from home next week so maybe that will be a good project - granted, I don't think I'll have internet access . . . I'll just have to download all the stuff that I need before I go.
I've taken up too much time already. When you get a chance, go to www.webandflowdesign.com and let me know what you think!
Grace,
Desmond
The Log Driver's Waltz
This is a classic. Canada is, contrary to many people's understanding, a very patriotic country . . . if you won't grant me that, it definitely values Canadiana. Perhaps nostalgic is more accurate.
Anyway, growing up, this was a staple of my Canadian TV watching. I used to love when this little Canadian Government sponsored short film would interrupt my otherwise American cartoon watching.
Sorry for all of the Canadian videos lately, by the way. But, it's definitely a part of who I am.
The government sponsored a whole series of vignettes produced by the national film board, and now that I've found them, I'll post them over the next few days!
Enjoy,
Des
Growing up in the church I always seemed to get into discussions about God's will. Maybe, during the hay day of my church life as a college student in Newfoundland that's what there was to talk about. Maybe as a Christian college student in general that's where my attention was. Not only did I want to be found in God's will but I wanted to see and understand the difference between God's perfect and His permissive will. I wanted to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was doing exactly what God would have me do.
Of course, I also wanted to know if it even mattered or if predestination already had my life charted for me.
I don't know if, for all the talking, I ever did figure it out. I don't know if I'm any closer to the answer. Perhaps I just haven't done well so far at seeing all the puzzle pieces fitting together. Maybe I don't understand where God's will fits in with having life more abundantly or with suffering for Jesus or if suffering is indeed having life more abundantly. Certainly I don't ever remember reading a promise that I'd be happy or safe, except to read that God cares for those who trust in him and that he would never let the righteous fall.
All that to say that I really don't want to get into a big discuss over this whole thing. I've talked enough . . . you know? But I haven't yet figured out the connection of happiness and/or contentment (since those two things aren't the same) and doing what God wants me to do. Does being happy and/or content mean that you're doing what God wants you to do? How complex is God's "plan" for us? Is it every day is planned out or "As long as you love Me and love you neighbour, you can do what you want!"?
Of course, that's purposefully a little on the sacreligious side, just to accentuate my point.
So, at 12:05am, Thursday August 24, that's where i am with I Am.
Grace,
Des
There are some cool things going on. Lot's of them are low key and you never really notice them.
Other times . . . they're bigger.
Sometimes they involve a pirate ship being built on the platform of a church that you may be attending on Sunday morning. The pastors in Waynesville, the Sills, have birthed an idea where for six weeks they will be pirates and take back what the devil has stolen!
Needless to say it was GREAT to walk in there sunday morning and see such a crazy transformation!
For more pictures go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/desmondcsmith/WaynesvillePirateShip
Grace,
Des
Talking to Americans CBC Special (PART 2) f/ Rick Mercer
Let me make a couple of things very clear: first, this post COULD get me in trouble. Granted it wouldn't be the first time, but I've done things not nearly as bad as this and people have hated me for it . . . so that's why I figure posting this video is OK.
Secondly, I'm NOT an america basher - in fact, when my Canadian brethern and sistern come down for camp, it's makes me angry when they start complaining about not having ketchup chips or vinegar with their fries.
But, I did mention to many of my american friends about this little show that comedian Rick Mercer did entitled "Talking to Americans."
Here is a short selection - if you're interested in seeing the rest, please go to youtube.com and search for talking to americans. This one is about 9 minutes long, so be sure you have time before you start it!
Again, just the messenger . . . who thinks that this is hysterically funny . . . but don't shoot me and/or get mad at me!
Have you ever wondered how fast your internet connection is? I do. If I'm paying $xx.xx for internet access, I'd like to know that I'm at least getting CLOSE to what I'm expecting to get.
TODAY, I came across a GREAT bandwidth tester. Very slick. Lots of GUI goodness.
Here are my results:
Blogging is by no means new and a lot of people have caught the blogging bug. One of the most popular services, and the service that you're reading right now, is called Blogger. With blogger you can choose from a limited-number of pre-designed templates to change the appearance of your blog. Granted, with millions of blogs and only a few choices in templates many of them look the same.
If you're serious about blogging you may want to consider buying a custom blogging look. Some people are adventurous and want to try making their own, but others would just rather have someone else do the work.
If you're interested in blogger templates or need any kind of web design service, you should check out WebandFlowDesign.com.
Today - actually in just a few minutes - the Apple WWDC is starting in San Francisco. What's really cool about is that Apple will definitely be releasing some new products today. There's a lot of rumors about what they could be, but you'll have to stayed tuned to get the real shcoop.
Yes, I said shcoop.
Couple of great sites if if you want to stay up to day.
www.macrumorslive.com
www.engadget.com/2006/08/07/live-from-wwdc-2006-steve-jobs-keynote/
Who knows? I'm pretty excited though.
Yes . . . I'm a geek.
Des
These were taken in front of my parents house the night before I left to come back to Asheville. It's one of the reasons why I love Newfoundland.
Creation astounds me. Seeing Newfoundland again was great. Seeing the west coast of Newfoundland through "tourist" eyes was enlightening too - it really is a beautiful place - untouched, majestic, all of the wonderful things that you look for.
Then to think about life. About how, in someway or other, life got started on this planet. No matter what you believe about that, it really is amazing. Evolution is an amazing concept. Creation is an amazing concept. Either way, the world is an awe-inspiring place.
Last Sunday, as I've mentioned, we went on a boat tour. We saw whales and dolphins and more sea birds that you can possibly imagine. I've seen all of those things many times before, growing up in Newfoundland by the ocean. I could look out my front window at home and see whales pretty much any time.
YOU CAN CHECK OUT NEW PICTURES HERE
But what was different about Sunday was the interaction. I can't explain it to you, but the whales and the dolphins all interacted with us. Maybe it was just animal instinct. Maybe there was something more. These big sea creatures can be curious? Some would argue they can even communicate, albeit in a rudimentary way, with us as people.
That amazes me and I'm thankful that I had the experience.
Grace,
Des
It's so weird to be in one place one day and thousands of miles away the next. But that's what we did. We're back in Asheville now, getting back into the swing of things and preparing for the fall with work.
The trip to Newfoundland was FANTASTIC. Obviously not long enough to do everything that we wanted to do, but that's to be expected, I suppose. I can't recap everything - there was too much. But I did want to post a few more pictures for y'alls review.
If you look REAL closely at this one, you'll see the tail of a humpback whale diving down for some food. We did a Whale and Bird tour in Bay Bulls, NL (O'Brien's Whale & Bird Tours).
Here's a little better one:
We were fairly far offshore for this one - further than they usually go because it was so late in the whale watching season.
There were also Dolphins:
So that was cool - the dolphins were "bow-riding" for a while - i.e. swimming along the boat and crossing/playing around in front of the boat. Kristy's sister has a great video that I'd love to get online sometime soon, I'll see if I can't upload it somewhere.
This is a landscape shot: out off of the east coast of Newfoundland. And another:
So that was it for the boat tour. I've got a few more of the sunset in front of my parents house that was pretty amazing, but I'll post those a little later on. It was a great time. I miss it already. But, now that we're Permanent Residents we can come and go as we please!
Grace,
Des
I guess I'm officially an entrepreneur.
Today, I went down to the county courthouse and registered the name of my first business venture. Web and Flow Design is my company! I provide web design and other marketing services.
So, you may begin to see sites designed by Web and Flow all over the internet. That's what I'm hoping anyway! Granted, it's more of a part-time hobby at the moment than a full on business venture.
But I'm very excited.
So, if you know of anyone needing some Web Sites designed or some promotional materials drafted up, let me know. I'll get my people working on it!
Grace,
Desmond
