Imogen Has a New Album Coming

In December of 2006, I posted a video of Imogen Heap using just her voice to create a whole song. Well, I fell in love with her music and posted many more posts about her. I also bought a couple of her albums and started following her. She's been working on a new album and she has a teaser for it. I think she's a dorky musician, but the sound is still really great. Take a look. I'll be buying this when it comes out.

READ YOUR BIBLE!!!

I hope you're not like me. But if you are always angry, frustrated, depressed, not satisfied with who you are or where you are in life, maybe it's because you don't read the Bible. Maybe it's because you don't understand God and His character, His calling, His plan for you life because you don't give yourself the opportunity to hear Him speak to you through His Word.

All too often in church today we aren't getting fed by God's word either. More often than not we hear weak messages, taken out of context, by preachers who have no business teaching the Word of God. My church does have a great pastor but the rest of the service is more of a distraction to me than a help. We have a barefoot music leader, concert like music production, 15 minutes of announcements between the music and the teaching, crazy emotional congregation members (with their arms flying up, bouncing, and swaying as though they are trying to feeeeeel God) and there is no other scripture read besides the passage being taught and the occasional reading of a verse or two to introduce a song.

My uncle is a pastor, author, and now radio interviewed man of the Word. He uses a heavy dose of the Bible in his Sunday morning services. They sing scripture, read scripture, study scripture, and pray scripture. He sees the importance and the power that scripture has in our lives and he uses it because there is an affect. It's always amazing how much better I feel after reading my Bible. Peace, joy, relief. God's Word is so powerful and impacting that I'm dumbfounded at how often I don't take the time to read it. I am so foolish. I actually look at this blog as my accountability tool...and as you can see, I'm way off track with my reading.

Check out the interview of my uncle and the short editorial here. Listen to the whole thing, it's encouraging on a personal level. It can be a little discouraging on a church body level. Also, check out my uncle's church.

So True. So True.

Ronald Reagan Was Always a Great Man

I've talked about Ronald Reagan before and the Heritage Foundation. I came across this video on a website trying to slam RR. If you listen to this, how can you have anything bad to say about RR? He even mentions the UAW and their backing for socialized medicine. This was an LP (record) sent out in 1961 by the American Medical Association, with Ronald Reagan, who was still a private citizen and an actor at the time. This is before RR got involved in politics. It wasn't until 1967, when he became the 33rd governor of California, that Reagan became known as a politician. And then, in 1981 when he became the President of the United States of America, Reagan became one of the most beloved presidents ever.

iPhone OS 3.0 is here.................

....except I can't get it on my phone. Click the image to enlarge.

Joe Tejeda's Music is On iTunes

Look for Joe Tejeda on iTunes. I really do love the sound of his songs.

Fiat Owns Chrysler

An Italian company, Fiat, now owns the once American company, Chrysler. Good job UAW. At least Conan can make is seem funny.

Just For Fun

Enjoy.

WWDC Announcements

I didn't have time to post this yesterday but Apple announced the new "Apple IIGS". The fastest, most powerful...wait a minute. Oops. Sorry. They announced the Apple "iPhone 3G S". The fastest, most powerful iPhone yet. It is the same size, look, and materials as the iPhone 3G but faster. I guess it weighs 2 more grams too. Anyway, here are the quick notes I took while watching the keynote. If you want to watch it for yourself, here is the link. Notes: I think the first thing too make me want a MobileMe account is the "Find My iPhone" app. It's a program that will locate your phone on a map, allow you to cause the phone to make a sound (even if it's on silent) and show a message, and will even wipe the memory of your phone remotely. Cool. June 17th the iPhone OS 3.0 will be released. It does great things for the current iPhone 3G, and it will come on the iPhone 3G S. Some major improvements, long desired by iPhone users are in this software update such as Cut and Paste, MMS, landscape keyboard, etc. June 19th iPhone 3G S will be available. The "S" stands for speed. $199 16GB and $299 32GB iPhone 3G S. And for $99 the 8GB iPhone 3G will be available. AT&T seemed to be missing from the list of supported carriers for MMS and tethering. Jerks. There's a new 3 megapixel camera with video capabilities on the 3G S. The camera also has a "tap to focus" feature and auto focus. I'm hoping there will be some improvements to the 3G's camera too, through the software update. We'll see. Voice Control on the 3G S looks awesome. It will control iPod functions and allow you to make calls from your address book, by speaking commands. There is a compass which will turn the maps in Google Maps or on coming GPS apps in the direction you are facing. There were lots of upgrades and price cuts to all the Mac lines too. For that list go to Apple.com. I'm going to get an iMac soon. Very soon. BTW, I did steal that joke about the Apple II GS from another website.

Apple Came Through

So we took my wife's iPhone into the new Apple Store because her silent switch broke. They replaced it without one bit of hassle. Wait, there's more. My phone, although pretty much fine, had a little issue with the lock button due to a drop the phone took. The "Genius Bar" guy helped me get a new phone too. And there's still more. My wife's phone took 1.5 hours to restore today. Mine took almost 6 hours. WOW!!!! That was a long day of phone restoring. But I think it was worth it. I have a new phone with no lock button issues, and my wife has a phone that can be turned to silent now. Thanks Apple. I can't wait for tomorrow.

WWDC Bingo and What's to Come Tomorrow

The Worldwide Developers Conference or WWDC is one of two events every year where Apple, Inc. introduces the latest and greatest; and it starts tomorrow. This year we are all expecting iPhone OS 3.0, the next generation iPhone (Code name "3GS"), and I'm predicting some improvements to the unibody MacBook (that's the aluminum version). Also, info about their next OS for their Mac's will probably be on the list of topics covered. CruchGear.com has provided this Bingo board for us if things that may be coming at WWDC. Enjoy.

The GM Retardation

The GM Reinvention Commercial gets spoofed.

The Apple Store Roseville Opens Tomorrow

The cover is off and they are setting up the ropes to handle the lines at tomorrow's grand opening of the Roseville Apple Store. I am also claiming to be the first customer inside the new Apple Store. I walked past as an employee came out of the front door. I stuck my foot in as the doors opened. The employee didn't seem amused with me.

Baby Hanging Station?

Might want to think of a better name. This was in the men's room at
Nordstrom in Santa Barbara. Simply remove the "c" in "changing" and
this is suddenly a killing device for babies.

Han Solo P.I.

So Tech-Guy-Ted had a video of Star Wars compared to Star Trek. It was cool how they made the two line up. Then I came across this on Gizmodo. Watch both. First Watch the intro to Han Solo P.I. Now this video does a side-by-side of the Han Solo P.I. and the Magnum P.I. intros. It's sweet. I actually love Tom Selleck. He's the man. Have you seen Quigley Down Under?

The New GM...A Negative $90 Billion Investment for All

This video, to me, is the nail in the coffin. This video is stupid. The new GM is still a horrible company. Now they aren't 8 brands; they're 4. Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, and Buick survive. Buick? Who's buying Buicks? Missing are Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, and Saturn. Also, I saw a video were it talked about the fact that WE now own 60% of the company after the additional $30 billion the government is giving the new GM. That still leave $90 billion in debt. So we've "invested" $50 billions in a automotive company that is still worth -$90,000,000,000.00 afterward? We have a stupid government. Oh, but enjoy this video: Just to cover myself, if GM does survive, it will most likely be because the bankruptcy allows GM to get out of the agreements with the UAW. If they can reduce the cost of making vehicles by getting out of the horrible agreements with the United Auto Workers Union, they may be able to make a profit on the vehicles the build. We shall see.

Roseville Apple Store Opens June 6th

This Saturday, the Apple Store in Roseville, CA opens. How exciting. Check out their link at Apple.com and look for me there at the store.

GM is Now Part of the US Government...Support Ford?

"Let them fail," I say. This is now getting scary...well, without faith. The U.S. Government now owns a majority of the largest automaker in the world. GM's filing of chapter 11 and the now promised $30 billion more in aid from the government, gave Obama and the U.S. government a majority stake in the automotive company. That's right, the government. As a customer told me today, that's the same government that couldn't take the "Mustang Ranch" (a whore house) and make it work. The government couldn't sell sex?WHAT? That's what a lot of companies use to sell themselves. Sex sells other stuff and the government could sell sex.

Anyway, now Obama and his "team" are making the decisions on how and where to cut. It's called "restructuring" and it's something that does need to be done. Should the government be doing it for GM? NO!!!!! The government should not be taking over any companies. The government should not cause capitalism to fail. They are responsible for the disaster of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac, the two government owned mortgage companies that helped facilitate the housing crisis. They caused supply to be greater than demand, they facilitated people getting homes they could not afford, and they allowed government officials, some close to and maybe in the White House, to run off with millions and millions and billions and billions of dollars in bonuses and payouts and salaries earned by bad lending practices. And now they are taking over the world's largest automaker? Didn't like GM before? Now you'll get even crappier vehicles with more problems, less features, less safety, and less value. And Ford, although not doing so well either, is at least trying to restructure without government bailout money.

Ford is worried about the new "playing field" saying today, "We look forward to working with the Obama administration to ensure that the government's majority ownership of GM will not change the industry's competitive dynamics and that a level playing field will be maintained." This is basically Ford's way of saying, "Don't jack us up Obama. We're trying to do it on our own, the right way." I give Ford credit. Sure I think the UAW is the whore in this whole thing, but Ford is at least attempting to restructure without doing it with the taxpayer's money and big...no huge government taking over. This is scary times people. Scary, scary times.

One last note: if you voted for Obama, I don't want to hear it. Don't start spouting your liberal agenda here. I'll simply review it and probably delete it in anger. That's right, I think you people are to blame. Yes, George looked and sounded like, and when he caved to pressure, was an idiot; but the worst things to happen have hit with Obama in office. The stock market took a dump because of investors fears of what is happening RIGHT NOW! Automotive giants crumbling under the pressures from the government. And, McCain warned about the Fanny and Freddie thing years ago. I also think the unions in this country add costs that often shouldn't be there. The U.S. auto industry is and has been a joke for some time. But capitalism works! And it would eventually fix itself. If you can't earn a buck, you can't stay in business, and you make adjustments. The government has NO BUSINESS in business.

UPDATED September 4, 2011:  Ford is doing amazingly well.  Now the government is suing the big banks, blaming them for the housing crisis.  LAME!

Anger Word Study - Part 1

I used the concordance in my Bible to look up the word Anger. I’m really struggling with it, to the point where I have absolutely NO witness at work. Even my home life is suffering. I honestly don’t want to be like this, but I can’t seem to not be frustrated, tired of, angry with, or down right PO’ed about someone or something. Whether it’s my termination for the Sheriff’s Office, the incompetence of coworkers and supervisor, or daily frustrations with humanity in general, I’m always mad, frustrated, and angry. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I’m perfect. Some people may think I believe I am because of my attitude towards them over some issue (big or small), but I really don’t think I’m perfect. I make mistakes. I don’t follow all the best practices. My first example is, MY ANGER. I claim to be a Christian and I don't live as though I am one. There's a huge failure.

So here I go. Here are the first set of verses I've read and written about. There are more to come...that's why this is "part 1."

Anger

Numbers 14:18 “The Lord is slow to anger…” This is Moses talking to God and of God’s character. He asked God to pardon the Israelites for their rebellion. Long story short (‘cause we all know the Israelites rebelled several times; and still are) God agreed to have mercy and pardoned them. God pardons those who rebelled against Him all the time. He is slow to anger, although His wrath would be justified.

Joshua 7:1 “But the people of Israel broke faith…And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.” When God does get Angry, it is justified. He becomes angry with the people of Israel because they didn’t have faith in God. Ultimately God chose to allow some to die over their lack of faith. Again his wrath is justified because of a rebellion and breaking of faith in Him.

1 Samuel 11:6 “And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.” Saul was a man chosen of God, an Israelite, who were God’s chosen people. The threat against their lives and safety was great, but God was greater. Anger here was justified because it came from God. Again, a righteous anger, against those who desired to harm God’s chosen people.

Psalm 6:1 “O Lord, rebuke me not in Your anger, nor discipline me in Your wrath.” David was a sinful man. He was involved in such sins as murder and adultery. And David was loved by God and was called “a man after God’s own heart.” But David had a respectful fear of God’s anger. He was fearful and asked God not to rebuke him because he knew he had wronged God. Which ever sin David committed that lead him to write this Psalm, he knew God could be justifiably angry with and rebuke him. God’s anger is justified again in here, because of wrongs done against Him as God.

Psalm 86:15 “But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” David again writes about God’s anger. And although God is justified and righteous in His anger, with many, many reasons to be angry, He is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Love may be the key to controlling anger. Understanding God’s love for us, may put our need to be loving into perspective, ultimately curbing our anger.

Proverbs 14:29 “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” This Proverb is very convicting. If I did think I knew it all, my anger would point to the fact that my understanding is very limited. And the follies that are in my life, and have been for the last 2 years, are evidence to my issues with my temper. The drama I create with my anger and frustration compound these issues. Patience and love seem to be the keys to success in this.

Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” This is a proverb more geared toward turning away wrath. This is also something I need to work on. I don’t have a filter on my tongue. I often speak before I think, and I often say things without the sensitivity needed or I say things I shouldn’t.

Proverbs 16:32 “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty…” Being able to control anger is so important to living lives glorifying to God. Better than the mighty. Someone with power has nothing over someone who can control anger. This is huge for me too. I look at my job in law enforcement as a “powerful” job. But controlling my anger is so much greater a feat than being in that role as a cop. It is a bigger accomplishment.

Joe Tejeda's Makin' Music

Go listen to Joe Tejeda's music here. This kid was in the youth group at FBC when I was on staff. He's a great kid, and I think these songs sound great. He's hoping to sell his album on iTunes soon too. Help support him by buying one when it comes out.

On a personal note, this kid makes me jealous. He followed his dream of making an album and did it. I've talked about it for....oh I don't know...as long as he's been alive?