"Look at that thing's teeth!" (Strange Wilderness)

Yeah, I don't care if my favorite scene is cut, but this is going to be hilarious.

"So...." (National Treasure 2)

Wow. December 12 was the last post. Hmmm. I've been a little busy preparing and getting things ready for Christmas Eve and beyond. I'm running a cool little light show as part of the Christmas Eve services at The Rock. A night before the big show, and I'm pretty calm. Check back at 4:59pm tomorrow to see how well I'm holding up. Just kidding.

Here are some numbers for you:
2 - Days prepping and arranging the system
3 - Services @ 5:00, 6:30, & 8:00pm on Christmas Eve.
4 - Number of Christmas Eve Services at the current location.
5 - Number of Christmas Eve Services I've been to.
11 - Hours spent programming lights for one event.
16 - Additional dimmer channels used (96 total).
28 - Intelligent lights utilized.
64 - # of light cues for song.
195 - Seconds of accompanying song.
200 - # of feet of additional socapex cable.
800 - Watts of power per channel on dimmer rack.
8000 - Watts of some "special" components.

We'll just see tomorrow what all those numbers add up to. ;-)

"With great power, comes great responsibility." (Spider-Man)

Just go here.

Watch the videos.

That is cool, coming from someone who loved the game growing up. I used to play for hours on a Mac SE.

Some things have come down the pipe that I'm very excited about. The big one is Mitosis 08 in April. We have a direction graphically and a theme. It will be a different type of conference that the Church needs. Not TRC, but the Church body as a whole. And our speaker line up is awesome.

Stay tuned.

"By the power of Greyskull!" (Hot Fuzz)

Last week I was at the Performance Racing Industry tradeshow in Orlando, FL. Awesome. Lots of shiny go-fast parts. The amount of product literature is astounding. I think we came back with 10 inches of catalogs, pamphlets, and fliers. That is a lot of info to trudge along with for 8 or 9 hours.

I could tell at the tradeshows which companies had a strong European base, or were European, just by the display booth. Some were obvious, like Brembo, but I didn't know AP Brakes was from the UK. The booths were clean, crisp, and brighter.

"I don't want to sell or process anything that's been sold or processed." (Say Anything)

Sometimes my defense turns into offense. But sometimes on purpose. On The Rock Church's YouTube channel, some "stirring" conversation about one of the videos led to this post:

User Oneak: no, i dont. Have you ever noticed that the idea of god has to be preached and tought over and over? It also must be engrained in a person from a young age, or shown to a person at their most desperate hour.
However, things that are ACTUALLY facts, like Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, only needs to be tought once.
The very fact that jesus needs to be injected into EVERYTHING at ALL TIMES just shows the fagility of the belief. THE TRUTH IS NEVER FRAGILE.

And that prompted my response:
fyi, facts are taught over and over and over. it's called school. and there's the famous quote "people who don't know history are destined to repeat it."
and other facts, like how to spell "taught" "fragility" obviously are needed to be "ingrained" over and over.
thomas edison took many (over 2000) iterations before he successfully created the incandescent light bulb. it didn't happen over night. he had to fail numerous times before he was successful.

And I did look up "ingrained" and it can be spelled either way. Also in my haste I placed a space in overnight.

The comment "The truth is never fragile" caught my attention. Truth isn't, but our preconceived notions and expectancy of truth are.

"Don't confuse me with the nice guy." (The Contract)

Communication 101: Sort a hierarchy-based interactive tool in accordance to urgency, then by most requested.

Example: The second option in the second menu should not be "If you are calling for emergency roadside assistance, press 2".

Keywords: emergency and assistance.

I could see this spiraling out of control. "Thank you for calling 9-1-1. If this is not an emergency, please hang up and call your local police and/or hospital for assistance.
If you are calling on behalf of another person, please press 1.
If you are in need of protection or are reporting a crime, please press 2.
If you are reporting a noise nuisance, press 3.
If you are reporting a missing or trapped animal, press 4.
If you are reporting a missing child press 5.
If you are a lost child, hang up and yell "mom".
If you are having chest pains or difficulty breathing, press 6.
If you are missing extremities like hands, feet, or ears, press 7. By the way, if you are missing a hand, great job on calling 9-1-1!
If you are bleeding profusely from an artery or are missing a limb, and you are still conscious, press 8.
If you wish to speak to a live operator, press 9.
To hear these options again, press 0."

"Legen- caution for those who are lactose-intolerant- dary!"

1. What is the "animal spirit" on the left? Face of a bear, arms of an owl? Huh?
2. I don't know if having a mascot with a tattoo is a good idea, especially when these are obviously aimed at children.
3. The creature on the right is a "sea-bear". Apparently a panda and an otter got it on?

"She doesn't look Druidish." (Spaceballs)

Here's a bit of information confusion. Google.com is a search engine. It helps users find content/information on the Internet. Content owners are slowly loosing identification because people are instructing "Google this" and "Google that" (myself included).

The removal of ownership is usually stated like "I don't know where I got it, but I found it on Google."

We can all remember Google, but we can't remember ics.gov.us.com/sosus/secret/conspiracy/23957393kdijerklfglkjf=?.html.

So what's it mean to be a true information owner? If anyone can use a search engine to find your content, doesn't that mean you've partnered with a distributor? It's not like everything on the Internet has a market (someone that wants it), so a distributor is a good thing to have. And do you pay the distributor? How does the distributor make money?

Oh, yeah. The form of ad revenue, which is triggered by your content. So if the distributor is making money, why aren't you? If you don't make money off your content, that means it must be free. If there's no monetary value for your content, why would it matter if someone copied/used/lifted it? It's not like you use it for livelihood.

That was my little rabbit trail from someone's comment about finding information on Google.

Less Clutter & Noise- Kem Meyer

Kem Meyer is the Communications Director for Granger Community Church in Indiana. She has some excellent insight into keeping things in perspective.

Here's today's topic: Desks & Clutter. Look at your desk, or table, or wherever you do the majority of your work. Is it cluttered? Can you find stuff? Are things haphazardly strewn about? Finding bills from 3 or 4 months ago under your keyboard?

I try to put all my to-do's in a folder (binder actually) with my weekly schedule on the outside of the cover. I take this to meetings and let it dictate my weekly structure. Every Tuesday morning I write a new one. I leave room to jot in notes and the last minute projects.

That binder lives on my desk. As does my laptop, various projects, dropped off info and "requests", mints (out), phone, and my proofing work. On my walls I have a wide stretch of corkboard where I keep ideas, calendars, notes, cards and finished projects.

I also keep a section for "What never to do again" on my wall. Right now there is only one thing. I haven't printed out the other one. But let's say this: the proper way to spell "assess" is with four (4) 's', not 3.

Tools. Real ones, not people.

I'm moving my blogging feeds over to Bloglines as my reader. I was running all blogs through email, but the subscription process was waaaaay too long.

Some blogs that are on my list are a bit different. Guy Kawasaki, for one. Brand Autopsy is another. And then I have Wired. Not the usual church-related blogs, but the topics each blog cover are influential in our lives.

I'm a MS OS user. Mainly because it's widespread and cheap. Mac products are expensive and I'd rather spend a quarter of the cost on a dependable product that I know how to fix and (more importantly) can fix. But that's not to say Mac products are dumb. Quite the opposite. Intuitive and innovative, some successful components that were exclusively Mac have morphed into the PC side.

I have RocketDock on my machines. Just like Apple's quick dock. Only on a PC. Here is where I can throw my most commonly used programs in an easily accessible spot. With Rocket Dock running, I can auto hide my taskbar, getting rid of that ugly clock/date/systray area.

I also have Google Desktop running, which has similar widgets like Apple. I have my calendar, weather, and wiki search running on my auto-hide desktop. It's pretty handy, although adding events onto my Google calendar doesn't lend itself to transparency. Yet.

"Tunnel turn's real tricky." (Days of Thunder)

What if Google ran an Airline?

Here's a random question: What would an airline company owned and operated by Google look like? What would they offer? What would Google Air provide that would create a better and more attractive airline service than everyone else? Hmmmmm...

1. Flight times are shorter (faster) and flights are 99.9% on time (okay, 89.9%). Google knows that time is important. That's why its search engine is quick. Flights will be quick and on time as well. In the odd flights that are not on time, flights are refreshed- turn around and start again from the origin.

2. No flight would be overbooked. In fact, there would be plenty of room to load standby passengers. If a flight is 85% full, the plane is upgraded to a larger version (737 to a 757 or 767) to ensure a less than 85% bandwidth capacity.

3. Passengers are encouraged to bring their own snacks, and also to bring some to share with everyone. We're all in this flight together, so let's be social and exchange ideas, recipes, and stories.

4. When searching for a flight, the most direct route will be in the top 3 results. However, by entering into the Google "Top Flight" program, less-populated flights can be positioned at the top of the search page, highlighted of course.

5. Google Air will offer 3 passenger classes: First Class (15% of seats), Business Class (70% of seats), and Free Class (15% of seats).

6. First Class prices will be determined by the average market value of service. Business Class prices will be determined by the cost of the flight divided by the number of passengers booked on the flight. Free Class prices are, obviously, free. In true Google spirit, you may be offered a free upgrade to First or Business Class. Also in true Google spirit, your flight service may be suspended at any time, up to and including taxi and takeoff.

7. Flyers are expected to bring laptops and other portable electronic devices. There will be no in-flight entertainment. You bring it with yourself already.

8. Absolutely no other carry-on bags other than a backpack/briefcase/attache size bag. The size needed to hold everything mentioned in #7. Boarding and disembarking need to happen as quickly as possible to free up bandwidth. Google Air and its customers simply do not have the time to wait for you, Mr. 'I'm-on-vacation-for-three-weeks-and-I-packed-everything-in-my-backpack-and-carry-
on-which-doesn't-fit-overhead'.

9. All phones do NOT need to be turned off. In fact, it is encouraged to email air@google.com to propose quicker and/or safer (less turbulent) routes.

10. All Google Air transactions are handled online. There will be no ticketing agents or boarding pass desks. Print your receipt, come to the airport, go directly to the gate.

11. Astute readers will wonder "How does my luggage get to where I'm going if there's no boarding desk?" To streamline processes (lower expenses), and to respect passenger's privacy (no Homeland Security searches), all luggage should be shipped to your hotel via UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, or carrier of your choice.

"O Captian, my Captian!" (Dead Poet's Society)

What is wrong with people? Do they not have any etiquette anymore?

The movie industry has the wrong people staying at home instead of going to theaters. Why do people stay at home? Numerous reasons. It is so much cheaper to stay at home than go to a movie. If you can buy a movie on dvd for $19.99, you only spend $1.49 more for a movie you can watch at home anytime you wish. Sure, you do miss out on the giant screen, but here's are the non-tangible advantages:

1) You own it.

2) You can pause if you have to visit the W.C.

3) You can eliminate phone interruptions, or allow them at your discretion.

4) You control the volume of laughter based on who you invite over, if anyone.

5) You can make all the fresh popcorn you want for $4.50, salt it, butter it, whatever.

6) For the price of a movie soda, you can purchase a year's supply of Thomas Kemper Root Beer, or your favorite choice of beverage.

7) You can eat any choice of food or candy and not be scared of sneaking it into the theater.

8) You don't have Annoying Man next to you who insists of fetching out M&Ms out of a bag utilizing just his index finger through a hole you couldn't fit a No. 2 pencil through (Hint for you noisy snacker: BIG hole, cup hand, pour out).

9) You don't have the other Annoying Man thinking he's on his own couch, which miraculously enough, only fits him. That's right. In a theater or any other "assigned seating" venue, legs should be no further apart than the width of the seat you're sitting in.

10) The inappropriate "Howler Monkey" lady who laughs at the lamest jokes, or replays the joke in her head over and over, laughing each time. Look: we all love comedy and like to laugh, but if you're still laughing from a joke 10 minutes ago, I will go ninja on you and fold my ticket stub into a throwing star and lodge it in your larynx.

11) Oh, and also enjoying movies at home you get to avoid Mr. Texture Man. This is that guy who wears a nylon jacket or track pants, constantly moves in his seat, and creates that wonderful "whoosh-whoosh" sound. It adds so much to the atmosphere, especially when the boy is reunited with his lost dog in the movie. The warm, inspirational music, slow-motion frolicking of the boy and his dog in the fall leaves, while sister, mom and dad sit on the "WHOOSH-WHOOSH-WHIZZY-WHIZZY-SHINNY-SHINNY." Nevermind. The moment is gone.

"They're cornering the Orange market!" (Trading Places)

My site is worth $77,796,957.
How much is yours worth?

So now all I need to do is find a buyer. Any takers?

"Are they ill-tempered sea bass?" (Austin Powers)

Ok. Everyone must remember that items will be saved for posterity. Just like your mother saved every report card, test, card, and random doodle, in today's digital age, EVERYTHING is accessible with a quick search. Even some print items can pop up in the most unusual places. Like this print catalog from 1977. Word of warning: there are some words that start with "A" and one with "F". But it's really, really funny commentary.

So if you want to see old web stuff, check out www.archive.org for the brief history of the Internet.

"Party on, Wayne." (Wayne's World)

How many activities can a human brain consciously perform at one time? I once heard it was around 7 things. Right now the activities going on in my head are:
Typing and the mechanics involved in that.
Watching what I type and absorbing peripheral vision.
Listening to my typing, people approaching my cube, other office noises.
Thinking about this immediate post, and thinking about what my next project is.
Eating and breathing; basic life activities.

And that's all right now. It's not even 7 activities. If someone breaks into a varying discussion nearby that I can hear, that begins to infiltrate my activities. If a phone rings, it jumps into the list.

I would say I'm at my limit with 5. Any more and I get distracted and lose my concentration on the task at hand. Conversations are the worse for me. I break what I'm doing, dive into the conversation, then move onto projects associated with the conversation, ignoring the earlier, and ultimately unfinished, project.

Some call the ability to do all those things (and sometimes more) "multi-tasking" but I've read some opinions that multi-tasking actually makes people take longer to accomplish projects. I like to hunker down and go through projects; I like having a tangible project at the end of the day.

"Where does he get such wonderful toys?" (Batman ('89))

Here's a brief rundown of some stuff and how we do it (or don't do it)

1. Print small quantities in-house (usually 500 or less)
2. Order from online vendors like overnightprints.com
3. Use blogger and utilize feedburner
4. Use professional-grade programs (cause we are professionals) like Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Final Cut. (Gimp is free for a Photoshop-style app)
5. Avoid Publisher, Clip Art, Word Art. Like the plague.
6. Buy a domain for $10, through Google and use Google Apps for our email, online documents, instant messenger.

Ahem...Announcing...Musical Guest...

Falling Up will be performing at the November Fuel! WhooHooooooo!

And one of my Amazon.com books came in yesterday: 101 Creative Problem Solving Techniques. Where's my other one Mr. Bezos?

In passing, I saw a promotional tool today that is not very clear. No date, just a titled day, which was confusing enough. And the location of the event was a very busy street. And the event was for children. Hmmm. Not exactly the best of ideas.

"There's a mystical bond between a man and his machine." (Transformers)

Creative block? What are ways around it? I ordered a couple of books from Amazon.com to help. Reading blogs of other creative people? Surf YouTube?

I tend to stay away from straight jacking someone's idea or creative element. Sometimes you just have to. Although I would rather spend a few days trying to think of an alternative.

To come up with a truly creative element, I think we have to widen our creative perspective. For lack of better term, our "sphere of acceptability." That means come up with ideas you know are too expensive, too technical, too offensive, too cheesy, etc.

Creative ideas that are lasting and have a "WOW" effect fall in this category. Apple "1984", Honda "Cog", Pets.com "Puppet" are examples of this. Of course, everything you produce can't be up to this standard. But it's where you start.

"Paint the fence, Daniel-san." (The Karate Kid)

Number 1: I've had a week to calm down. Apparently Will Smith's production company is obtaining, or has obtained, rights to remake an American Cinema Classic: The Karate Kid. And who will be starring as Daniel LaRusso? Jaden Smith. Who, Mr. Smith, will play Mr. Miyagi, since Pat Morita has passed? Chow Yun-Fat? Mako? Like I said before: Is there nothing sacred anymore?!

Number 2: After a few weeks of new television, and new series, I'll chime in with my thoughts, mainly for NBC shows, since ABC and CBS are tripping over their dial-up phone cords on providing an adequate Internet viewer.

Life: Good show, similar to last year's Raines, and we all know where that went. Hopefully NBC will keep it a bit longer.
Journeyman: No wonder Sci-Fi didn't pick it up. Too lame for even them.
Chuck: Funny, not hilarious, but still kinda funny. Adam Baldwin (no relation) is funny as the "bad" good guy.
Bionic Woman: A wonderful, well-produced TV show. For TBS. On a good day.

Right to bear arms - t-shirt

Regional Reach Teams(RRT) started this week. Across the board it was a successful launch. We are still working on getting everyone plugged into a RRT and utilizing our new database management software.

In the creative mode for coming up with a theme for our Christmas series and one we're going with in November.

It's going to be awesome. Once people stop to think about it, the theme will make complete sense.

"Prepare to jump to... Ludicrous speed!" (Spaceballs)

I'm posting after a week. What a week. Topping the list of accomplishments for the week was the secret launch of the new therockchurch.info, a project that began back in late July. It's a work in progress, although the new buzzword for that is "beta". I still have a few pages to complete, but the majority of necessary information is available. It doesn't display properly on IE 6.0, but that's okay, everyone should be running FireFox (HA!).

I Fit...I Am The Rock Church Night went off with a bang! Over 300 people showed up for our annual Volunteer & Vision meeting. Youth Pastor Travis and Children's Director Staci did a great job at hosting Bingo.

Interns began the year last week. Staci and I were given the opportunity to take the 1st years for a little exercise and it was a great experience. The Interns are definitely meshing as a team and getting used to performing cohesively.

And to prove my geekiness, I picked up a smokin' deal of a 20" wide screen LCD monitor from newegg.com to complete my trifecta of LCDs. That's right- 3 monitors. I'll downsize back to two, just so my cubicle outlet doesn't explode (Clark W. Griswold ring a bell?).

My next future dilemma is a phone decision. I can go with the Apple iPhone or the BlackBerry Curve. I don't need a music library, just pictures. I need internet, texting, and email. I have resigned to the fact I'll be a phoneslinger, wearing the weapon on my hip; ready to retrieve it at my whim; affording me multiple opportunities to drop-test the phone from a mere 28" off the ground.

"but I still love technology.........."

"Unfortunately for you we aren't tested on tact or good manners." (Stranger Than Fiction)

Time management. Crucial phrase, since you can make more of everything except time. Being effective with time also prevents wasted effort. For example, I read a lot of different blogs, as long as they actually have descriptive content and are not a stream-of-conscious blurb. I don't have time to read two sentences about an experience walking down the street. I do have time to read a outlined process for focusing efforts to accomplish goals.

When I read this (go to 9/14), I was wondering, how would some people view the statement of #5: "Oh, in case you're wondering, I just did the math yesterday. We have 72 full-time and part-time staff members at NewSpring. And, we're averaging 7,300 people in attendance for the year. That means our attendance to staff ratio is about 100:1. How does that compare to your church?"

I think that this statement would be awesome as a full blog posting, or blog series, because some people may be wondering what Tony is saying. What does a staff-to-attendee ratio really mean? For number crunchers, a high ratio means lower church overhead. Or is the staff overworked trying to minister to a high ratio? Is there an "optimum" ratio?

"Life moves pretty fast." (Ferris Bueller)

MinistryCOM Church Communications Conference - Day 1

Terry Storch was the opening speaker and he presented the dilemma facing churches today in communicating with today's culture and technology. It was pretty awesome, considering he was able to articulate what I've been thinking about for a few weeks. The internet has changed everything. And the new "version" of the internet is all about personal interaction.

He main 5 points (his presentation was version 30 - 6:30 Starbucks):

1. Churches performed one-way communication (church 1.0). In today's culture, the guy who has a myspace page for his band (that plays in bars) goes to your church. He invites people to your church, but doesn't exactly project your church values. Church 1.0 is all about service times. If you want to learn about Jesus, come when WE do it. People want to participate. Church 2.0 focus on creating experiences anytime. “Anytime” content doesn't have to be the Sunday morning word.

2. Walls. Churches so focused on buildings- if it doesn't happen in the building, it isn't church.

3. Omnipresent Church – if church is about a building, do we put God in a box? At MinistryCOM, 500 attendees representing 300 churches, approx. 1 million influenced, who influence their friends.

4. Re-Imagine Outreach (borrowed from Tom Peters) What does outreach look like? Churches still doing outreaches and missions the same way. With the internet the outreaches should be different. Should be “inreach” through facebook, Church 1.0 = physically “out”. Virtual relationship then move to physically relationship.

5. Church 1.0 = The Power of 1. Everyone invites 1 person. The problem is that is it's addition. Attrition rate is greater than addition in many churches. Time for leaders to get out of mindset of addition and multiplication. One person can invite EVERYBODY if content is delivered the way users want it. It's about the name of Jesus, not the one on the side of the building.

There are the highlights of Terry's presentation. And he made a comment about wearing white shoes after Labor Day.

"What we have here is a failure to communicate." (Cool Hand Luke)

In just over a week I head to Nashville, TN for MinistryCOM 2007- the church communications conference. With a speaker list that includes Terry Storch and Kem Meyer, the conference has some great sounding breakout sessions. I just wish I could be a three places at once.

I can' wait to learn something new, and hopefully I can share some things I've learned along the way.

"Without ME, it's just AWESO" (t-shirt)

"ME" are two letters contained in my first name, Michael, so ergo, when The Office returns, TV will return to being awesoME.

"Hey where'd you get that?" (WarGames)

Free Software!

Just kidding. I recently picked up a laptop and I am in the middle of an experiment. I am only using the software that came with the machine (like the OS, utilities and whatnot), but not the productivity software. Meaning no Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excell, Adobe Photoshop, whatever.

I run OpenOffice.org office suite. I'm typing this now in OO's Writer program, then I will copy and paste to the Blogger interface.

My email client is Mozilla's Thunderbird, with the Lightning calendar add-on. Between Thunderbird and Eudora, I was able to get Thunderbird up and running first. And I like the interface and the simplicity it operates on.

I've been able to link my calendar to my Google calendar, but it is not as transparent as I wish. Maybe I'll learn some new tricks, but so far I'm not disappointed.

I'm also running Gimp for my photo editing. Haven't used it yet. My geek journey continues...

"Nobody cares about the man in the box." (The Prestige)

I love the Self-Checkout at grocery stores. Zip-Zing done. Only 3 or 4 items? Swipe, swipe, punch, bag. The ultimate convenience when you only have a few items. Or if you happen to need to buy certain products and don't feel right going through a regular checkstand. Like Crunchy Corn Bran, prunes, prune juice, and a box of Ex-Lax.

However, the Self-Checkout only works WHEN YOU CAN USE IT! Why do stores put them in, only to limit the access time where more than one is open? Obvious answer: not enough staffing to monitor the stations, to deter theft. But really, is that such a burden considering these checkouts are right next to the door?! Good planning and execution.

So now we have a convienence feature in a store that has now created an ever greater inconvienence. Not only am I forced to move to a different line because the patrons at the only Self-Checkout are typing and scanning their 14 different vegtables (these products take the longest amount of time to purchase) and having a hard time comprehending the alphabetical-push button interface, but my time is wasted. And time is the only thing you can't make more of.

A solution: allow patrons to enter in a payment method first (a debit/credit/patron card), the patron's zipcode or phone number, and allow them access to the Self-Checkout. Or just require patron card holders to be able to use the lanes w/o live monitoring.

"You can do it!!!" (The Waterboy)

In effort to broaden our delivery method of The Rock Church's messages, I'm trying to deliver podcasts through iTunes. Like someone said, "you just put the podcast on the server and point iTunes to it. We have a server, use that. Right?"

It was pretty funny explaining everything about hosting a podcast. I don't know exactly how to host one (yet) but I can read how it's done. And I know that it's not as simple as dragging and dropping the file onto a page (ala flickr.com).

Which, coming from Apple, you would think they would have a special program for hosting podcasts. A "Load your Podcast here" function. Price it two ways: 25 cents/download if you want the content delivered free, or charge 99 cents/download and keep 49 cents. Either way, Apple gets money for hosting a file.

"You look pretty." (Hot Rod)

A little sneak peek:


I'm still trying to implement a media player for an audio cast, along with some auto-email forms. I'm utilizing all freeware to show folks how a web site can be done fairly inexpensively. Okay, so I had to buy Dreamweaver CS3. I think anyone who does websites should have at least one industry standard tool at their disposal.

You may have free cable TV from your neighbor, but you still had to buy the TV, right?

"We need Kate and Leo" (Love Actually)

My punch list for today and tomorrow: 22 items. 6 documents. 2 virtual docs. 4 system changes/additions/revamps. 2 planning actions. 3 or 4 research projects. And other things that defy categorization.

What's urgent: I Fit: I am The Rock Church banquet and accompanying message series. This will be about who we all are at The Rock, and how we "fit" in God's plan- serving, loving, helping.

Updating website content: Both therockchurch.info and providehope.com need some lovin'.

Regional Reach Team launch: Designing and implementing content delivery for RRT Leaders and participants.

Announcing a special musical guest on Sunday, August 26th (Big Parade Day Weekend). Hint: We've had him before, and he's coming up from Oregon.

So how do you go through this task list? One at a time.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

I am alone in blustering an 11 page document into 17. From 3200 words to nearly 5700. What, for Pete's sake, am I doing? Adapting our O-Fish-Al FAQs from a simple document to html web page complete with little text compression tools that allow only the questions to be present until clicked on, whereupon the answer ever-so-awesomely expands within the web page.

It seemed like a simple request at the time, and it was something I wanted to do already.

What is really annoying is when you miss a div tag here and there and all of a sudden your page gets jacked back to 1995- large text, blue hyperlinks, and centered.

On another note, after watching some World Series of Pop Culture, I'm thinking about wrangling a few folks to make a team. I'm really weak in the music department. The only success I had in that arena was the category "White Rappers." There's how many? 5? 6?

"They didn't stop to think if they should." (Jurassic Park)

I began earnestly today on learning Dreamweaver CS3. It's been pretty much an assault on my patience and senses from the get-go. I can plunk away at a basic web site, and try to figure out how to do stuff. I have no clue on some of the tags, I just swing away at it. Usually it's hit & miss, and I have to wait for the order to go all the way around (start from scratch). In short, I've been standing on shoulders of geniuses (original programmers) and trying not to fall off.

That said, I think my first effort isn't too shabby. I have some fine tuning, but the template is nearly done. At 9:20 I finally stepped away from the fire. I'll hit it hard tomorrow around 2 or 3pm.

And no, I'm not going to share it with the world (yet).

"Can someone please tell me what this is? A plastic ice cream scoop?" (Armageddon)

Been away for a week on a staff retreat in Easter Washington. We were literally unplugged from internet and cell phone coverage. It was awesome. It was almost like technology didn't exist. Even the DVD player overheated and would pause during the movies.

Nearly all of us were unable to blog, read blogs, check email, or do some txting. I didn't suffer any withdrawals, or even think about researching something on the Internet (that's when my MFUI comes into play).

This type of retreat was awesome because everyone had to interact with each other. We couldn't retreat to our offices for "checking email" and avoiding people. Not that this happens, but sometimes it is easier to hide behind a keyboard instead of personally interacting with the same people we email or text.

"Because in First Class, they let us do pretty much anything we want." (The Wedding Singer)

How's your customer service? Are you willing to make a WOW! experience for your customers? In the grand scheme, your customers are those who use your product (you) or service (your knowledge).

Are you Nordstrom or Continental Airlines? I sure don't want to be Continental.

The Sounds of Coconuts

I <3 imdb.com. I've been using that site since 1997 or so. I found it funny coming across a bunch of cheaply-produced, stamp-and-ship movies that have the same plot:

"This plot synopsis is empty. Add a synopsis"

That will surely get my attention. Where can I rent this movie?

Grammar Police! Pull your keyboard over!

Your vs. You're

Your is ownership of an item. You're is preceeding an action in most cases. It is a contraction of you are.

Your bike. Your shoes. Your long list of items. Your personal assistant.

You're going away. You're reading. You're running in first. You're lost.

Their vs. There vs. They're

They're going to set up their tent over there by the bushes.

They're is contraction of they are. They are is always doing something.

There is a place. Over here, over there. Go there. Eat there.

Their is ownership of item for more than one person. Their tent. Their SUV. Their running shoes.

note: When using their, remember the word refers to people, not a group or organization. Use it when the subject is an organization/company. Example: Microsoft is a huge employer. It has over 35,000 regular employees.

"But of course you are." (Connery James Bond)

Presenting the same, or similar, material can be monotonous to the reciever. Equally so for the presenter, or the content provider. What determines the level of "staleness" of content? In television, a half-hour show format is 21-24 minutes of content broken into 3 segments (usually). Content comes in 7 or 8 minute chunks, and continously changes. The delivery medium is the same, although that is changing some with the growth of Internet delivery and Tivo.

So what's my point? When content gets stale, it has to be refreshed. But when and how? Usually things are stale long before it is noticed, and repackaging content only goes so far.

How can we present content that creates a "Wow!", yet is sustainable through the lifecycle of delivery systems. What type of "preservatives" can we add as content providers to maintain freshness?

Move along. Nothing to see here. Keep it going.

Have you ever received a email that asks you a bunch of questions? Like a personality query that has some random rule/procedure to it.

These questions are fun to answer, and sometimes they provide a little gut check. Imagine if a company was able to get these surveys out to the general public. Say, Sears or Gap, or perhaps Verizon. There could be little questions like; Who decides on the home purchases? What store/company do you hate to shop?

It may not be glamorous, or scientifically or truthfully accurate (but are phone surveys?), but dabbling a little corporate questions in a chain email survey might give more insight to the company. I dunno, I'm just spit balling this idea.

I recently had one sent to me, and it is supposed to be one word answers. This is what my responses would be if I could answer completely. The questions aren't all personal, and I'm going to write my initial response to the question.

Begin:
Rule #1:
If you open this you GOTTA take it.

Rule # 2:
You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone
messages you and asks

Rule #3:
Only answer True or False

Round 1 - Have you ever...
Q: Kissed someone on your top friends (myspace)?
False. That's just gross.
Q: Been arrested?
False.
Q: You like someone?
True. I like a lot of people. Shouldn't this question be "Are you in love with someone?" Moving on...
Q: Held a snake?
False.
Q: Been suspended from school?
False.
Q: Been fired from a job?
False. I have quit without notice before.
Q: Sang karaoke?
True. But not in a bar or club.
Q: Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?
True. And my DVD collection is proof of that (why did I buy Pearl Harbor?).
Q: Laughed until you started crying?
True.
Q: Caught a snowflake on your tongue?
True. And in my eyeballs, up my nose.
Q: Kissed in the rain?
False. It doesn't rain all the time in Seattle!
Q: Sang in the shower?
True.
Q: Sat on a roof top?
True. Up on the rooftop click, click, click...
Q: Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on?
False.
Q: Broken a bone?
False. But I have had a couple of nails go through my feet.
Q: Shaved your head
True. I bet a wrestler that if he made it to state, I would shave my head.
Q: Played a prank on someone?
True. Numerous times, but nothing on the level of "Punk'd" or anything.
Q: Had/have a gym membership?
True. Yes, and I think I went for a month.
Q: Shot a gun?
True. But I don't own a gun, let alone many guns, that would necessitate an entire rack.
Q: Donated Blood?
False.

Round 2 - Who was the last person...
1. You hung out with?
KG/RB/JB
2. Last person you texted?
KG
3. You were in a car with?
P. Jeff on the way back from Saturday races.
4. Went to the movies with?
Myself. Saw Fantastic Four #2.
6. You talked to on the phone with?
My mommy.
7. Made you laugh?
Myself. Every time I look in the mirror.
8. You hugged?
AK or Cheeks- in a manly way, by the way.

Round 3 - Either/Or
1. Sun or moon?
Both. Sun because I can partake in many activities. Moon because I really like a bright, full moon night.
2. Winter or Fall?
Winter. If it's going to be cold, be cold. Plus it rains a lot more in Fall, the leaves get nasty.
3. Left or right?
Left. It may be a free right, but left is the road less travelled by. And if it's the wrong way, 3 lefts make a right.
4. Sunny or rainy?
Sunny.
6. Have you been out of the country?
Yes. And no, I haven't been to Mexico since '86.
8. Do you want to get married?
No. I want to pine away somewhere and be cooking for 1 my entire life. I really want to say does a bear...
9. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it?
Twirl. Where's the option of sucking it in? The ultimate, messy way of eating spaghetti.
10. Do You Cook?
Fortunately, yes. Eggos, toast, scrambled eggs (hit & miss). I have been known to lay down some tasty dishes from time to time.
11. Current mood?
Allergetic.
12. Be serious or be funny?
Funny haha or funny strange? 'Cause I bounce between the two quite regularly.
13. Drink whole or skim milk?
Whole. We are talking about cow milk, right?

Round 4 - Last 72 hours have you...
1. Kissed someone?
Nope. And thanks for the reminder. I'm going to listen to Celine Dion and eat a half gallon of ice cream. Maybe finish off the day with a marathon of Titanic, Love Actually, and Affair to Remember.
2. Sang?
Yes
3. Been hugged?
Nope.
4. Cried?
Nope. Men don't cry. There's no crying in baseball!
5. Liked someone you can't have?
No. Here's another questions that doesn't make much sense.

"Put the bunny down." (Con Air)

The other day Kat Tongg handed me a "Grammar & Proof Reading Class" pamphlet which is designed to improve speed and accuracy for proof reading materials. A small seminar for the low, low price of $125 or something.

Me being me, I joked to Kat about betting money if I found an error in the pamphlet. I start reading the first page and come across this:

"No longer do you have to spend hours spell-checking, or pore over countless grammar books trying to find the correct rule."

Not kidding. Right there on the front. I think I'll pass on the class. If you're still scratching your head on the error, the writers had a homophone problem. Pore vs. pour. [Ed. Note: My sister corrected my English terminology. I incorrectly used the term synonym instead of the correct term, homophone.]

They also abused the parentheses in the mailer. (Which was redundant; if you're going to have another sentence, write another sentence.)

AT&T vs. NASCAR/SprintNEXTEL

NASCAR has it's head somewhere where it doesn't belong. NASCAR is attempting to sue AT&T to block AT&T from car sponsorship in the NEXTEL Cup. As title sponsor, NEXTEL most likely is pressuring NASCAR to prohibit competitors from sponsoring, or else Sprint/NEXTEL will pull the plug on the official sponsor of the Cup series.

That sends a great message to companies who are looking at sponsoring in a racing atmosphere. "Sure, go ahead and sponsor a car. Oh, it conflicts with OUR official series sponsor. Take your $100+ million elsewhere. We don't want you here."

I can understand NEXTEL not wanting competitors, but remember, it's the NEXTEL Cup. Not the Champion Spark Plug Cup or Whoever-comes-along Cup. They have the title naming rights. If Jeff Burton or Ryan Newman win, it's still going to be the NEXTEL Cup.

I look at it this way: If NASCAR is successful in removing AT&T from racing, it opens a precedent to remove ALL competing sponsors throughout all NASCAR series. For a list of Official Sponsors of NASCAR, click here.

It's a long list, but here are some highlights that NASCAR might want to take a look at. And for now we'll ignore cars vs. cars, like T. Stewart's Home Depot Chevy vs. J. Johnson's Lowes Home Improvement Chevy.

Official Sponsors

Allstate (Official Insurance)
Geico Insurance in Busch Series
Best Western (Official Hotel)
Holiday Inn in Busch Series
Budweiser (Official Beer)
Miller Lite car, Miller Lite race sponsor (at least there used to be)
Chevrolet (Monte Carlo) (Official Pace Car, Official Passenger Car)
Ford, Dodge, Toyota all have competing models.
Coca-Cola (Official Soft Drink)
Pepsi at tracks and associate sponsors, Pepsi 400 race
Dodge Charger (Official Passenger Car)
See Chevrolet above
Old Spice (Official Antiperspirant & Deodorant)
I just want to say: huh? how much did that cost?
Sprint NEXTEL (Official Series Sponsor)
Point of argument: Alltel and AT&T/Cingular
The Home Depot (Official Home Improvement Warehouse)
Lowes Car & Lowes Motor Speedway
Toyota (Official Partner/Manufacturer)
Wow.
Tylenol (Official Pain Reliever of NASCAR)
Goody's sponsor the #43
UPS (Official Delivery Service)
FedEx #11 car

Promotional Partners
Gulfstream (NASCAR Prefers Gulfstream)
So that's what my membership buys? Mike Helton's Gulfstream?

"You're it until you die or I find someone better." (ST)

9) Sometimes teams will have to hunker down and ignore the other just to be focused on the goal. It doesn't mean there is tension or they don't care. See #7.

Imagine you are creating the world's first craft that will orbit the earth. That craft has numerous systems for its operation, meaning there are numerous project teams going for the same goal. Everyone is under one banner. What happens when the orbital craft booster team can't figure out a proper firing sequence? Do they run to the rocket propulsion engineers? Sure. The brainpower of the bunch could solve the problem. But what if the rocket propulsion engineers are facing their own problem? Like creating enough boost to lift 800,000 pounds off the Earth.

Teams going for the same goal not only need to be talented enough to solve its own problems, but also need to work autonomously. Some teams don't need to know certain details because they are not relevant to the others. The rocket propulsion team doesn't really need to know that the interior wiring team used black, white, and striped wires because in a green or red light environment, colors look similar.

In your team communications, what information is really necessary for the other teams to accomplish the goals? Does finance need to know the color of the box is blue to signify water and calmness? Does marketing need to know the new 400,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility will be delayed 4 months because of a labor dispute?

Information should not have to be drilled down. It takes a bit of tact and skill to ask the correct questions, and direct people to the answer that is needed to move forward.

So when a team is focused on accomplishing its goal, everything is white noise until it affects the forward progress of the teams.

"Hey Peter....What's happening......." (OS)

8) Be prepared to fight for some territory between teams. Just hug it out. Hug it out.

If you want a particular asset, fight for it. Or at least provide sound reasons for getting your own. Don't just throw a tantrum and expect to get your way. If the teams begin to step on each other's toes, than catch it early and resolve it. Maybe it's time to expand. Also realize that whatever asset is in the tug-o-war, objectively look at which team needs it the most.

"Nobody puts Baby in the corner." (DD)

I just thought this was funny. Imagine if it really happened.

"Nobody tosses a Dwarf!" (LOTR:FOTR)

Ever wonder why drive thrus are on the opposite side of a fast-food joint? It's not because it's a better safety system to keep moving vehicles away from walk-in customers. It's not because it's a efficient use of land. It's not because it allows drive-thru customers the opportunity to see which workers smoke, or do worse than cook your food.

It's because having a drive-thru on the opposite side (that is- you can't see it when you pull in) is a customer will never know the line is backed up until after you order and get caught in the labyrinth.

Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice...
7) If everyone is focused on the same goal, no one should feel left out or discouraged.

Everyone on the team has different skill sets and abilities. Along those lines, they have their own expectations of performance. I don't expect to run a 4.4 40 dash. Prolly not even 6 sec. Same with other expectations. Have goals, aim for them, and have respectable expectations.

Additionally, everyone on the team has varying degrees of responsibility. Just because the Head Coach won "Coach of the Year", that doesn't make the lineman coach any less valuable. And on the other hand, the authority and responsibility is quite different between the coaching levels.

It's the end result- performance- that matters. The different roles culminate to create a winning team.

"I don't need you! I only need this chair. And maybe this stapler." (Paraphrased- TJ)

6) Economies of scale do not apply in regards to physical things. Creative and intellectual, yes.

Easy here. More people in the teams, more you need to supply them. Some need expensive tools. Each team member is unique and must be catered to in some regard. Sure, Post-It notes and staplers you can buy in bulk. But not a Quad-Quad G5 Power Mac with 16GB of RAM, 1.5TB of storage, and a 30" LCD monitor. Plus software. If none of that made any sense, it's a geek-out. Office space, phones, anything that a new member gets, it's always a onesy-twosy thing. No start-up really gets a bulk discount for ordering 300 Herman Miller Aeron chairs for a starting staff of 5.

Additionally, as a team grows, the "buying" of people (salary, bonuses) doesn't get cheaper with the more you "buy". The return is through creative ideas, smarter working processes, departmentalized work, and sharing of the workload. Essentially an increase in the bottom line.

"I have no responsibility here whatsoever." (AFGM)

I picked this little ditty up from Brand Autopsy's site. I'm not here to condone leaking information, but upon reading it, the report doesn't really shed any new light on Wal-Mart's brand positioning.

1) They are known for cheap (inexpensive) items.
2) The corporate buying power of Wal-Mart (WM) can make or break a product, small chains, mom & pop stores.
3) Wal-Mart patrons are stereotypically not a middle/upper middle class. What the true demographic of a WM shopper is, I don't know. I don't shop there, in fact, I've only been in WM 3 times- Star Wars triolgy (VHS) and Hot Wheels ($.75).

After seeing this report, is it any doubt WM doesn't lead any category listed? I even doubt the evaluation of the so-called leading companies named. Best Buy

Every company the report is gauging beats WM in quality, presentation, and knowledgeable sales staff.

I call this the "service environment." Best Buy has a lot of equipment, and the sales staff is there to help you decide on the equipment. Sidebar: I usually know better what I'm about to purchase then them. Additionally, the Internet is usually cheaper and you can get the exact product you want.

Walgreens is the corner drugstore. WM is the corner MEGA-Store. Around here, not only is Walgreens easier to find, you can actually park and get in and out in less than 15 minutes. All in all, the report (hopefully WM didn't have to pay for it) is a huge "Captain Obvious!" If the boardroom didn't know this already, than WM is lost as far as Sam Walton's intention.

It stimulated questions that all businesses should ask themselves. Or anyone who performs a service.

1) What is your core competency?
2) Are you trying to do too much?
3) Why are you trying to become a market leader?
4) Do we evaluate and create "Captain Obvious" reports because WE aren't on the pulse?
5) Is there a problem with having someone else be better than you?

"Fixed the newel post!" (CV)

5) Tools can be shared between teams, but crucial (read: expensive) tools have to be doubled.

Sure, everyone can borrow a cup of sugar or share the same user manuals, but each team needs to have its own set of tools. Tools are used to get the job done, whether the job is changing a light bulb or using a multi-million dollar HD video satellite distribution system. So each team needs either access to the same toolbox, or a separate toolbox for its very own.

On the race team, we share one toolbox, but have duplicate tools for each team to use. These are crucial tools; like car radios, tire equipment (measurement tools), battery chargers, and tire pyrometers (basically a tire thermometer). A tire pyrometer costs a few hundred bucks for a top-of-the-line product, and since Team A has one, Team B needs to have the same one because tools remain constant among the users. Car communications also are important. A set of radios for the car and driver setup, crew sets, battery chargers, belts, and extraneous parts, it can cost up to $5,000 for the tools. It isn't cheap, but these are the tools required to get the job done, and both teams need them.

The basic and oddly-used hand tools are not expensive and can be readily used and available between the teams. On the race team, $500-600 would double the amount of hand tools available and replace missing ones.

In relation to expansion, another critical tool that can't be duplicated (and is expensive) is the leader of the new team. It isn't possible to sustain two teams that share one leader. Each team will have to become autonomous, yet still strive for the same goals.

"Show him the watch. Go on, show him. It's a Rolex." (DH)

4) Each team has a different communication mix.

This one to me is fairly obvious. Think about Team A. Been around for a while, people are comfortable with who they work with, the interaction is fluid. Anyone who doesn't share the team vision has departed the team, or has made peace with just doing their part.

Team B comes along. New group of people. New interaction with others. Some people in Team A move to help Team B grow, which can be a problem for those entrenched in the Team A environment. The internal communication mix suddenly becomes diverse in Team B, and adds a new mix with Team B to Team A.

If the Teams are located in different areas, like church campuses, then Team B may use different communications techniques to the Team and its audience. Urban downtown location is busy, busy, busy, so e-mail, street posters, handouts and noisy cell phone calls may be the most effective tools. In Rural farmland, a home phone call for 45 minutes, a letter, and a house visit may be effective tools. Each tool requires different content, delivery, and lead time to effectively present the Team goals.

The quicker a communication mix is understood and adapted to, the quicker Team B can perform. No dropped projects, miscommunication of main points, and everyone stays on the same road.

"POW!"

My nephew is awesome! He had a little spill on a pogo stick and had some slight trauma. He is a tough kid and good sport. Although I really don't want to see him on the MTV show "Scarred".

"You moved the headstones but not the bodies?!" (P)

It's kinda odd, but the post title comes from the movie Poltergeist where Craig T. Nelson's character is talking with the house builder/developer about why the ghosts are terrorizing their house. The builders built the houses over a graveyard, but just moved headstones, not the graves of the dearly departed. All the other houses are fine, just the one is possessed. Hmm, what went wrong?

It ties in with rule #3 of growing a second team:
3) The same thing in one team won't necessarily work in the other.

Each team has different personalities that must mesh to perform. Social interaction is different. Economy of a region is different. It can be argued that McDonald's, Wal-Mart, AM/PM are a direct rebuttal to this rule. I argue that these companies have some or all of the following: high employee turnover, lackluster customer service, and sell commodities low on perceived value. That doesn't exactly mean successful in my book. Sure, the profits are good, but to consumers gain anything other than bigger guts, lower patience thresholds, or broken lawn furniture?

Head coaches find this out when they move to new teams. It takes a few years to make the team perform, and that is after overhauling the roster. In baseball, managing a Triple-A team is a lot different than a MLB team. Same goes for being a plant manger in Minnesota to being transferred to Texas.

Teams will need to be managed based on skill sets and personalities, not previously established norms or assumptions. Similar processes can work, but finding the right people to use those processes is key.

"I want a Red Ryder BB gun!" (ACS)

2) Not every team will be equal or treated equally.

Skill levels of team member determine this. Each has to grow to the potential the team is heading. External forces will change how each team is treated. An established, successful team may be given favoritism or trust because that team has already connected with external influences and is a known quantity. The new team will go through hazing, skeptics, an air of contemptment (why can't you be like your brother!), and other issues.

It comes back to the fact each team is different and has various communication mixes. A new team is expected to be very similar to a existing team because the same formula was followed, or the same model was used. It just happens that teams have unique ingredients and will be different.

"Game over, man! Game over!" (A)

1) Team leaders will always help or guide the team in most need. And usually the team in most need is the new team.

Sometimes extra guidance or assistance will be needed because new teams don't exactly mesh and perform right away. After one team has been established, the new team usually has an unspoken expectation to perform similar to the established team. That doesn't happen because teams need time to meld and find their chemistry.

Team leaders will be needed to help guide a new team. While that "help" comes in different forms, sometimes it means removing oneself from the main team and going to work for the new team. This affects both teams in great amounts.

Team 1 loses a valuable player who has a role and everyone trusts that person will complete that role. Team 2 gains experience and knowledge. Team 1 will have to find someone new and fill the void, and reform the team. Team 2 will have the new leader form his/her expectation of a team with new members that are completely different. A smart team leader will realize the different personalities and learn to pull the power each member has, rather than trying to form an identical copy of Team 1.

Information sharing between the teams is also help. Sometimes a Team 2 doesn't have preconceived notions that Team 1 has, and can solve particular problems quicker. Transfer that knowledge to Team 1 and improve performance.

Teams helping teams benefits performance because the efforts of each team are not wasted trying to solve the same problem or gain knowledge already obtained. Think about how we learn to read. Someone who knows how taught someone who didn't. Sure, the teacher read rudimentary literature, but the beginner was able to understand so much faster than going it alone.

"The human head weighs 8 pounds." (JM)

My last post I brought up the point that starting a second race team will probably be similar to starting a second church. Of course that statement is a bit simplified, but I think concepts exist between the two teams that similarities will overlap.

Speaking of teams, if you haven't read Roger Habich's blog, he is focusing on the Total Velocity Motorsports team. Eventually he will get to a couple of team members that play a back-stage role that is really important in projecting the excellence of the race team. They may not be able to be at the track during race day, but the job they do is top-notch and appreciated by everyone who works on the car. It is an example of all the men and women behind the scenes that pull off a Sunday morning experience at TRC.

And segue back into my two-team management and interaction model:

The [unscientific and unproven] laws of 2 [1 established, 1 new] teams:
1) Team leaders will always help or guide the team in most need.
2) Not every team will be equal or treated equally.
3) The same thing in one team won't necessarily work in the other.
4) Each team has a different communication mix.
5) Tools can be shared between teams, but crucial (read: expensive) tools have to be doubled.
6) Economies of scale do not apply in regards to physical things. Creative and intellectual, yes.
7) If everyone is focused on the same goal, no one should feel left out or discouraged.
8) Be prepared to fight for some territory between teams. Just hug it out. Hug it out.
9) Sometimes teams will have to hunker down and ignore the other just to be focused on the goal. It doesn't mean there is tension or they don't care. See #7.
10) Team notes are to be shared. Keeping them separate is key, but definitely share them and make them accessible.

If I don't go ADD, I'll try and explain each point and provide support for my thoughts.

"By the power of Greyskull!" (HF)

I got called off the bench this week- the #70 race car was out along with the #76. Some people may think two cars is not that much different than running one car. Whatever you do to one car, you do to the other, right? Uh, not exactly.

After a practice day, the TVM race team brought home two cars, one of which was clanking. The clank was the new rear end, and it happened to be the #76 car (gunning for a NASCAR State Championship). Since the practice was on a Friday, not all of the team could be there; and with two cars work actually doubles at the track. There is no economies of scale in racing. Buying in bulk doesn't work in the racing world unless it is rags from Costco or Sharpies from Staples.

Friday night was spent re-decaling the #70 car, decaling the #76, fixing some little things on the #70, fixing some BIG things on the #76, and getting enough sleep to be able to function on Sunday.

Saturday morning I picked out some tires to race and practice on. Put some finishing touches on the #70 car and loaded for the track. The #76 was still on jackstands. The team pulled out a set-up change out of the hat and threw everything but a new steering wheel at the car.

At the track it felt like old times when I first crewed on a late model car. At the track it was usually Roger, Steve (crew chief), me, and Roger's buddy Scott made most of the races. This week it was Jeff, Eddie, Dan, and me. We made two practice sessions, which was valuable seat time for Jeff. He was able to build from Friday's practice and race against some folks in practice.
About 35 minutes before practice ended, the #76 car rolled in and unloaded and made the final practice. A few crucial laps were all that was needed for Roger and the team to feel confident in the car.

For those first minutes when the #76 arrived, a minor chaotic storm brewed as everyone was hurried to get the #76 car on the track. It was the first real race where two cars needed to be prepped, set-up, supported and managed by the team. I made some observations about our work flow, as I've always dreamed about overseeing a multi-car operation. I've also kept in mind that TVM is fairly young as a team, with some racing veterans.

This might be long-winded, as my posts often are, but it struck me as we were getting ready to qualify. Running a two-car team, one veteran and one rookie, is going to be a whole lot like starting a new church. But I'm saving that one for later.

"Flame on!" (FF)

I so need a lens in the range of 50-80mm 2.8. This picture is one of the better night shots.

"Cameron is so tight, if you stuck a lump of coal..." (FBDO)

from imdb.com: But Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post suggests that the movie may be ill-timed. "Blacksburg is still numb. The rest of us are still reeling. And Hot Fuzz, which pokes fun at America's fetishistic gun culture while deliriously wallowing in it, now arrives on screens striking a tone of antic overkill that, from its giddy lock-and-load sight gags to its climactic shootout on a placid village green, right this minute seems oddly tone-deaf and tasteless."

The Virginia Tech shooting is definitely tragic and my heart goes out to those that are affected by a crazy person. But condemning a movie that was filmed last year and has been known about for months just because it is released the weekend after a horrible event is close-minded and hyper-politically correctness-sensitivity overboard.

If you didn't like the movie (Hot Fuzz, a British parody of American action/cop/buddy movies), just say so. Don't bring in outside news events that just happen to correlate to a minuscule degree. If Ms. Hornaday is trying to call the film distributors to act with corporate responsibly, maybe she should call on the news stations that blare the non-stop violence 24/7 when an act of violence happens.

If Ms. Hornaday is using this viewpoint to explain why the movie may not do well at the box office, I think she should focus on her job and review movies, not estimate movie grosses or call it "tasteless".

I'm watching LOST online right now. My point is something that is simply obvious to me, and don't know how it got overlooked by the writers.

1) 40 some people are stuck on the beach.
2) 3 have come back from a compound on a smaller island.
3) 4 have come back from a HOUSING COMPLEX on the BIG island.
4) 1 person has the code to turn off the fence.
5) 4 people believe everyone who lived in the housing complex is gone.

Why doesn't Jack (and Juliette would need to be persuaded) lead everyone back to the village and everyone can sleep in a regular bed, have water, maybe electricity. How did this plot GRAND CANYON skip the creative LOST team?

Wouldn't someone on the island be asking all these questions about Jack and where he was, etc? I know if all these folks came back alive, I'd be asking where they were, how to get back, and move there.

"I've seen it on ESPN. The coverage is excellent." (DoT)

So head over to Evergreen Speedway's website and on your left is a non-scientific poll (alright, popularity contest) on the early pick for track champion. Roger Habich currently is in 2nd place. We need to vote him up to 1st.

Internet- be a focused laser beam and skyrocket Roger to the top!

And here's a pic for views:

"I am NOT Hootie." (JM)

I've been listening to Hootie & The Blowfish lately. I love college rock; songs that tell stories.

Back on track-
I was perusing CMS and came across this little ditty and laughed. It was a blatant copy of Fellowship Church's series. The graphic FC has up isn't what they were running with during the series itself. But the concept is very similar. There is a site affiliated with CMS, Fickr, which has a bulletin board for comments. One comment called out the copier, who replied to the effect: we didn't copy, we took their idea and made it our own.

Right.

It brings up a murky point regarding information- what is truly accurate for information on the web? Some prescribe if it's on the 'Net, it must be true. Or if it comes in an email, it's as good as gold.

Wrong.

Information has to come from a verified source, and one must consider the integrity of the source. Take this blog for example. Most everything is my opinion on a wide range of subjects. My disclaimer at the bottom states that. As is my personality, I cringe when I know something I posted or have seen posted is not accurate. Because ultimately, decisions are made on available information, so that better be right. Else you end up in Cleveland, not Cle Elum.

Make sure the information you receive is accurate; check multiple sources. And cite your sources. Me, Myself, and I are not credible information sources, fyi.

So if you copy an idea from a HUGE church, don't think others have seen the source material and call you out. As my pastor has said many times before, my generation has been let down by every major institution- church (scandals), Wall Street (financial collapse), government (Bill C.), etc. We don't need the Internet to fail us or the generations to come.

"I want a white house with blue shutters." (TN)

Where to begin? It has been a busy, busy two weeks. After working on Easter service preparations and the stage redesign, today has been a welcome day of rest. Now that the stage is up, let me explain our concept through the development process.

1) Meet to discuss layout, changes, goals to be accomplished with new stage
a) Move drums and sound cage out of side sightlines to the video screens
b) Change aspect ratio to 16:9 screens from 4:3
c) Add space to stage for more room for worship team
d) Add space for intimate speaking platform
2) Come up with a design
a) Something different than previous design
b) A concept that adds height to stage
c) A concept that adds background in video display
3) Determine materials and obtain cost for budgeting
4) Determine color palette and texture
5) Obtain materials and begin pre-build
6) Clear stage of previous set
7) Finish build onsite
8) Begin ideas for next stage concept

Things come up during the concept build, and everything evolves within the concept. Our current stage is a version of our concept, but far from exact. Adjustments had to be made, but I think everything came out fine.

I'll attempt to get some pics of the current stage up.

"I said to Hollywood, 'Where'd he go?' and Hollywood said, 'Where'd WHO go?!" (TG)

A block of cheese. A funny commercial. Or just copying a look straight out of the local Costco or Best Buy or Staples. That's how creativity can happen, or not happen.
A block of cheese? How? If you are stuck creatively, take some odd, non-related item (like a block of cheese) and try to utilize that in your ideas. The cheese will hopefully springboard your ideas elsewhere, along thought tangents you never thought of before. A simple odd piece will help get around that wall you've placed in your creative mind.
A funny commercial can also help change your message or influence a creative aspect. Like the Taco Bell Carrrrrne Asada commercial, what if TB went off that joke and used penguins or turtles?
If you decide to copy something that's already done by someone else, that's not exactly creative. How you implement it might be, though. Sometimes time crunches and limited resources make it unlikely to be unique and original, so borrowing from something else might be the best alternative.

"What's in the box?!" (S)

Mitosis came and went. Fantastic! It came so fast and flew by so quick, it's almost like nothing happened. Except something did. I think everyone who participated in Mitosis learned some valuable lessons from John Bevere.
Now we're working on Easter Sunday. Which this year will contain 3 services. 3! 9, 10:30, & 12 on April 8th. Obviously invite your friends to The Rock Church for that day, 'cause they will see some spectacular and moving things.

Part of my blog is also to be about writing. And I haven't posted anything about writing. So now I'll touch that subject.

Writing is key in communicating your message to people. People comprehend writing at various levels. Some like bulleted lists, some like long expository writing. Transferring the information is what needs to be in the forefront of your mind when composing. Especially if the correspondence is task-driven.
This is what I mean:

If you have the time, or can fit it in, please try to complete the tasked mentioned in our meeting last Tuesday. Thank you and look forward to hearing from you sometime next week.

This is a highly ambiguous task. When is what needed by? A better way of phrasing a request is this:

Please complete the following by Friday, March 31st:
1) Paint ceilings with Off-White paint in cupboard
2) Move television from stand to new entertainment center
3) Call plumber to clean guest bathroom

If any of these items cannot be completed by Friday, please submit a realistic deadline to me by Monday, March 26th. When tasks are completed, please let me know.
Thank you.

The second communication spells out exactly what needs to be done and by when. It never hurts to say "please" and "thank you" and while some of it may come across as impersonal, it gives actionable items that need to be done. Firm language gives a sense of purpose and urgency, while using terms like "if you could" or "maybe this week" leaves an impression that the task is not that important.

And my spelling tip for the day:

They're going on a picnic over there with their family. They are. There is a place. Their is owned.

We're not coming all the way out here just to get one of those stupid ties with Santa Clauses on it are we? (CV)

T-minus 12 hours 'till Mitosis (as of 6:15AM Thurs). Mitosis is The Rock Church's conference on regional ministry; how to go from a local-focused church to a region-focused church. It's pretty exciting coming down to launch time.

Putting on this event has been a tremendous challenge and learning opportunity. Many people don't realize the time and effort it takes to put on a event. It's akin to a wedding. Caterers, decorators, ushers, wedding party, etc. Last minute changes and additions. "Doh!" moments.

I don't want to ruin the surprise of what we've done, 'cause it's pretty cool. There are a lot of components that have come together that make this event quite stand-alone from regular TRC events. I know that everyone has worked diligently and continuously, early morning and late nights. The interns have been busy and I hope they are taking valuable notes (other than to disappear when we have another event- just kidding!).

I have been to a few conferences and large events. Seeing industry shows and being an exhibitor at the shows have given me some insight into how things flow during the event. This is my first experience being part of the host, not just a visitor/exhibitor. We have a tremendous team here that have done an awesome job getting things in order.

Mitosis: The Power of Multiplication is important for church growth because it will impart true vision on the growth of our church. Visiting churches coming to the conference will be able to leverage this knowledge in growing their own church.

People may wonder why a church would hold a conference of this magnitude, and what would it gain from the conference? It is that one person we all know who needs God's love. It is that one person who's life is spiralling out of control. It is that one person who can lead many but is tending the flock. It is that one.

1

1 Count of Jealousy (Wild Hogs)

My work computer is set up with dual monitors. Mainly it's a cheaper alternative than using a huge 24" widescreen monitor. But maybe I'll upgrade later. If anyone spends a lot of time writing/designing or even working with spreadsheets, this is the only way to go.
Two monitors makes it easier to multitask. It's easier to copy and paste things or retype things in formats I can't copy. And if I want someone to take a quick read of a document I just typed, they can read it on one screen while I work on a different project on the other screen.
And for multimedia. I can run video podcasts or other longer videos on one side and my work on the other. It's a great setup.
Using Photoshop or Illustrator is great with two monitors (or even a large widescreen) because you can view a large page without it being obscured by the layer/colors/tools windows in the applications.

All in all I can't see going back to one monitor, unless it's a really large one. I'm thinking of maybe going to three, but that might be a bit of overload.

It's Ryan's b-day today. A big, hearty "ARRRRGGGGG" to RB.

I'm kind of a big deal (Ron Burgundy)

My pastor, Jeff Knight, returned from his excursion to the hub of NASCAR country, and he came out unscathed. Meaning he isn't saying "y'all" and still sounds like a Northwesterner. He had an awesome opportunity to drive a stock car around Atlanta Motor Speedway and tour a Nextel Cup garage. Pastor Jeff was joined by Roger Habich, a successful race driver in his own right (and my bro-in-law), and they saw just how large a Cup operation is. When you see how large your hobby can get, I think anyone would be impressed, myself included.

Other notes & rambling-
1) If a car has an auto-lowering power window, why can't it have an auto-up? (Scion, I'm talking to you). Yes, I own a Scion xB, which is affectionately referred to as the "toaster."
2) Paper towel dispensers should always be at an average height roughly 48 inches off the ground. High enough so really tall people don't have to stoop, but low enough that average people won't have water dripping down their sleeves waiting for the towels to come out. At The Rock Church, dispensers are at level where water won't drip down my sleeves as I wave my hand across the electric eye.
3) Music should be piped into bathrooms. Note I said music, not muzak. I think it's quite uncomfortable to do work when everything echoes and sometimes gets amplified. Other times I think it's hilarious; usually when I'm not the one in the stall.
4) Why are the milkshake machines at Burger King always broken?
5) Why do people like raisins in cinnamon rolls? Are they the ones who also like black licorice? Hu-ehh.
6) My sister recently had surgery on her foot and long story short, she has a little dolly for her casted leg to rest on while she tools about. She has two sons, so I'm sure that dolly is getting worked over in ways it was never designed for. It has a hand brake, too. I'm wondering how long until that dolly has a 50cc motor on it. And wheelie bars.
7) McDonald's is recruiting workers using the food bags. Why not skip a step and print the application directly on a bag that the potential employee can turn in?

I would've got him 10! (Liar Liar)

Here's an idea: what would you do if you didn't care about what others would think? What really confines your creative juices, shuts down the creative process?

Asking the question: Do we really want to do that? Or maybe this one- People really won't like that, will they?

True creativity doesn't get boxed in by questions. Sometimes creativity goes horribly wrong. But I'm not discussing bad creativity. Just the process itself. To keep creative moments and ideas, the creative leads can't abandon an idea because it may not fit within the traditional experience.

Whatever new elements you can use to get your message across is a creative moment. If repeated efforts of the same medium are used, the message will become bland and stagnant. Inspiration can come from many aspects in our life. Media is a great influence. Architecture, web design, clothing. The creative filter of your mind absorbs the sights and sounds around us to come up with something fresh and innovative.

Hello Boys, I'm BAACCKKKK! (ID4)

It's been a while since I posted, and a bit has happened since then. Let's start off with the recent.

I was part of a team from The Rock Church who went to Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX for FC's annual Creative Church Conference (C3). Led by Ed Young, it's a great event that opens up FC's doors to pastors and leaders from churches that want to spread the gospel in a relevant manner. If you are looking for inspiration and permission on what can be done within church confines, I suggest you take a look at going to C3.

Guest speakers at C3 vary year to year, but all are leaders of successful churches- Craig Groeschel, TD Jakes, Andy Stanley, Mark Driscoll and others have had the wonderful opportunity at speaking at C3. This year had Ed Young's father, Ed Young, speak. And what he said was vindication to me for something that has troubled churches like The Rock Church and similar churches that present the gospel outside traditional boundaries. It is something that can be a standard answer to many creative churches in the world.

Has your church been accused or recieved comments of the following nature:
- The music is too fast or modern
- It has fancy tvs/screens/projections/lights in a church
- Too many people dress up making me feel underdressed and uncomfortable
- There's too much technology within the church building- children's check-in, bathrooms, info booths
- What does a coffee stand have to do with God and Jesus Christ?

If you accept that the church is the bride of Christ, then I propose this answer:

If I am looking for a bride, I want a bride that is attractive to me, contains the qualities I desire, I can grow with, I have similar interests, get along with not only her friends, but also her family. Also, my bride must obviously want me for who I am, for who I am to be, and be my partner in life.

Back to the elder Ed Young. He said the church is the bride of Christ, and that the bride of Christ must be beautiful. And I'll take that statement a bit further and submit that beauty is not just a beautiful building and trappings, since life cannot be that shallow. Beauty comes from the inside, from actions, feelings, beliefs, morals, little things, and a sense of bondage to someone you care about.

To attract people to Christ, the bride of Christ must be attractive to those looking for a partner. Regardless of what you believe your church looks like, it has to be beautiful to those searching. And remember that it isn't YOUR church. It is God's church, and as a leader or member of the church, YOU represent the beauty of the church.

Carrrrrne Asada!

One of the best Super Bowl Commercials

Laughing Baby

Just thought this was funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjXi6X-moxE

I Like Network Television Executives: Not So Much

One of my favorite shows (of all time) is probably going to be cancelled because network executives want high ratings so they can charge expensive ad rates so their 3.1 million dollar apartment in Manhattan is paid for.

The show is Studio 60. I enjoy Aaron Sorkin's writing and storytelling ability. The West Wing, A Few Good Men and The American President, are all very good entertainment. I never got into Sports Night, I only caught a few shows.

Studio 60 is pulling low numbers for some odd reason. Heroes is a hit, yet S60 doesn't carry the audience into its show. Viewership takes a nosedive. That is because the audiences the shows are geared at are completely different.

While I don't have the data, I'm assuming Heroes has a majority of viewers under the age of 30. S60 probably has a majority of viewers over 30. I think it might be explained better if you compared Smallville followed by Dynasty and expect the same audience size.

I hypothesize another factor in viewership lag. The Internet. I think a nice size chunk of Heroes fans run off to Internet message boards, fan sites and chat rooms after the show and discuss the night's episode.

Another factor is Monday night time slot. The first day of the work week. I think some viewers just want to go to bed and forget the day they just had.

S60 is not for everyone. Television is so compartmentalized in content, fighting for huge numbers will only result in seven nights of train wrecks and violence. The show isn't poorly produced or written. Storylines carry over week-to-week and some things are not resolved in 40 minutes.

There have been many great shows cancelled because of low advertising money. Maybe studio executives need to change their model for ad sales. Waste money on a broad audience or invest in a target audience? Support quality television or feed into the dumbing down of America?

Man it would suck if all we had to choose from was Survivor:Azores/Canary/Kodiak American/Canadian/Paraguay Idol, CSI:Fargo/NY/Miami/Vegas/Chicago/Boise, and whatever "new" game show from BBC the networks steal.

Side note: Yeah, let's have Survivor in a really worthwhile place. Like Siberia, Alaska, or Antarctica. Guaranteed not to have any nekkid folks running about.

Apple ends lawsuit.

So after quite a while Apple has ended the lawsuit with record company Apple. I saw this cool video thought you'd like it.

Corneas' Burning!

Back to the Big Game ads. What was Garmin really thinking? Running a spoof of Godzilla movies and Mecha-Streisand jokes about maps vs. GPS to today's generation is quite risky. It was a stretch for many of us who watched the commercial to connect the dots between Mecha-Map and Garmin.

Unless you take into consideration racial stereotypes.

1) Who is the primary audience of Asian movies that was portrayed in the commercial (horrible scale, bad effects, low production values)?
2) Who is constantly mocked by media, comedians, etc., about having poor driving skills?
3) Who are technology-savvy and gadget-crazy?

Answer: 18-49 year old white guys! Kidding. I think there was an underlying message being sent by Garmin in the ad. "Look! It's Mapzilla! Buy Garmin GPS driving computer and drive like an American!" Is that what the ad is implying? Or am I reading into it a bit much?

And kudos for the American Heart Association to pull enough donations to pay for a $2.6 mil spot. I'm sure everyone who donated was happy to see an old guy in tights playing a heart. With some sweet 1999 Matrix rejects. I can imagine the meeting on that one: "We have enough money to get a game spot, but nothing is left over for creative. What do we have for ideas?" I think if they had Judge Judy or Dr. Phil point right back at the viewer and say "HEY! These guys are trying to tell you something!"

But that's about it for my commentary about the Big Game commercials. I've said my piece. There were some winners and some really, really bad eggs. And way to go NFL for putting a kibosh on everyones plans for a party for the big game that couldn't because you said "It's MY sandbox!"

2.6 Million- What did it buy?

So the big game ads- which ones were worth 2.6 million? I honestly didn't watch the second half, so I'll have to check the ads later. But for the first half, here are the ones I remember as the best.

1) Doritos Hot/Smooth/Crunchy commercial. That was funny for many reasons. It had a unexpected twist in the commercial. It had product qualities presented creatively. And it was plain funny. I knew the guy was going to crash, it was pretty obvious, but the timing was great. The girl tripping and having chips fly all over was hilarious and detailed.

2) Blockbuster Rabbit/Hamster use a mouse. How many times can we play with this premise of synonyms? Are we tired of it? Only when it's funny and not dumb. Like Blockbuster's ad. Having a rabbit and hamster try using a real mouse to get movies is obviously not real, but fantastically humorous. It was kind of like the mouse always got picked on by the larger pets/rodents in the shop. Paints bunnies in a new bully light, don't it?

3) Snickers kiss. It was gross. But funny for the reaction. "We have to do something manly!" Never mind the fact I've never seen anyone eat a Snickers bar like that.

4) Sierra Mist Beard-Over. Yah, Jim Garrigan is underrated (Hotpocket!) and the sweet cut-offs and roller skates won the prize for wardrobe malfunction of the year. The karate ad was okay as an everyday ad, not up to the big game hype.

5) GM Car Wash Guys. Hilariously gross and funny. Just wish they used something like an XLR or C6 instead of a PT Cruiser stung by a bee. And having a guy skinnier than Kate Moss is freakishly funny.

6) Bud Light. Everything was funny except the gorillas. "I threw rock" and "fist pound is so 2006" will be catch phrases.

And to the ads that are just completely whiskey tango foxtrot:

1) Coke Video Game spoof. I've seen that ad for the past 6 months at movies. Didn't find it funny or creative or enlightening the times I saw it before. And financially, Coke marketing should be demoted for recycling a lame advertisement for 2.6 million.

2) Chevrolet. More evidence the suits don't care and are completely separated from consumers. No one sings about crappy GM cars, and rappers definitely DON'T roll 24s on a 2007 Impala. Maybe a '64.

3) Movie Studios. Stop wasting money in the big game. People won't remember what movies are out from a game ad. Besides, most people have already seen it on apple.com or imdb.com. TV trailers are old news.

4) Pizza Hut Jessica Simpson. Worst placement leading off the ad marathon, the ad was lamely directed and acted. It would have been funny if Pizza Hut lifted the "is it chicken or tuna" scenario with Ashlee's sister. Exactly. JSim is old news.

5) Sprint's Connectile Dysfunction. I hate regular ED ads this spoofs. Add to that Sprint/Nextel is regarded as one of the WORST cell companies. I know of few people who like Sprint. Nextel, ok but pricey.

Getting off my chest

I really, really dislike Trebuchet as a font. I have a small negative association with the font, but in addition to that, I don't like the pseudo-serif look it projects. It's own little i'm-not-sans-serif-nor-serif-font look just drives me nutty. Pick one side of the fence or the other. It reminds me of the overuse of Chicago, the old Apple font (I think that's what it was named). Shudder.

Just throwin' it out there. Trebuchet sucks.