It’s one of those nights when I don’t really feel like going to bed. I suppose having a laptop and being able to sit comfortably on the couch with technology at my fingertips doesn’t help.
So I decided to write a story. Haven’t done that in a while. Don’t expect much, it kind of sucks. A lot. And I use a naughty word. And I’m not taking the time to read it over. Or edit it. But it’s a story.
First time nonfiction writer Stacy Sullivan learns just how brutal the publishing world is with the publication of her book, Be Not Afraid, For You Have Sons in America: How a Brooklyn Roofer Helped Lure the U.S. Into the Kosovo War. I read too many stories like this. (link via Jordon Cooper)
Mark Graalman, drummer for Sanctus Real, on the iPod:
“I love it. We actually use it live on stage. A lot of the songs on the new record, some of them have loops and some tracks and all that kind of stuff. So we run a click track out the left channel on every song so we keep our tempo real solid. Some of the songs have tracks and loops we run out the right side and that comes out the house speakers. We just plug the iPod straight into the sound system and into our monitors.
“It makes my job as a drummer a little tougher: if I get off, then everybody’s going to know.”
I interviewed Graalman using an iPod equipped with the iTalk voice recorder. Forget shuffling tapes or minidiscs — keep all your interviews on one iPod, easily backed up to your computer. Now journalists can be cool, too.
(from the About page of the Church Marketing Sucks blog, a project I’ve been working on for a few months that just went public:)
Frustrate.
Something’s wrong with your church. Something’s wrong with the Church. Church marketing efforts and communication in general suck. We’ve got the greatest story ever told, but no one’s listening. The church has a problem communicating, and it’s time to change.
Educate.
We love the church, but it needs some help. Typos, cheesy logos, and bad clip art aren’t helping the cause. But snazzy marketing won’t save this ship, either. It’s not about being perfect, but there’s a better way to communicate. It’s authentic, it’s loving, and it knows how to spell.
Motivate.
This isn’t simply about putting butts in pews or selling glossy postcards. It’s about helping the church be the Church, and seeing lives changed as a result. If helping the church communicate better allows one person to finally glimpse the Gospel, then our work has been worthwhile. It may be fuzzy math, but God can worry about that.
Heritage USA used to be a thriving Christian resort tucked away in Fort Mill, S.C. and capital city for the infamous PTL Ministries and televangelist Jim Bakker. The residential resort used to draw 6 million visitors annually (nearby Paramount’s Carowinds brings in 2 million annually). People sold their homes and made the pilgrimage to Heritage USA to join the resort. But the Christian Mecca didn’t last.
Now the Christian paradise is in ruins and being sold piecemeal to developers. So much for a resort resurrection. Though the idea of an abandoned Christian resort/theme park sounds like a novel waiting to be written.
But with the new Billy Graham headquarters only a few miles across the state line in Charlotte, soon to be the new site of Billy Graham’s boyhood home, perhaps there’s yet hope for a Christian Mecca.
Forget clones, contrived love scenes and CGI comic relief. The original Star Wars trilogy comes out on DVD Sept. 21.
It’s the first time the classic series has been released on DVD, though it’s not exactly the beloved original. The DVD includes the 1997 special edition release of the movies with extra scenes and effects. It also includes an entire disc of bonus features, including a feature-length documentary of the Star Wars saga and a preview of next year’s Episode III, Revenge of the Sith.
LucasArts defends releasing the special editions as artist’s prerogative, though apparently Lucas wasn’t finished monkeying with the originals. The DVDs have newer shots that tie the originals to the prequels, including a cameo by Hayden Christensen in Return of the Jedi as Anakin’s spirit. USA Today highlights the other changes.
Time covers the DVD release (with pictures of a sun bathing Carrie Fisher and stunt double in Jabba’s slave outfit) focusing on the incredible hurdles George Lucas and company had to overcome to film the original.
Amazon is currently taking pre-orders of the four-disc set for $41.99 including shipping. It’s been number one in Amazon DVD sales since last weekend.
Biz Stone, author of the upcoming book Who Let the Blogs Out and “Blogger Senior Specialist” at Google, posted a list of ways to promote your blog. It’s written for Blogger users, but the advice is transferable. He has plenty of good tips and includes a link to Eugene Volokh’s suggestions on pitching your blog via e-mail.
Pretty interesting stuff, though I find it curious that Biz Stone has no blogroll, no comments and no trackback, all of which are good ways to increase traffic. Apparently Stone isn’t interested in traffic. (link via Jordon Cooper)
(anybody else wondering if “Biz Stone” is his real name?)
I think Radio Shack is beginning to live up to its name: a shanty for old technology.
OK, I’m really just riffing on an annoying in-store experience I had. I needed to get splitter for my cable so the one cord could go to my TV and my cable modem. They had plenty of splitters, but apparently they didn’t carry the kind that could handle the Internet. When I asked where to get one, the sales associate directed me to my cable company, which would charge me $50 for the splitter.
Dejected and annoyed, I wandered into CompUSA for another errand. On a whim I asked a sales guy about the splitter. He directed me to the TV section and pulled out the one I needed, priced the same as the ones Radio Shack had but supposedly wouldn’t work. Incredulous I asked the guy if would work for my Internet connection. He said he has six of them in his house and his cable TV and Internet work fine.
Smiling, I decided not to visit Radio Shack again.
The lead singer of All Star United, Ian Eskelin, is releasing his first solo album in ten years, Save the Humans, which comes out Sept. 21. You can get a taste for his solo sound with two free downloads from his site. For those hoping for a nostalgic trip, his new material is more akin to All Star United than his early 1990s solo work.
Vintage 21, an emerging church in Raleigh, N.C., has a stockpile of goofy promotional videos. The first few about a small group of one are pretty good, though a bit long. But the last several promote a series on Jesus in Mystery Science Theater 3000 style. As discussion starters they’re brilliant, if border-line sacrilegious (I like the last one the best). (link via Nick Ciske)