iPhone jerk

Well, this is an appropriate post to make before I leave to fly to Honduras. I hope you all have a good week, and if you think about it, pray for our team as we spend the week at Montana De Luz.
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The story is a "Squawk" from the tracking web site, Flight Aware. Many thanks to Tyler, who was watching his wife fly to her destination during my sermon on Sunday, and subsequently pointed me to this site.

And now... for you iPhone users...how NOT to use your iPhone.

One of our subscribers sent me this story today. We all knew this one was inevitable when the latest iPhone commercial rolled out -- now didn't we?

"Oh joy! I can't wait for the next ground delay or long taxi due to weather somewhere to get a smart ass with a freakin I-phone shoving it in my face saying "It's NOT raining there... SEE !" Too late ... already happened to me. We push back, get advised of a ground stop in MEM due to storms in the area. Go to the penalty box and wait. My Captain does the lecture over the PA... not one minute later, we get dinged from the F/A "Some guy with an IPhone says the weather is good, and wants to know what the real reason is for the delay. Is something wrong with the plane?"

I want to tell this clown what he can do with his IdiotPhone - but the Captain does it even better. He gets on the PA and makes the following announcement :

"If the passenger with the IPhone would be kind enough to use it to check the weather at our alternate, calculate our fuel burn due to being rerouted around the storms, call the dispatcher to arrange our release, and then make a phone call to the nearest Air Traffic Control center to arrange our timely departure amongst the other aircraft carrying passengers with IPhones, then we will be more than happy to depart. Please ring your call button to advise the Flight Attendant and your fellow passengers when you deem it ready and responsible for this multi-million dollar aircraft and its passengers to safely leave."

Needless to say, the pax was pretty embarrassed. The F/A later told us the rest of the plane was outright laughing at this dude. What a clown."

Technology...

You just got to love it.

glumbert - The Most Perfect Technical Glitch

Dustin and Jennifer

Thursday I did a photo shoot of Dustin and Jennifer. Honestly, I was disappointed because it was raining. I had all these ideas for a fall/outdoor shoot. I even scouted some locations. Wrote some ideas down in a notebook.

Rain and cold.

And the light was terrible.

So we spent the majority of the time on the couch.

Which brings me to a question: You photographers out there... how do you choose your best shots? I am going to post more on my Flickr than most people would post... pretty much a series of shots I took. I like them for different reasons. I guess if I were a pro, I would given them all of them as proofs and let them pick, but as I look at the shots, I like them for different reasons: light, composition, expression. So I plan ask you to vote. Also, I don't process my pictures much... so any ideas on exposure, cropping, etc, fire away.

Sorry to be so photography oriented lately... I just find it relaxing. And I'm really at a point right now where I need a hobby. :)

If you are interested in this kind of stuff, surf on over to my Flickr account and tell me what you think.

Car Phone Salesman

America's Got Talent. American Idol. Yea, does anyone else find Simon annoying? But it is always surprising to me the people who come on these shows and actually think they have an ounce of talent. I mean, how deceived can you be? They are giving away a million dollars! Come on!

Then you have Simon who gets to tell them they suck (and you are actually on his side for once). And you know it's coming. You know when you see them walk on the stage that this is really going to be bad. And you can see it in the faces of the judges. I mean, you don't want to judge someone before they even sing...but really...

Meet Paul Potts.

Paul Potts sells car phones and has a life dream of singing... wait for it... opera.

Help for parents

Oh my.

Just some rocks

My daughter has been having a difficult time adjusting to pre-school. For the most part, she does well with adults, but she just doesn't relate to kids. She doesn't like new places or new situations. And it's really hard, as a parent, to see her struggling with adjustment... and at age 3. Funny, a friend and I were talking about this a while back, but there is a lot of subtle pressure on parents for their kids to be "normal" (whatever that means). "Well, my child walked at [age]... well my chid can write her name... well my child knows the Periodic Table of Elements..." There is a line in "Beauty and the Beast" where Bell's father says, "What, my daughter, odd?" None of us want our kids to be "not normal" -- and there is always this pressure to compare.

Last week, I went to pick up my daughter at pre-school. All the kids were out playing on the playground. They were sliding down the slide. Playing tag. Laughing together.

My daughter was off by herself.

She was alone; laying on the ground, examining some rocks very closely. She looked so lonely... but more likely, she was just "lost in her own world" of concentration. But the scene seemed pitiful to me. I almost cried.

"What, my daughter? Odd?"

She saw me, ran to me and said, "I want to go home, Daddy!" So I picked her up and we went home.

Later, we were sitting around the table, talking about her day. "So, what did you do you do today, Lydia? [response] Why didn't you want to play with the other kids? [I don't know] Why were you laying there alone?" And she reached into her pocket, and pulled out these rocks. She said, "I was picking out these rocks for you, daddy, because I love you. Here you go."

So they are just some rocks. But they remind me of this amazing gift of a very thoughtful child. My daughter. No, she is not "normal." But I am not sure what normal is... and I love who she is and who she is becoming.

I can't believe...

I can't believe I'm about to post an email forward. Now nobody get any ideas. I generally hate it when people forward stuff to me. I use email largely for work and I don't need any cute stories... especially if they end with "Forward this to 10 of your best friends." And the truth is... these didn't come from email, but they sound like they should.
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I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

Garden Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?

How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink whatever comes out?"

Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta its rear end."

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

The Laura S shoot, the sequel

Well, Laura was a real sport, I needed the practice, and I actually had an hour of time free...so I grabbed my camera, ignored the rotten light and we made the best of it.

I am learning more how to tell people to move... and although I gave one direction pretty poorly (which caused lots of laughter and will remain between Laura and me) I think I did better this time. I came up with some new ideas, tried some new things, and am feeling more comfortable giving direction.

And Laura did a fantastic job.

Maybe it will just take me shooting tons of pictures and working with lots of people.

Again, if you don't mind, surf on over to my Flickr account and tell me what you think.

The Laura S shoot

Surf on over to my Flickr account and tell me what you think. I'm still really new at taking pictures of someone other than my daughter or wife. And to me, most of my pictures look the same... like I'm shooting senior pictures! My goal over the next couple of months is to get more creative with posing people... to bring out more personality.

Now for something different

I've been a fan of Julian Beever since 1999. I saw one of his chalk drawing in Chicago a number of years ago... and it is really stunning. His work has been the subject of email spam for a couple of years, but to see it live is something you will never forget.

He uses a technique called anamorphosis - which is a way to do perspective art so that something "abnormal" looks "normal" when viewed in a strange or different angle. Done well, anamorphosis can create the illusion of three dimensions. I actually studied this process taking some art classes and as a magician... it's actually used a LOT in magic (but don't tell anyone!).

So... I think Julian's work is a feast for the eyes. I have included some pictures here, but for more of his work, you can surf the web and find a bunch of stuff.

The "gospel"

"I guarantee there isn't a homeless person in Portland who couldn't tell you the gospel verbatim. They've had to listen to it three times a day to get a sandwich. They've heard about Christ, but they haven't seen Christ. Who will sit next to them while they panhandle, who will enter their world? I've had friends doing that for 15 years. That is seeing the gospel."

-Rick McKinley pastor of the Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon.
Taken from "Dei Laborers" in the Fall 2007 issue of Leadership journal.

You've heard of road rage?

Now... it's water rage.

Sometimes you really have to wonder about people.

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Man faces court over water-rage attack

1:24pm: Grandfather dies after being punched and kicked for watering his lawn.

Ken Proctor, 66, was watering his front lawn on Formosa Street in Sylvania, about 5.30pm yesterday when another man, 36, who was walking past the house, allegedly challenged him about water restrictions. The two argued and Mr Proctor turned the hose on the other man, wetting him,
police said. The 36-year-old allegedly attacked Mr Proctor, punching him, pushing him to
the ground and then kicking him.