Speaking of reviews

This one makes reading reviews worthwhile -

Good, But Not REALLY Good
By The Garbage Man from Oklahoma City, OK on 11/8/2007
Pros:
Realistic, Yellow
Cons:
Comes to Life, Evil, Fights My Dog
Best Uses:
Adults, Imaginative Play
Describe Yourself:
Garbage Man with Son
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

How you use the product:
Well, I use the Ultimate Bumble Bee/2008 Camaro for multiple tasks. It cooks my breakfast, does my son's homework, and feeds the fish. Sometimes, I bring it to work with me, and the guys get a kick out of its gentle design yet feirce facial features.

Things that are great about it:
The color. Yellow reminds me of bananas. I like bananas.

Things that aren't so great about it:
Well, due to its striking resemblance to a cat, my dog treats it as its natural enemy. Sometimes, I will come home to find my dog, Scruffy, battling the Ultimate Bumblebee, in a cage-match style of wrestling. Somehow, the Ultimate Bumblebee wins. Scruffy has a black eye, so I'm thinking that the UB comes to life when I'm not home. Very realistic... a little too realistic.

This is for the Transformer Bumblebee, for those wondering what he's talking about.

Seriously, you've got to be kidding me

I really wonder sometimes about people. I went to Circuit City to see if iPods were on sale, as that is what Monte will be getting for Christmas. So while browsing, I decided to read the customer reviews. Overall, they are very helpful, but every now and then, some bozo posts something like this -

Sound quality
1
Durability
1
Ease of downloading music
1
Cost-Benefit
1
Overall rating
1.0

well
Reviewer: bo from caflornia on Nov 11, 2007
1 out of 10 found this review helpful

well i gess tis ipod i wel got for it s moey so geet oen now pelease

Huh? Do some people just post reviews for the pleasure of bringing down a rating?

Oh, and they are on sale, but not for much. Do I wait for a better deal?

The internet is a grand place

I went online earlier today, in search of a sight witnessed on my drive to Kentucky. I thought the search might take awhile, but apparently, Google knew exactly what I wanted to find, and offered it at the top of the results.

A couple of results down was a site referenced by my sister a few days ago (but I can't remember for what), so I decided to check it out. Interesting site. Some of the points mentioned in the postings reflect conversations that I have had with Bec, Monte, and my small group in recent weeks. This one especially hit me - I brought up a similar concern within my small group, and then I began to wonder if I was describing not just the church in general, but me in particular. The original post was about Dove's Campaign For Beauty, applauding a company that "[shows] us that it's OK to be ourselves."

This is so great and sad at the same time. Sad because the Church is afraid of this kind of message, imagery, and in your face truth. Sad because people are capitalizing on people's need to feel excepted (sic) for who God made them. They will buy into this product and company that only seeks to use them for money, when the church should be marketing this message simply to love on people. Yet we don't want to love on people, nor do we want to extend ourselves out to those in need. We'd rather sit in our pews and feel loved by our God and go home and eat brunch and feel holy.

A spiritual challenge found online, just because I wanted to show my mom this picture.

How nasal is your accent?

I recently ran across this article, and I admit, I was a little confused. I admit that I have a slight nasal accent, but certainly not to the point that is described in the article. Nor have I even noticed such extreme examples as are highlighted. I have always attributed our accent to the constant stuffiness due to season changes and allergies.

I do wonder if part of that is Michigan's isolation from the region. Although we are, of course, at the center of the Great Lakes region, we are not a throughway; no one passes through Michigan on the way to anywhere else, nor do they make a point to come here. Seems difficult to imagine that our language would change with the people around us when we really have little contact with them.

And here's a comment from a know-it-all on a different blog I frequent -

One of the most common examples of this vowel shift is in the pronunciation of Ian and Ann. Young white people in Michigan pronounce Ann like "Ee-yun", and so often think men named Ian from other parts of the country have been given a "woman's name" by their parents.:) Another part of this vowel shift is that many people in cities around the Great Lakes pronounce "bus" the way other Americans say "boss"

Maybe I'm not as young as I like to think (I'm definitely as white as I think), but I have never encountered anyone who had issues with either example given. I hate to have the rest of the nation thinking we sound like a bunch of back-water hicks who can't even pronounce the most basic vowel sounds, when my own anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise.

Dear Abby comments

I know I have felt compelled to before, but I actually did it this time - I responded to one of Abby's letters. As you know, this is a constant struggle for me. So reading her insult a girl who wrote for help felt like an insult to me, as well (typed in red). I will assume that punctuality has never really been an issue for Abby, or she would not have given the lame, impractical solution she did.

DEAR ABBY: I have a problem with time. I am always late, no matter what --
whether it's to class, to see friends, to the movies. I am early occasionally,
but usually I am barely on time or late.

I have tried giving myself time
frames and everything else I can think of, but nothing ever works. I have just
started high school, and I want to shed the reputation of being "the late Miss
Suzie." Do you have any suggestions to help prevent my lateness? -- THE "LATE"
MISS SUZIE

DEAR MISS SUZIE: I'm glad you realize
that you have a problem, because being chronically late is not only evidence of
poor time management, it is also rude and an inconvenience to others.
There is truth to the old saying that when people are kept waiting, they use the
time to count up the tardy person's faults.

I do have a suggestion that
has worked for me. Because you are usually "barely" on time or late, set your
clock 10 minutes ahead. Then "forget" about it and abide by your clock. The
secret is in the forgetting.

I hope that she prints my letter, because it was really good. Any guesses as to what I said?

Boys need men

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was able to spend a couple of hours with my brother Ken, at the end of an incredibly busy week. No, I did not drive to Pennsylvania to see him; he made the trip for a wedding and a funeral.

This visit was near the end of Monte's nearly 6-week stint in Kentucky. We'd just returned back from visiting Monte there, which was great, but Isaac did not have a great deal of time with his Daddy. Isaac was so excited to see his Uncle Ken, whom he'd not seen in three months. Although I play with Isaac a lot, and I know he loves it, I don't have a great amount of strength, and I tire easily (having an infant to care for as well doesn't help). So having Uncle Ken to play with was great for him. He laughed so hard, and begged for more rough play, which I think Uncle Ken was willing to continue, too.

It hit me then that although I'm a great Mommy, there are things that I just cannot offer him as a woman. I love Monte, and he's a great Daddy, but his job takes him away so often. I am so thankful for the men in our lives who serve as other male role models for him.

Church and the churchgoer

As you know, I have been a church attender my entire life, and I usually enjoy it. There are, of course, small frustrations with whatever congregation I'm a part of, but nothing to get truly upset about. But this article highlights a few of my pet peeves:

These are the points that bug me, too:

Sermons are critical. Praise music, though, is my favorite part of the service. It’s where I most predictably meet God. But increasingly, what I’m seeing in churches are praise bands singing songs that are inspirational and performed with excellence, but that are…well…“unsingable” by us rank amateurs. They’re popular tunes that are written for a talented lead vocalist, not for people whose range is a mere octave. So we in the pews are relegated to a spectator role, watching the good folks on stage praise God. They do a fantastic job and we acknowledge it by clapping when they’re done—but the applause is more for their fine performance than it is thanks to God.

When such things happen, the worship time has morphed into a concert—a substitute for a worship service.

“Special music” is another example of this. Some exceedingly capable person wows us with an instrument or a song or both, and we’re awestruck by his or her gifts. This continues for at least five minutes and then we offer a rousing ovation. But here again, it’s become a concert. It’s not corporate worship, it’s corporate watching.

and

We’ve all been there. The music is awesome. The congregation’s voices are growing. Eyes are closed. Hands are raised. Fifteen, thirty, sometimes forty-five minutes go by in a flash because people are meeting God through the experience. It all comes to a crescendo with a closing prayer of thanksgiving and some people wiping away tears. The Spirit has been ushered into this place in a mighty way.

…but then abruptly, the Spirit’s asked to sit quietly in the corner for ten minutes so we can take care of some housekeeping.

Sometimes that housekeeping is a set of announcements that we could just as easily read in the weekly bulletin; sometimes it’s walking the kids to their Sunday school classes; sometimes it’s a church member making a pitch for more participation in a budding ministry. Whatever the reason for the hiatus, it completely torpedoes the moment. People’s hearts have been prepared to hear God’s Word and a powerful message. What they get instead are the logistics for the church picnic. Sit down, Spirit. We’ll call you when we need you again.

The article does not address this, but as someone who prepares the visuals for both kids and adult services, this is obviously something that I care about - when the screen does not match the service. You know, you're singing a song, and then the praise team starts singing something completely different from what's on screen (sometimes this is because they forget what they're doing, but it's usually the fault of the AV person). Or when the phrasing on the screen does not match the rhythm of the song (especially important for new music - visual cues are very helpful). Or the sermon notes aren't in order, or never advanced because the person running it fell asleep. Excellence does not lead to pride - in reality, when practiced, excellence hides the AV person.

So those are my thoughts. Any ideas on how to convey the message to churches? Without sounding like a complainer or an "I-can-do-better" micromanager?