Suddenly its 1994 all over again. I’ve been going through some archived church bulletins, posting some of the more interesting articles on the web. Thank goodness for optical character readers so I don’t have to type all of this in. Scan it, then open it in WordPad. 21st century technology is wonderful.
So I’m reading “Echos from the Basement.” “Ken’s Korner.” “Magnify His Name.” Russian Trip reports. Building on our faith inituatives. You’ve come a long way, baby.
So I read about people who I’ve never heard of getting baptized or placing membership. Where are they? Did they fall through the cracks? I have no idea.
And Dot Zumbro loaned me some of her church bulletins from the 1970s. I’m going to try to find a notebook to put them in and then donate them to the church library. Interesting stuff. I don’t know how they printed them. Maybe using carbon paper. It’s obvious the type on there is old typewriter font on preprinted templates.
Advice for College Freshmen
A few of my friends are entering college as freshmen. Classes start soon. I do remember college. It wasn’t that long ago. Or at least it doesn’t seem to me. A friend confided in me that he was scared of flunking out. Nope. Not going to happen. Only those who sleep through class and refuse to study flunk out. Otherwise college was reasonably easy. Just put some quality time in studying and you can expect to do just fine.
I majored in Government and Public administration. I’ve always said that it was a easy major. I was scared away from a CIS major mostly because I was fearful of getting B’s. And supposedly there was a good chance of getting that grade when majoring in computers.
You can always distingish the college freshmen from the upperclassmen on the first week of the fall semester. Freshmen have the brand new white shoes and the brand new backpacks. Its inevitable. They’ve also got that deer-in-the-headlights look to it. “Will this be on the test?” they ask the professor. They’ve also got that “Change the World” attitude by which they get involved in student government organizations. Whereas what I found at Lipscomb was that the SGA was nothing more than a puppet regime with no real power. Sure, they can try to change the opening and closing times of the library. But they yielded no real power, except to have weekly meetings for complaints’ sake.
What is the great white hype at college these days? In my day it was email. Yeah. Email. We had just gotten it. And like a kid with a new toy we used it constantly. Always in the computer labs checking our mail. Getting mom and dad to buy you a new computer for your dorm room under the false pretense of getting papers typed, when in reality you wanted your email.
We didn’t have blogs or many discussion boards back then. Just email.
I think the next big thing or the most current big thing at college these days is blogs, instant messaging, and downloadable music. That’s what the kids are into these days. Oh yeah…and ultimate frisbee. Some things never change.
Meanwhile Josh’s blog got a facelift. Be sure to continue to visit it while he studys abroad in Hungary this Fall.
Tom Petty experiences
I was introduced to Tom Petty’s music in college. His Greatest Hits CD had just come out in 1993 and by 1994 a few of my friends had his CD. I borrowed it one time and noticed there were alot of good songs on there. So I got one for myself. Then came Wildflowers which had a huge number of big hits on there. Those songs grew on me.
When Tom Petty was getting really popular he was called this new Bob Dylan. But then again they called Springsteen the next Dylan too. So I don’t know who is the next Dylan. Petty sands on his own and doesn’t need to be compared to anyone else.
Some favorite Petty songs:
- Learning to Fly – There’s a line in the song which says “Well some say life will beat you down, and break your heart, steal your crown.”
Life is tough. There are some people out there who will dislike you. They will beat you down. One could intrepret the stealing crown lyric Biblically. Revelation 2:10:“Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Maybe I’m grasping at straws thinking Petty had a Biblical view when he wrote those words. But it is how I intrepret those lyrics.
We are all learning to fly in some shape, form, or another. We will be shaken, beaten, or criticized sometime. We should let that affect us. We should let anyone steal our crown. - Southern Accents – It’s a salute to the Southern living. The Yankees call it dumb. But we’ve got our own way of talking, working, praying, and living
- Echo
- Free Fallin – What a great storytelling song. The girl is the perfect person. Loves Jesus, horses, Elvis, and America too. Vampires walking through Ventura Blvd? While the bad boys in the shadows look on? Who else could think of these lyrics?
– This is a relatively lesser known song in Petty’s discography. It’s about the ending of a relationship possibly due to drug abuse. But to me it’s much more. This song came out in 1999. I equate it with Summer camp 1999. During that particular week of camp we lost 2 individuals elsewhere away from camp, yet close relationships. One was a older preacher who died of health complications. The other was a kid who got hit by a car while playing in the street. That song speaks of that same sad echo around here.
Those people at the concert last night – were they really truly fans of the Heartbreakers music or were they just there because it was the concert of the evening? I began to question this myself when I sang along with Petty’s latest #1 hit: “The Last DJ,” while the rest of the crowd had the deer-in-the-headlights look to them.
Tom Petty Concert Review
The place: AmSouth Amphitheater
Time: 8PM
Date: 8/16/03
This was my third Tom Petty concert. I don’t think it was necessarily a tour connected with an album promotion. “The Last DJ” had been out for quite sometime. Maybe it’s just one of those usual tours.
Bo Diddly opened. He sat in a chair with his guitar which was box shaped. It’s unfortunate that a guitar great like Bo has been reduced to sitting in a chair for his concerts. Health reasons I think.
Bo was joined on stage by part of Tom Petty’s band. Bo explained the reason for his band not being there. Probably something having to do with the blackout in NYC.
Run Down:
1. Bo Diddly
2. I’m a Man
3. You Are The One
4. Rough Rider
5. Bo Diddly
On the last song Bo got up out of his chair and banged on the drums some. Many of the songs were the epic variety which last several minutes. None of them were terribly earth shattering. However it was good to see such a well respected and innovative guitar player on stage.
Tom Petty started his show at about 9:15ish. The stage light setup was shaped like a pumpkin with different rows of lights around it.
A playlist:
1. American Girl
2. You Don’t Know How It Feels
3. Love is a Long Road
4. Free Fallin
5. I Won’t Back Down
6. Last Dance with Mary Jane
7. Last DJ
8. Handle with Care (Traveling Wilburys cover)
9. Can’t Explain
10. Little Red Rooster
11. Belinda (new song)
12. Learning to Fly
13.Can You Help Me Cry
14. Refugee
15. Running Down a Dream
Encore
16. You Wreck Me
17. Baby Please Don’t Go
The best song of the night was Learning to Fly. Nice soft acoustic variety. No drums. Just acoustic guitar. Tom had the crowd sing along with him at the very end. Make you feel like you’re a part of things.
During the first part of the show, right after “I Won’t Back Down,” I began to think that Tom and the Heartbreakers had played all their good songs at the beginning and wouldn’t have any big hits for the end. “Free Fallin” is usually saved for the encore. However this time it was the 4th song.
“Belinda” was described as a new song which they haven’t had time to record yet. I’d expect it in the next album. Nice song. Determined. Nearer toward the end of the song, the piano and guitar got faster and louder which made for a good song.
The song “Handle with Care” was a salute to the Traveling Wilburys, which Tom was a member of. George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne were also part of it. They put out a couple of records then moved on. When introducing the song Tom said it was for all those Wilburys who were still traveling.
“Baby Please Don’t Go” was the last song of the evening. Just like the way he did Gloria a few years ago, he did some dialogue with this song too. Mentioned something about him being a bum who watches Sally Jesse Raphel alot (even though her talk show is canceled).
Scott Thurston played harmonica on “You Don’t Know How It Feels” and sang on “Handle with Care.”
It was a good concert. Not the best Petty show. I wish he had played some more well known songs like “Breakdown” and “Wildflowers.”
Computer Projects
I have a t-shirt that says “No, I will not fix your computer.” It’s sorta a inside joke amongst us computer nerd types. Someone is always having a computer problem and turns to me or someone else knowledgable to fix it. “Oh Jeff, you’re so smart. You’ll be able to fix it.”
So one of my projects lately has been to upgrade a Compaq with more RAM and a newer OS. The Compaq is probably 2 or 3 years old. We’re using it to replace the one at church which runs the songs on the big screen. More RAM and a newer OS has brought new life to the system. Excellent. We were using 366mhz machines in the a/v portion at church. This one has to be at least a 800mhz, so it’s much better than what we had previously.
Upgraded Todd’s computer to Win2K yesterday. He seemed to be happy with it, although his modem doesn’t seem to work. No worries. He’s back at school with broadband connection, so modem difficulties are mute. The interesting thing is that the Compaq (as mentioned above) had less difficulties getting used to Win2K than Todd’s Dell. And I thought Compaqs were inferior machines (or so I’ve been told). Nope. Everything pretty much worked. Contrast that to the Dell, which I had to find a video driver for, and haven’t had an opportunity to find a modem driver for it.
Another project was to help a friend with her computer problem. Seems she’s been having trouble connecting to Walmart Connect. It tries to connect, but is forever “Talking to the Network,” and so on. Never actually gets to Walmartland. My initual suggestion was to drop Walmart Connect altogether and go for something more stable. But she’d like to stay with Wallyworld, if only for the $10/month unlimited. Still having figured out the problem. Could be the integrety of the phone line or the AOL protocol. I’m not sure.
Interesting thing about Walmart Connect. It’s actually some kinda of pseudo AOL type program. So AOLers are paying $20/month for unlimited, when you could get the same type service for $9/month.
I also have this other computer at home which doesn’t seem to have video capabilities. I put in another formatted hard drive, but somehow it might have shorted out the video leaving the computer useless. I’ve put in another hard drive and the same thing happens.
Friday Five: Online Habits
1. How much time do you spend online each day?
Too much
2. What is your browser homepage set to?
Google.
It used to be set to Yahoo. Then I wised up and figured out Yahoo was inferior. You can just about find anything on Google these days.
3. Do you use any instant messaging programs? If so, which one(s)?
Trillian. It’s the only one worth using. I could go on and on about the inferiority of AIM, but I won’t. I keep a copy of all the major messengers on my computer for testing purposes.
4. Where was your first webpage located?
Geocities: circa 1997
I think everyone had their webpage on Geocities at one time or another. Until they stopped letting users FTP to their sites. It was assimilated into the Yahoo borg.
5. How long have you had your current website?
Since Feb. 2001 (has it been that long?)
Proverbs about Anger and Conflict
We talked about Proverbs tonight in the 5th and 6th grade class. The kids were kinda asleep or something. Perhaps their brains are drained due to school. Anger and Conflict was the subject tonight. You know, Proverbs does have alot to say about anger and temper. Take a look.
A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension,
but a patient man calms a quarrel.
Proverbs 15:18
A quick-tempered man does foolish things,
and a crafty man is hated.
Proverbs 14:17
A patient man has great understanding,
but a quick-tempered man displays folly.
Proverbs 14:29
A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty;
if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.
Proverbs 19:19
A fool’s lips bring him strife,
and his mouth invites a beating.
A fool’s mouth is his undoing,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.
Proverbs 18:6-7
The violence of the wicked will drag them away,
for they refuse to do what is right.
Proverbs 21:7
Growing up I did have a temper. But I think I’ve mellowed out. Mostly because I can’t afford to loose my cool. And because I’m not in a position to have a strong opinion one way or another. Anyways I thought I’d write these down as a reference.
Anonymous Fame
My friend Mark got that MSBlast worm. Called me up Monday night asking about it. Took me just a few minutes to find out it was a relatively new phenomenon on the net. (Thanks Google) The references to it on the usenet were very recent. I pointed out some good resources on the net as an attempt to fix it. Hopefully it will.
Anonymous fame. That’s what these script kiddies are after when they write these viruses to exploit Window’s venerabilities. Anonymous fame. Sounds like an oxymoron. They want to secretly say that it was them that did this, but ultimately they can’t gain too much fame for it or they’d be prosecuted.
Let’s talk RAM. I didn’t know there were so many flavors. RDRAM, SDRAM, non-ECC, ECC. It’s all very confusing. It’d be much easier if there was one universal type of RAM which worked with all brands/models of computers. However that’s not the case. Found that out when I tried to put in a generic piece of RAM into a Compaq. So you have to be sure you get the right type or you’re stuck with a useless stick of chips. My guess is that the computer manufacturers don’t want you to upgrade. Instead they’d prefer you buy a whole new computer. You can extend the life of your computer just by upgrading the RAM on it. It’s just a matter of finding the right type of RAM.
Rockvale, TN
Visited Rockvale Church of Christ to hear Tim McHenry preach at a Gospel Meeting. Darrell found out about it through an ad in the paper. The topic tonight? Hell. And Tim handled it in a way I didn’t expect. Much of it was based on Jonathan Edward’s description in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” without all the predestination stuff. More or less hell is a soul’s seperation from God. I was expecting a physical description of hell. Not so. Pretty much all Tim described was the fire. And more or less just mention it in passing.
Rockvale is a growing congregation. 245 in worship last Sunday morning. And its a rural church. Outgrown its building. Their auditorium holds about 150 at the most, so they have close circuit tv in other rooms elsewhere. We should do that. I hear they are looking into it.
Rockvale is going to have their ground breaking ceremony at their new church building site soon.
Afterwards Tim, Connie, the kids, Darrell and I went out to the Murfreesboro’s Bellacino’s for pizza. Good stuff. I’m glad I kept up with these people. They’re great friends.
Darrell has been thinking about going back to school. History major. To teach in the high schools. I told him to go for it. Who knows? It’s a whole new career change.
I have been thinking about a career change since this IT stuff just isn’t working out. Preacher? Youth Minister? I’d like to do that. The problem is that I don’t have the enthusiasm or zeal it would take to be a youth minister. Plus to be honest with you, some kids get on my nerves. It would be difficult to play nice guy to everybody. Preacher? Well you have to put up with a lot of junk in that type of job. I might crack under pressure. So its probably not for me.
The Ultimate Journey
The Ultimate Journey…a couple take a 4 year motorcycle ride around the world.