Government at its’ Finest!

The Social Security Card we ordered for Cooper at the hospital when he was born never came. Bless their hearts.

So we were searching on the Social Security Web site, when I saw this:

Yep, that’s a hyperlink for “Users Who Are Blind”. On the Internet.

It’s like braille on the drive-thru menu…

What brilliance have YOU witnessed lately?

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5,000 & 6,000

The Stat-O-Matic reads over 6,000!

Congratulations to:

#5,000 - Leah Moreton

#6,000 - Chris Hannon

You will each receive a lifetime supply of hugs and kisses**

**NOTE: Kisses for you are out of stock - always have been, always will be. There are, however, ample hugs.

Will YOU be 7,000?

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Olan Mills Awesomeness - Round 5

First, congratulations to last week’s winner:

“Patrick (bottom) broke ranks and chose drag instead of the bow tie.“

Yes. Either that was a man in drag, or one ugly woman!

And now we present Round 5:

You’d think Pearle Vision would throw in another two pairs for free.

Grapefruit smuggling isn’t a crime, but posing it in profile should be.

Kenneth and his prom date.

I’ve got $20 that says he drives a Camaro.

Hiroshima, 1945: The last known photo of Kelli and Senor Loco.

Yep, someone spent money on this.

OK! There’s Round 5! Vote early and vote often!

Which one is YOUR favorite of this round?

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Bathroom Clone

So last Sunday I was, you know, spending a few minutes in one of our many Men’s Rooms…

Fella comes in the stall beside me. I can see he’s wearing nice jeans and a pair of hip, swanky black Italian leather shoes with a distinctive, modern shape.

Exhibit A:

Less than a minute later, another guy walks into the stall on my right sporting, what I shall call…

Exhibit B:

So apparently this is the new North Point Uniform. Men - take note!!

What do YOU have in your closet that everyone else has - besides skeletons

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BIG news for Guitarists…

Man, if you are a guitarist, or know one, this is REVOLUTIONARY. Time will tell, but this may be the biggest, most significant leap in guitar technology, in both recording and live performance environments. This is big - really big.

Most guitarists, both electric and acoustic - and even bass - are tone freaks. Constantly searching for the elusive “perfect tone“. I’m pretty sure that it is protected by Bigfoot at the end of the rainbow - you know the place. Half way between Narnia and the LOST island…

Well, the biggest, and honestly most shocking news to come out of North Point musician land is that now 5 of our biggest tone freaks - Todd Fields, Steve Thomason, Danny Grady, Jason Hoard , and soon-to-be Matt Adkins - have bailed on their precious amplifiers and cabinets. Yep - left them at home. They might not see the light of day again.

And I’m talking Marshalls, Bogners, Goodsells, Vox AC30s, Bad Cats, Suhrs - the list goes on…

What has replaced all of those and become (and I quote) “the most inspiring tones I’ve ever had or played“?

The Line 6 X3 Live .

OK, this thing is amazing. And I’m not even a guitarist, and I know it’s amazing. And not because of the killer tones I’m hearing the guys get from it, but from how it lights up their faces! Like kids in a candy store. And these are some of the most incredible guitarists I’ve ever known!

First, it’s not like any other Line 6 product you’ve ever heard, because they’ve doubled the processing power. And that’s big news. I mean imagine going from a 25″ TV to a 50″ Plasma. Yeah - that significant!

You can also have two independent rigs going at the same time to create the biggest, fattest sounds imaginable. I played with Danny Grady using an X3 Live at Inside Out a couple weeks ago. He was the only electric, but it sounded like there were an army of other guitars perfectly doubling everything he played. Absolutely HUGE! We kept looking at each other in awe… and then giggling like little kids. Blew us away.

OK - I’m not to bore you with all the juicy details as to what this puppy can do. But I will say that in the right hands, this thing is a monster. For another North Point audio-based opinion, check Dave Stagl’s post about the X3.

It’s cool to see the guys (who I trust!!!) loading in with a guitar case in one hand, and a small canvas bag in the other, containing 3 things: 1/4′ cable, X3 Live, and it’s power cable. No heavy amps, no giant cabs, no crazy pedal boards. No back ache, no blown tubes.

And big smiles!

3 out of the 4 guitarists this past Sunday (we have 2 stages, 2 guys per side) were using an X3 Live, and from Front Of House, the X3’s actually sounded bigger and fuller. Not to mention easier to mic (2 balanced XLR outs) and 100 lbs lighter

What gear has inspired YOU lately?

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Have you seen my kids lately?

Some pics of Ella and Cooper. Man, we thought Ella was a talker, but even at 4 months Cooper is talking up a storm! It’s “goo goo” this, and “ga ga” that….

Like a Chatty Cathy doll pulling its own string….

Cooper - stealing Mommy’s Diet Coke…

Cool hat and a high five:

Posing…

Fun with the hair dryer…

Show me frowny!!

Cutie!

How’s YOUR family doing?

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Sunday Summary - Music: February 24 2008

Jennie and I are watching a DVR recording of Valerie Bertenelli on Oprah discussing her rocky marriage to Eddie Van Halen. I keep waiting for Eddie to come out on the set and play Eruption…

So I’m distracted…… Did you know she dated Steven Speilberg?

Well, yesterday ended up great, but it was a bumpy road getting there!

The first two songs in the worship set were old faves, and pretty straight forward musically. But the third, well that’s a different story - but it’s a guuuuuud one!

Todd Fields has written an incredible tune called “Breathe On Me” that we recorded on the North Point Live: Louder Than Creation . This might be one of the greatest tunes I’ve heard in the last few years.

It the perfect recipe. The most important ingredient is a wonderfully crafted song. The lyric is brilliant and inspired. The melody and hook are wonderfully singable and powerful. Without that, you just got fluff, baby.

Next, it was performed with creative and musical excellence. I remember crafting this song as a band. Todd, Ashley Appling, Pat Malone, Jason Hoard and I spent a lot of time rehearsing and crafting the sonic qualities of the tune. The form, the instrumental arrangement, and that signature band drop-out on the chorus after the bridge on “forever”. That is the magic that happens when getting to help create music with gifted friends.

And finally, Nathan Nockles‘ production touches put the icing on the cake for this track, creating a symphonic masterpiece.

Now imagine trying to do that song justice! Tough. Do-able, very do-able, but it’s gonna take some homework, woodshedding, and rehearsal.

Needless to say, after Wednesday’s rehearsal, EVERYONE knew they had some more homework to do. Not that it was bad, but there’s something about wanting to play a great song well that inspires guys to tweak that 90th percentile.

Anyhoo, when it was all said and done, it was great. And adding the album string tracks and auxiliary keys to the live performance via Pro Tools was the icing on the cake!

The bad news / good news from the day was that Chrystina Fincher was set to lead in East, but called in with the flu late Saturday afternoon. Bless her heart! But she deserves big kudos for scoping out another Worship Leader for us, which helped a ton. So the good news was that Eddie Kirkland came in early on Sunday, worked through the tunes with the band, and hit it out of the park.

WORSHIP:

“Marvelous Light ” by Charlie Hall

“Blessed Be Your Name” by Matt Redman

“Breathe On Me” by Todd Fields

A nice mix of two familiar songs, one new one.

Here’s the new West Auditorium set:

East Band - Chrystina Fincher (in abstentia), Eddie Kirkland, Jayce Fincher, Doug “Slug” Mitchell, Danny Grady, Steve Thomason, Chris Arias

West Band - Todd Fields, Danny Howes, Ashley Appling, Richard Meeder, Karen Bitzer, Trammell Starks

What inspired YOU to worship last week?

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4.5 years too late…

Yes, we have the house for sale. So what better time to paint the last room plagued with that nasty, chalky builder’s white flat paint nastiness?

Seriously folks, paint your house. There’s no reason not to.

We (stupidly) had one last, solitary guest/kids bathroom that we just never painted - the last room in the house with that horrible builder’s white.

Until today.

And Ella helped!

Before:

During:

After:

So what color is it? It’s actually a darker tan / khaki, but these pics look like everything from olive to caramel.

Mmmmmmmmm… Caramels…….

(Yeeeccchhhh - olives. Gross)

What do YOU need to do around the house?

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The House is For Sale!

It’s official - as of this morning, our house is for sale!!

We’re going to try to move out of our teeny tiny house into something more realistic for a family of 4.

And, with any luck, closer to work / church / family / life!

Bummer is that we’ve now got this guy’s photo in our front yard…

He’s not our actual agent, but he leads the “Mark Spain Team” as the guru of real estate for Georgia. His team has 3rd highest house-selling volume in the NATION!

Hmmm - must be the striped tie…

Do YOU want to buy our house?

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Hey Ladies !!!

Hey Ladies!! Guess what! YOU get to sing LOUD this Sunday!

Yep, our good friend and resident “Rock Chic” Chrystina Fincher is tearing it up leading worship in East this upcoming Sunday.

That means all you ladies who (rightfully) complain about the worship songs being too high (or low) to sing because they’re in “guy” keys get to sing out loud in FEMALE keys!!

Add a sweet rock band to boot, including 2 former members of MARVELOUS 3 and the former lead singer/guitarist of INJECTED, and you’ve got a recipe for a good time.

Bring your attitude and leave the pansies at home! HA!!

Oh, and Todd Fields and the boys will be in West, for all you REAL men!

And is it me, or are the musicians getting younger and younger…

Kidding… That’s actually Chris Arias’ son Grayson, who’s taking lessons from “Slug” Mitchell, Sunday’s (much older) drummer.

What are YOU looking forward to this weekend?

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Olan Mills Awesomeness - Round 4

It’s Wednesday night - that means another installment of…

OLAN MILLS AWESOMENESS !!!!

First, a hefty congratulations to the Round 3 winner:

“Just a typical afternoon down on the plantation. In a business suit. Y’know, for a budget meeting with the servants.“

And now, Round 4:

At the Southern Baptist Convention? (This is only funny after seeing THIS picture)

Bi-Polar Ben

Olan Mills Backdrop #11: The Library, one of their most popular themes, as seen in this photo of the young Unabomber and his wife.

The Library might be more believable if the shelves weren’t sloping downhill

Olan Mills is all about versatility. The simple addition of a column turns this generic plantation into Tara, where, apparently, someone opened a Hair Cuttery specializing in The Dorothy Hamill.

Patrick (bottom) broke ranks and chose drag instead of the bow tie.

OK - There you go. Time to VOTE! Click “comments” to cast your ballot.

Which is YOUR favorite of Round 4?

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5,000 !!!

In the next couple minutes the Stat-O-Matic will hit 5,000!!!

Who will the 5,000th viewer be? YOU?

Oh - I forgot to announce the 4,000th viewer:

Congratulations to Edie McClurg of Kansas City, MO

A lovely bouquet of chrysanthemums are on their way for delivery…

Will it be YOU next? OHHH!!! The Suspense!!!

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Valentine’s Present Gone Bad

OK, THIS was funny, then weird. I’ve finally embraced this as funny.

Driving home from the Circus last week (hence the high-quality camera close at hand) I took these shots of a Valentine’s Day “present” gone bad…

The caption reads: “I am loved, and currently being humiliated because of it.”

What expression of love has backfired on YOU?

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Request Line is Open!

Remember listening to the radio, especially when you were a teenager, and the DJ announced (in that stereotypical Rock ‘n Roll DJ voice):

“Alrightahhh. It’s the all-request hour! Go ahead and call in - we’re taking your requests! Is there a song I can play for YOU?“

Well, consider this your chance to submit your requests. OK, more like suggestions. We came to realize a long time ago that input and suggestions from lots of folks often introduces us to great songs and artists we may never have heard of if we just stayed within our own iTunes libraries or favorite radio stations.

Sooooo…

We’re heading into a series with Clay and Andy called “How To Be Great”, and we’re looking for songs, both fast and slow. The bottom line to the series is that humility is the basis of greatness in God’s eyes. Christ coming to Earth as man and his death on the cross was the ultimate act of sacrifice and humility.

Check out Mark 10:45 – For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

So, does that spark thoughts of any songs you know? Please click “comments“ to add your suggestions for good songs we might consider doing!

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Sayonara HD DVD…

Well, it’s official. HD DVD is dead. Blu-Ray is the winner.

For those of you who bought an HD DVD player for your High Def TV, there’s probably room for your HD DVD machine beside your Betamax Video Tape player….

Toshiba, the creators of the HD DVD technology called it quits:

Toshiba quits HD DVD business

Decision hands victory in DVD format battle to Sony-backed Blu-ray technology.

TOKYO (AP) — Toshiba said Tuesday it will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD players and recorders, handing a victory to rival Blu-ray disc technology in the format battle for next-generation video.

“We concluded that a swift decision would be best,” Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told reporters at his company’s Tokyo offices.

The move would make Blu-ray - backed by Sony Corp (SNE)., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic brand products, and five major Hollywood movie studios - the winner in the battle over high-definition DVD formatting that began several years ago.

You can read the rest of the article here.

I guess the upside is that you’ll be able to buy remaining HD DVDs pretty cheap!

What product have YOU purchased too early?

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