BlakeAtwood.com

I’ve got a friend who writes books and has a few blogs and is generally knowledgeable about most things and makes a living writing. Maybe not necessarily from his books (he’s a technical writer), but it’s a somewhat envious position. So when he asked if I would contribute to his blog on restaurants, I couldn’t resist. I like food. And eating it too. But I’d never written extensively about food. It would seem that the seemingly random and recent onset of the urge to watch such shows as Hell’s Kitchen and The Next Food Network Star is paying dividends, by widening my culinary vocabulary, as opposed to just offering inane entertainment as Chef Ramsey once again cusses someone out. I only save those words if I really, really, really don’t like the food. Which hasn’t happened…yet.

My most recent review, of the IKEA Cafe and Restaurant in Round Rock, TX, was also my first assignment. From the site: "This month we take a look at cafes tucked away in places you might not expect, like computer/appliance stores, furniture stores, grocery stores, and museums. If you have a favorite non-traditional eating spot, let us know." So there’s the setup. Go read the review for fun. And, if you’re not much of a reader, there’s a great pic of my wife enjoying lunch.

After the last few reviews, I could almost envision myself as a restaurant reviewer. Then again, watching our local news station’s coverage of restaurants that have failed health inspections gives me much cause for concern. Also, I’d have to start using Miracle burn or some such diet supplement if I began eating for a living. Then again, don’t I already do that?

How could I not appreciate this company? Drums shells for computer cases…it’s brilliant. Expensive, but brilliant.

I attended just a bit of the National Worship Leader Conference held this week at Riverbend Church in Austin yesterday due to the generosity of a fellow church member who happens to work for Church Multimedia, a company that specializes in A/V installations for church. He had a sweet rig of four remote cameras controllable by a joystick and hooked to a switcher, the kind of rig, or something close to it, that we’d like to eventually get for our worship services.

The conference is a week long, but as I had just taken a week of vacation, I limited myself to attending just one day, and I picked the right day, that’s for sure. For one, Fernando Ortega led worship with a four piece string section. I’ve always loved his music, and I’ve never seen him live. It was very, very good.

Secondly, the two main breakouts I wanted to attend were held that day, one right after the other. The first was put on by the guys at WorshipHouse Media, a distributor of mini-movies, motions, stills, countdowns, and other fun and meaningful visual media for use by churches. They showed many clips, and even some non-released ones. That’s My Money was really funny. They also have a very good video podcast showcasing the newest releases. I met Rob Thomas with Igniter Media as well (and they’re doing some cool stuff). Be sure to check out the hot dog eating contest.

After that, two guys I met a few weeks go led the next workshop: Stop Substance Abuse: Make Your Media Matter. Storme and Lee of Eleven72 live and work in Austin, and they led a mock creative session, showing how easy it is to be wholly intentional about the use and placement of visual media in a worship service. It was certainly encouraging. They’re smart and creative guys and I can’t wait to see what they’re going to produce.

Their presentation was slated to use the internet, as they wanted to do real searches for a crowd-proposed topic, but Riverbend’s wifi didn’t reach the room we were in (maybe they needed a wireless router or two). But, being the pros they are, they retooled the presentation and used example Pastor Evan Gelist of 360 Church delivering a message about Evangelism, then went on to show how much can be found online to help undergird that message.

They also showed me a Sony Xacti handheld, waterproof videocamera that I just might have to get for some interesting uses at the church. Check Eleven72’s blog for an example. Their video of "Who’s Eleven72" is pretty funny.

I’m very excited about the possibilities of incorporating more visual elements into our worship services, and creating our own content as well. I finally have all of the tools necessary to do so. Now I just need to learn this MacBook Pro (being a lifelong Windows user, more out of necessity than desire) and also Final Cut Express HD. Yeehaw!

It’s amazing to me that with the number of entertainment choices we have, we still manage to fall into watching a reality TV series during the summer. It’s unintentional, but it seems to happen every summer. This summer we’ve fallen for a couple of cooking shows, Hell’s Kitchen and The Next Food Network Star. We know it’s not really real (do all chefs cry?), that the surprises may only be surprising to the contestants, and that conflict and flailing arms apparently make for good television. Well, maybe not good, but at least entertaining. Remind me to never become a chef.

I should add On the Lot to that list, but it’s been given fairly bad reviews. Reformatted, it could do well and be much more engaging, but otherwise, in the words of Carrie Fisher, “um…it was good…not great…not bad…it could have been somewhat, somehow, someway, better than…well, just, uh, yeah, good job.” That about sums up the way most of the critics feel too.

The ad of the day is for truck accessories, which, if you have a truck, I assume you need accessories.

I think I can wait for the day when Reality TV actually lives up to its name, where you can tune into anyone’s live feed (a la Justin.tv). I had the thought the other day, and I expect royalties now if this become a reality, that a tiny camera should be implanted behind our eyes that continually records the last hour we’ve seen, thus capturing those moments otherwise lost, like the time your dog missed the turn and ran into the wall. And then you’ll be able to stream that to the Internet. And that will be Reality TV.

Thank God for books.

Why can’t more advertisers do this kind of thing? Crowne Plaza Hotels, host of the already played Colonial Invitational (PGA) tournament, has posted extra footage from “The Ultimate Golf Meeting,” featuring David Feherty, Dan Jenkins, Lee Trevino, Natalie Gulbis, George Lopez, and Alice Cooper (“We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!”). The spots they’ve shown on TV are there, as well as 10 extra spots. Crowne Plaza now has more esteem in my small world because of this – maybe I’ll use them during my next vacation – multiple cruises with golf interspersed throughout…I wish. Some highlights:

“…that’s how I got the name Alice, not getting the ball there…”

“…I don’t think you should use a golf ball that will betray you…it’ll just betray you again.”

“…the Bible has 10 commandments. Golf has a 600 page book.”

Funny stuff, if you’re a golfer. Go watch it.