BlakeAtwood.com

Tunefind allows you to search by TV or Movie title or artist for songs recently featured on television shows or movies. I stumbled across it because I was looking for a song used in, yes, you guessed it, the opening episode of this year’s Friday Night Lights (Fridays at 8pm on NBC). The song, by the way, that I found within three seconds of finding Tunefind is Wilco’s Muzzle of Bees. I have no idea what the song it about, but I sure do love the sound.

When missionaries approach a cannibal tribe, they don’t protest outside the village, call them names, put an ad in the paper, or complain that they eat people. Missionaries develop a relationship with the tribe, earn their trust, and become part of the community. Once they do that, the tribe is far more open to listening to their message.

So why can’t we do that with Hollywood? Hollywood is simply filled with sinners just like us. There’s plenty of things Hollywood does that I don’t like, and are detrimental to the culture. But does anyone really think a confrontational approach works? When people get mad at you does it soften your attitude toward them? I doubt it. I wish we could view Hollywood as a mission field, develop a relationship with those in the entertainment industry, supporting the hundreds of believers who are there already, and then speak into their lives.

Some responses from people have sited Jesus turning over the tables in the temple as an example that we should be confrontational with the culture. But we often forget that the money changers Jesus tossed out were the religious people. There’s no record to my knowledge of Jesus confronting the non-believing culture. He didn’t go into a Roman guardhouse and turn over the tables.

via Phil Cooke’s blog

I recommend reading the rest of the article. I just stumbled onto his site today. I love it when I find engaging, thoughtful Christians who present their arguments in a non-confrontational way, that can take what seems like a middle of the road stance that is, in my opinion, more honest and more truthful to the way Jesus lived and taught.

As an aside, I use Bloglines as my feed reader. You can view my list here. You’re allowed to group blogs into folders. I read a group of blogs that relate to Christianity and Culture. I named that folder “Flandersology.”

Stark. Contrast. Black and White. Maybe by going simpler on the design, I can focus more on the content. If only my lazy mind could awake from its slumber. There have been far too many days recently when I’ve felt oblivious to the world around me, and it’s a very large world.

The change of name is an homage to Zach Lind of FindingRhythm.com and, possibly more noticeably, the band Jimmy Eat World. It’s a recent blog find that I enjoy, for the twin facts of his drumming skills and Christian worldview. And he posts some killer drum videos.

And, not that I need to tell you O Learned Reader, but the rest of the name change is an homage to the late, great Douglas Adams. If you’re unfamiliar with the man’s work, do yourself a favor and start reading.

To the five people that read this site, I’m looking to get a little extra dough. If you need or want a website, or know someone who does, have them contact me. Look at www.digitalinksites.com for rates. Look at www.hsmtex.com for a business site. Look at www.fbcgt.org for a church site. Look at www.robertmayattorney.com for a lawyer’s site. Look at www.vbchoa.com for a homeowner’s association site. Look at www.ifoundgeorgetown.com for a news/social networking site (which I seriously need to plug).

All of these sites, including the one you’re reading, were made by me, with the help of the website publishing software Wordpress, the people who create amazing and freely available themes and plugins for Wordpress, as well as the modifications I’ve made with design and structure, and videos I’ve produced and compressed.

So, you know…help a brother out.

I’ve been busy the last few weeks attempting to get my church to tread into this century. There’s more we could be doing via the Internet, but it’s difficult to steer a large group of people to adopt new technologies for communication. So here’s a list of a few things I’ve incorporated over the last few weeks:

1. A blog specifically tailored to a new Bible study class covering the book The Worshiping Artist. Why we hadn’t tried this before, I don’t know. Discussion seems to be going well thus far. Also, the leader of the study (also the Worship Pastor of the church) is updating it himself. If you’re interested, check out www.fbcgt.org/dale . I’m also working on getting staff members to blog about their points of interest.

2. A forum for all church members. It has yet to be published, but if you’re reading this then you’ll be treated to a sneak peek at www.fbcgt.org/thehub . Forums may be a little foreign to some people, but they’re highly useful once understood. They will, hopefully, be used for the multiple ministries at the church, events around our city, for each individual Life Group, and also for leaders and other groups that might require a certain level of privacy for their discussions. I may be most excited about the prospects of this forum, but I’ve also been in this position before of starting a forum for a church, only to have it’s popularity wane in relation to the amount of time it’s "new."

An aside about the forum - it’s called theHub because I’d actually already created a forum called "the forum" using different software than what I’m currently now using. I had been using bbpress, as it syncs with wordpress, our publishing platform, somewhat easily. Unfortunately, it’s not as mature as some other options out there. One of the main problems for me in regards to that is the inability to restrict certain discussions to certain people or groups. So I turned to the big daddy of forums, phpbb. While I’ve never used it before, I’m learning it and liking it. And I like the sound of "theHub." It is a central meeting place, after all.

3. Video Podcasts. We’re not doing this yet, but we’re very close to it.

Slowly, surely, and with many a technical glitch to go, the church creeps ever onward into the vast, uncharted waters of the Internet.

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Why don’t you take a Kissimmee vacation? The irony in that is that it’s close to Disneyland and I just posted about a Baptist church.

I read an article today in Creative Cow Magazine (www.creativecow.net) about the “war” between hi-def and lo-res. You wouldn’t think those two factions would have so much animosity towards each other, but who am I to dictate cultural policy?

As it stands, the “war” centers on the fact that, contrary to supposed opinion and many long-held prophesies, the adoption rate of hi-def content viewers is vastly inferior to the numbers of the lo-res youtubers. The article cited the following as barriers to more hi-def viewers:

• poor sales of the PS3, which includes a blu-ray hi-def dvd player
• the need for repurchasing, at a premium price, your entire dvd collection
• the cost of hi-def televisions
• the ability to receive and record hi-def programming via cable or satellite (meaning you don’t have to buy more content)

On the other hand, Youtube has ushered in the age of democratic video - by the people, for the people, all the time, anytime, with any content, at resolutions heretofore unwanted by professionals. They’ve had tremendous growth. If your video goes viral, you could have millions of viewers, worldwide. Youtube is an independent content producers’ best outlet, and, as with the web itself, content is king. Content trumps clarity.

As long as your story is clear, today’s kids don’t care how it looks - just that it speaks to them. Make them laugh with singing silk trees, make them cry with an old man singing a Coldplay song, make them think, make them stop. Whatever it is, just make it and get it on the web - that seems to be the moral of this “war.”

As the article asked, will this year be the year of hi-def? Like last year and the year before it were supposed to be? I doubt it. The solution now, as the article also suggested, is to be ready for both. If you make content and have the ability, create your movies with both technologies in mind, in hi-def and web-ready. If you lack the equipment, shoot lo-res, upload, and call it a day.

What do you watch more? Your hi-def TV or that certain youtube video that everyone’s seen a million times?

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?

I’m not much of a mystery reader, and that’s what Death of a Writer is at its core, so that could account for my mediocre feelings towards the work. I picked it up for the title, kept reading it for the setting and the characters, then finished it, well, because it’s a mystery and I had to know whodunit. In my opinion, it’s a little uneven, with abrupt turns to dark scenes; necessary for a mystery, yes, but very abrupt and seemingly out of place. If it’s your cup of tea, drink it. I would have needed two lumps. Of sugar.

I’ve started these reviews over at Shelfari. It’s a nifty booklovers site, with cool shelves. I’ll probably post the reviews there and here. I mean, why not? Everyone needs to know what I think about their work…right?

Also, it seems like most of the people in the book could have benefited from Death insurance. It’s the opposite of life insurance, so it only pays as long as you keep living. Then they take it all back when you bite the big one.

Google Hot Trends shows you what popular searches are occurring on Google in something close to almost real time. It’s a nifty way to get up-to-the-millisecond news, like the fact that Stone Phillips got canned or that the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium will be hosting the 2011 Super Bowl or what’s new and inventive in truck accessories. It’s a fun place to see what the nation considers newsworthy.

And here I thought I was using my time wisely when snippets of conversations and strange turns of phrase would lodge into my subconcious, voting themselves as best band name ever - there’s a band name generator. I shouldn’t be surprised. You might need a computer memory upgrade to access the site, what with it’s numerous algorithms that randomly amass various band names. I jest.

There’s also the Postmodernism Generator, for all those times you feel like delving into your deconstructivist tendencies.