This is my latest entry for Brickfish’s “Photo Crashers” Campaign.
This picture was taken during our NorCal Senior High Camp at Lake Shasta. Because we bathe in the lake we thought it would be fun to get a group together. We decided to wash in stages and took pictures before we jumped into the lake to wash off. We had no idea that the guy behind us (the camp liked to call him “The Bear” or “Grizzly Adams”) was there.
We have finally selected the winner of the Breath of Christmas Design Contest. After lots of debating on how we would promote for our event we thought it would be best to use postcards and give them out when our choir goes out caroling.
So…
The winner of the Breath of Christmas Design contest is….
Their design will be featured in my holiday blog: Year Round Holidays with an interview discussing the designer and where they got there inspiration from.
Congratulations once again to VampOut for creating a well received design!!
Remember our Breath of Christmas Design Contest post a while back? Click here to see the original post.
Well…
THERE’S ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT TO SUBMIT YOUR DESIGN!!!! The deadline is October 31, 2009 at 11:59 pm and the winner will be chosen on November 14 as well as purchased on that day.
Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made….. How many other things are we missing?
May you take the time from this day forward to experience the beauty of the sights and sounds that surround you.
Rihanna is back in action and just released her new single “Russian Roulette” (maybe to vent her anger and frustration at a certain someone?) off her new album, Rated R, which comes out November 23rd .
Ok, I need all the Nazarenes to pay attention and be ready to pass this link along to everyone you know!!! We, being Nazarenes, have a tremendous opportunity to help out with the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries – who help out missionaries around the world – by giving them $25,000! We’re actually in 2nd place!
The most nominated charity will receive a check for $10,000. The runner-up wins $5,000, and the next 10 will receive $1,000 each.
Nominations must be submitted on or before October 15, 2009. The winning charities will be announced in November 2009. One vote per email address. *IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN EMAIL ADDRESS, USE THAT ONE TOO!!! THANKS!!!
If any of you know me, you know that I love music (especially choral music). Music is such a deep part of any culture and it’s history. If you think about it, every culture used music in some part of their daily life. As time went on that music became a part of their modern tradition.
Music has such a profound affect on us. We have even created songs to go with certain occasions. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine if we didn’t have music for:
Graduation: Pomp and Circumstance Wedding: The Bridal March (in past times, now any song) Birthday: Happy Birthday Sports, 4th of July, anything patriotic: The Star-Spangled Banner Baseball: Take Me Out to the Ballgame College Football: Any College Fight Song
We have even incorporated music into our personal lives.
Lullabies Learning: Whether we’re learning our ABC’s or trying to remember the quadratic equation (sung to Pop, Goes the Weasel) Letting off steam: Whether that’s listening to heavy metal or Broadway show tunes. A Social Tool: We are always connecting with other fans, going to concerts, sharing and listening to new music.
I came across this video when a music professor at PLNU posted it on his Twitter. I think it’s interesting and eye opening! Take a look and pass it on!
So today I had my History 8 midterm and was feeling great (I actually think I did pretty well). I was energized and was walking to my class when I overheard other students’ conversations. The few pieces I did catch were as follows:
Conversation 1:
(Student A walks up to Student B, Student B apparently hasn’t seen Student A in a while)
Student A: Hey, man!
Student B: Hey, (name)! Aw s***! I haven’t seen you in a while! What’s up?
Conversation 2:
(Some students are walking behind me who obviously just had their midterm for something)
Student 1: S***! I f***ing failed that test! I studied my f***ing a** off!
Student 2: These f***ing professors don’t even give a s*** if you fail or not.
When did cursing become a natural way of speaking?!?! Why do people find it necessary, or even a way to get out frustration by cursing, to add it to their normal vernacular?! What good does it do?! That’s one thing that I loved about PLNU – anywhere I went there was no swearing! It was great to be able to speak to someone without them cursing in my face and me. Thank you PLNUers. On the other hand, something about public school makes this seem acceptable and almost tolerated. I’m disappointed that students (and even some of the professors that I have) wouldn’t carry themselves in a more professional manner. Am I the only one that feels this way?
Secondly, my second pet peeve is people who pack up before class ends.
When I finally reached my second class, Humans and the Environment, I was in a bad mood. For the duration of the class, people were texting, playing games on their phones, etc. – trust me, that’s not why I’m angry (that class is already boring enough let alone the professor who teaches goes in and out with her volume and stumbles over her words). About 5 minutes to the end of class, I jumped when I suddenly heard a mass rustling of papers, backpacks zipping up, and people moving their chairs. The professor was in mid point and I could see she was frustrated, but continued on an actually went through a slide and a half of lecture (and she crams a lot of info on those slides).
******
My professor for COM100 at PLNU, Melissa Lazaro, said on the first day of class that if we packed up before the end of class she would keep us longer. I completely agree with why she did this – not only is it rude, but for employers and other professionals, it shows that you aren’t invested in them or care what they have to say.
******
When she finally dismissed the class, not even 30 seconds later, everyone was gone except for me and a few people with questions. The thing is WE HAVE 15 MINUTES IN BETWEEN OUR CLASSES!!! The only logical things I can think of that someone would need to leave that fast are a death in the family that they just received word of or desperate use of the bathroom. Our society has lost all common respect and manners for others – mainly because of new communication technology – the moment someone is done speaking, we’re done. Next thing.
When I finished packing up my things I headed out the door and saw those same students talking outside and walking to whatever they were doing. It frustrates me.
These are all the entries so far for the Living Nativity 2009 Design Contest:
ABCD EFGH IJKL MNOP QR
The People’s Choice Award
Please select your favorite product from above (can’t be your own design) and vote for it – only vote once please! Send others to this page to vote for the designs by using the “Share It” button at the bottom of the poll. Thank you! The poll closes October 31st at 11:59 pm.
The winner will get a spotlight on my blog and will be asked to answer a few questions.
