Mental Musings

It is time for all Americans to remind Washington that we do not like taxation without representation. Not one of our government leaders took the time to read the stimulus plan that was passed almost exclusively by Democrats. Only three cowardly Republicans joined to vote in favor of it. This massive bill will do nothing to stimulate our economy. Look at how Wall Street has reacted to this. And now Obama plans to start taxing everyone even more. Sure Obama says he is only taxing the top 2% in our nation. But his new budget includes increased taxes for fuels, energy, communication and other items that all Americans use. He ended the Bush tax cuts which means every citizen who pays taxes will get an increase. He continues to prove that he does not care about anyone in this country and will do everything he can to socialize the country with universal healthcare and fewer freedoms. Remember his statements about working with both parties? Yet in his first meeting after his inauguration he t...

This video is about 2 years old now. It was created by David King, Wendy's brother. He wrote the song and is singing it in the video. David is a Media Specialist Librarian in Topeka Kansas.

If you have noticed the trend toward DVD accompaniments, then you probably have already purchased or are planning to purchase a TV or monitor for your rehearsal room. We did this about a year ago, but have basically used it only for DVDs. Last night, I decided it is time to start making use of this nice big screen for more than just DVD playback. After 10 years of attending the Kempke's MusicFlorida conferences, I finally have started to emulate some of their ideas. I downloaded or scanned the covers of each anthem we were doing and then created a PowerPoint Slideshow. This way I could easily move from one song to another in rehearsal without needing to announce multiple times which one we are singing. I was also able to put little reminders beside the anthem photo, such as: ladies only in unison on pp. 6-7; lift your eyebrows so that your face smiles; lot's of energy throughout; etc. I felt that the rehearsal went much smoother and I was not trying to remember what I had plann...

My college and seminary choirs both utilized two grand pianos for rehearsals. One pianist might play the accompaniment while another pianist played choral parts. Sometimes the pianists divided parts so that one played the Soprano and Alto parts and the other played Tenor and Bass parts. This was especially helpful if we were reading from divided scores which included parts for Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone and Bass. Most church choir rooms do not have the luxury of two pianos, much less grans pianos. Our church was using a used Yamaha console piano when I arrived. We had trouble keeping it in tune, so we purchased a digital baby grand. The pianist has never been happy with the response of the digital piano. Her comment was, "It is a good thing we do not do anything really classical or I would not be able to use this thing." However, much of the accompaniments to our anthems are just as difficult as classical piano music and it has been very frustrating for her...

How much is $800 billion dollars. A friend posted this thought on twitter recently: If we spent $1 million every day since the birth of Christ we still would not have spent as much as the US just spent in the stimulus package. For the sake of this argument, let's say that Christ was born in 33 BC (although most theologians do not believe this based on historical documents). 2042 years X 365 days = 745,330 days 745,330 days X $1,000,000 = $745,330,000,000 And yet our government plans to spend all of the nearly $800 billion dollars in just 3 short years.

The FCC recently announced that they are removing all radio frequencies (RF) in the 700mhz range. As of today it will still be illegal for any churches to use these frequencies after Tuesday, February 17, 2009. I met with our multimedia committee to hear reports of their investigations into this. It appears that 8 of our 16 wireless microphones will be useless once this RF grab goes into effect. As of now, the FCC has not announced if they will move the start date to June (following the change in date for the digital switch) or remove them from public use on Tuesday as planned. Our church will be able to get by without those 8 microphones, but it makes me wonder how small churches will manage. Some companies are offering trade-in rebates, but not nearly enough to cover the expense for many smaller churches who will need to replace their equipment. How did we get to this point. Remember that the FCC decided that all of America needed to move toward digital broadcasting instead of the a...

Try this for fun: pick a favorite verse, such as John 3:16, and look in each book of the Bible to see what 3:16 says. It is simply for fun as it does not have any actual theological purpose, but it may help you notice a verse that you have previously skipped.

Wendy is jealous because I can use my new iPod Touch while sitting in the doctor's office and she has to watch Playhouse Disney.

Now that football season is over, let me share with you some things that I learned as a child (mostly the hard way) about aluminum baseball bats. When you cannot find a baseball or softball, never use a basketball as a substitute, especially when swinging an aluminum bat Aluminum bats can rebound with equal force if you hit a hard rubbery and buoyant object (such as a basketball) Helmets are required for batters in all baseball leagues for a very good reason An aluminum bat can discharge a 30mm shell There is no recoil on an improvised bat-gun You cannot aim your shot well, nor will you have any idea the direction the bullet will fire when using an improvised bat-gun A 30mm shell discharged using an improvised bat-gun will create a loud enough sound to attract your parents and the neighbors