Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Zune

So I finally caved and purchased a new mp3 player on boxing day. I noticed that Best Buy had dropped the price of the Zune 16GB flash players $70, did a bit of research, and found that it was pretty comparable to the 16GB iPod Nano. Being a bit anti-Apple and not being a fan of the iTunes software, this seemed like a good option for me.


My first digital mp3 player was the iRiver H320. Waaaaay better than the original iPod with built-in features like a microphone, multiple headphone outputs, and FM tuner. The best features are the customizeable EQ settings and the fact that I don't need special software to load my music. It plugs in like a portable harddrive and I just click and drag whatever music files I want onto the player. The customizeable EQ settings were great and I could get some pretty phat, rumbling bass with a decent set of headphones. I liked my H320 so much that when the battery life had dropped down to <1 hr after years of use, I bought a 2200mAh 2nd generation iPod battery online and swapped out the old one. Voila, good as new with 130% battery life as it originally had with the 1700 mAh battery.

The Zune has got some nice features that put it on top of the nano IMO (including being $70 cheaper). I like the click pad a bit better than the iPod wheel - a matter of preference. It also has WiFi capability so I can sync it with my PC wirelessly. In the US there are hotspots at some McDonald's and Wal-Mart locations that you can connect to and update your music on the go. It allows you to send music/pictures/video to other Zune players in the same way people can send stuff phone-to-phone via Bluetooth. It does not approach the useability of the iTouch when it comes to WiFi but the iTouch is really in a league of it's own (and costs almost 3x as much). It does come built-in with an FM tuner but I don't really listen to the radio much so this isn't a big deal.

There were a couple of disappointments, the biggest being that it has no EQ settings or presets. I was playing around with my brother's iPod classic and the EQ presets don't really do anything (he is using the mediocre Apple earbuds that come with the player). I looooooooooove my bass and I usually crank it up. But on the Zune, I can hardly pick out the low frequency sounds...even with a good set of headphones. So much for tabbing out a bass line listening to my Zune. Also, the Zune Marketplace (the equivalent to iTunes) is only available in the United States. No dice for Canada or Australia.

If they added in a 5 band user EQ control to the player, this would be the perfect mp3 player for me. But because I can't get the same thumping bass that I can with my iRiver, I will be holding onto the big black brick and bringing it with me whenever portability isn't that important. Still, the Zune is a great alternative to the iPod and I hope to see them continue to improve their product and take away some of that market share that Apple hoards so well.

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SD and SDHC Cards

So this year marked the second time I accompanied some of my more tech-savvy buddies in the 5am lineups outside Future Shop and Best Buy to take advantage of the door crasher sales. There wasn't much that I was after and definitely nothing big ticket. The best part of the morning was probably sitting down at McD's for an Egg McMuffin and hashbrown while engaging in some good conversation with the guys. My parents were thinking about getting an all-in-one printer with wireless networking capabilities and possibly a Blu-ray player. They had some really cheap Brother printers but my dad had insisted on being a brand-name snob and told me to look for an HP. I learned that if I was after a decent Blu-ray player that could download updates, I might as well get a Playstation 3.

They had these 16GB SDHC cards for $18 so I grabbed one of those. Little did I know, SDHC cards are NOT the same as SD cards (I figured this out after my laptop and camera couldn't read it). They look exactly the same but I guess you need a special type of firmware to be able to read it and my stuff can't. How disappointing. I was looking forward to going from a 2GB card to 16GB. What's even more frustrating is that my dad has almost the exact same camera - a Canon Powershot SD750 compared to my SD630. His is about a year newer than mine and guess what? It can read the SDHC cards! Argh...

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Monday, December 22, 2008

All Creation Sing

I love free stuff! Found this version of Joy To the World by Steve Fee free to download from www.worshiptogether.com

Enjoy!

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Thursday, December 18, 2008

Let Your Glory Shine

I wanted to get my hands on Lincoln Brewster's latest album, Today Is The Day, so I thought I'd head down to the local Christian bookstore that's about 5 minutes away from my house and check it out. Unfortunately, I didn't know (or had forgotten) that Christian Publications went out of business in Calgary earlier in the year. I was very disappointed because now if I want music or a book I'll have to blindly order it online without the benefits of browsing through it first. I guess they just can't compete against the giants named Chapter/Indigo or Amazon when it comes to pricing and one-stop shopping for everything.

Anyway, I've been listening to tracks off the CD online and I just love this one song called "Let Your Glory Shine". At the beginning of the song, Lincoln erupts into this Van Halen-like intro and launches into a really great sounding song that would be great to use to end off a worship set. It's got a catchy riff with a nice bluesy-rock feel to it. Go to his MySpace page to listen to the full album version of the song or watch a live version of it below:



I enjoy reading the thoughts that Bob Kauflin of Sovereign Grace Ministries shares on his blog. I've learned a lot from him about the role of music in worshiping God and the important things to keep in mind when involved in the music ministry. One statement that he made with regards to being "lead worshipers" (and applies to everyone) is that our goal should be to magnify the worth of God and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. That is the purpose of the music ministry in a nutshell.

When I attend a service on Sundays, one of the aspects of worship that I love is the music. Songs are a very powerful way for us to connect with God for many different reasons and shouldn't be reserved for just Sundays either. There's no reason why singing can't be a part of our own personal worship at home, in the car (great place to just belt it out), in the shower, or walking to work/school.

Have you ever found it easier to remember the lyrics to a song rather than simple prose in the absence of music? I know it's tough for me to memorize a whole passage of scripture. I was so encouraged when I found out that the Sunday morning adults bible study class was combining scripture memory with their study of the sermon on the mount. I joined them just as they were finishing the beatitudes in Matt 5 and they hope to have chapters 5-7 completely memorized by the end of it all! I'm surprised at how many songs I can sing along to on the radio or how many worship songs I know the lyrics to by heart. That's because combining words with music helps us to remember better. So one of the keys to singing is that it helps us remember God's word.

Bob also pointed out that singing should be a response to God's grace. We should be thankful and grateful for all that God has done for us. Especially this Christmas season, we celebrate and thank God for sending his son Jesus through the singing of various Christmas songs.

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - Col 3:15-17 (NIV)

Finally, we sing to reflect God's glory. Paul tells the Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit. And how can they do that? By speaking to one another with psalms, hymn and spiritual songs. He encourages them to sing and make music in their hearts to the Lord, to always give thanks, and always in the name of Jesus Christ.

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Monday, December 15, 2008

In Your Atmosphere

So today I got sick of studying and thought take a break and test the acoustics in the bathroom. Everything echos a bit more and has a natural reverb in there but I don't think it really makes a difference with my built-in laptop mic. One of my favorite songs off John Mayer's live recorded album "Where The Light Is" is an acoustic song called In Your Atmosphere. According to this tab I found, it uses a funky tuning of eBF#EBE (I don't even know what this tuning would be called). Also, I think the lyrics to the 3rd verse are wrong on that site. They should be:

"I don't think I'm gonna go there anymore
I get lost on the boulevard at nite
Without your voice to tell me
'I love you, take a right'
The ten and the two is a lonely sight."

It makes more sense for it to be "take a right" because his ex would have given him directions so he wouldn't get lost in LA. "The ten and the two" are probably referring to his hand positions on the steering wheel that remind him of her when he drives around in LA without her. Anyway...i fiddled around with the tab and sorta came up with my own version. Another great song musically and lyrically by John Mayer.

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Friday, December 12, 2008

Summer Hols Thru the Eye of a Lens

Studying for the USMLE Step 1 with the help of Kaplan DVDs. I enjoy the video lectures and they explain things very well but it's taking a LONG time to go through them while making my own notes.

I like 'em a bit thicker and heavier. My newest procrastination tool. When my family is home and I can't go nuts on the set, I use an old textbook as a drum pad. Good times.

My current setup. I pulled out a chorus and just recently added in Visual Sound's Route 66 overdrive and compression. I would stick the delay in the effects loop but that means two extra cables and it just gets messy. Been fiddling around with lotsa different settings and stuff but my amp has been giving me problems. It's NOISY even when I go directly from guitar --> amp, which isn't a good sign. I found out on my flight back to Calgary that you can take guitar pedals in your carry-on luggage!

Banana blueberry cake. I found a recipe my mom had that uses oil instead of butter so that my brother can eat it with his dairy allergy. Been cooking a bit here and there since I spend a significant amount of time at home studying.

Hockey! Oh how I've missed hockey throughout the year. Yes, the Avs are doing terrible and Sakic is out for a month or so after sticking his hand in a snow blower. If you make $6 million a year, why don't you hire someone to shovel your snow? The team needs their captain!

Been to two Flames games: one against the Avs and the other against the Canucks. I think the Flames win every single time I'm at the Saddledome even though more than half the time I'm not cheering for them. Been playing floor hockey whenever I have a chance and played shinny indoors once. Hoping to play outside a bit more in the near future.

And now it's off to shovel snow! It's been coming down heavy all day today and my guess is that the roads are going to be a mess with hundreds of car accidents tomorrow if they don't get them cleared. My brother phoned about an hour ago on his way home from school saying that his bus was stuck in traffic...we'll see how long it takes for him to get home.

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

Free Fallin'

Coming back home has been both rewarding and challenging. I am so thankful for the many people back in Calgary that make home what it is. I've realized that home isn't necessarily about the where but it's about the who - and this past year I was really blessed to have people in my life that made home both in Australia and back here in Canada.

These past three weeks have been hard emotionally and in some ways I feel like I've jumped out of a plane that, at the time being, seemed fine. From the outside it looked fine: it wasn't on fire, the engines were running okay, it was cruising at a regular altitude and there was still fuel left in the tank. The in-flight entertainment was tops along with great food, movies, and conversation - nothing to complain about. It felt nice to stay on autopilot, ignore the radar, and continue to enjoy the moment cruising along.

I love rollercoasters and those rides where you drop really fast and it feels like your stomach is up in your throat. The adrenaline rush is amazing. But this free fall is totally different. There's no rush of adrenaline, no desire to try it again, and no desire to get on a plane again for fear that it might explode in mid-air and send me falling again. This free fall seems to be going in slow motion and instead of my stomach being up in my throat it feels like my chest has been crushed along with my heart inside.



But as I fall I realize that in the end I'm not going to hit the ground with a splat. Someone is going to catch me. Once I've fallen far enough I know a hand will reach out and catch me and lift me up. When turn from my selfish ways and put my trust and hope in Him, my Creator and Redeemer, He will give me peace.

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
They will run and not grow weary,
They will walk and not be faint."
- Isaiah 40:29-31 (NIV)

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Sunday, December 07, 2008

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

In just a few hours time I will have been home for 3 weeks! That leaves me with just over 6 weeks of holidays left!! Ahhhhhhhhh

A lot has happened since coming home and perhaps I'll take some time later on this week to write about it more. It snowed the first day I came back but it had all melted away within a few days. This morning, however, it started coming down like crazy. I think we got at least 3-4 inches of snow in some parts of the city and it took me about an hour to shovel the snow off our driveway. It was the really wet, dense kind too that is HEAVY to push around. Great for making snowballs and snowmen but a pain to move off your driveway.

Before...

About 30 min later...

And...done x_x

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