Wow, two blog posts in two days! I suppose the adage "when it rains, it pours" is true in this case. I would've covered the Booth Brothers' latest album in my post yesterday, but it was already long enough, and this project has pretty well blown me away. From the first track, they mean business, both in song choice and the wonderful producing by Lari Goss. To go through track by track would be a tad extensive, and somewhat biased on my part. I thoroughly enjoy any Booth Brothers project, and I truly appreciate their friendship to me, especially Michael's. I am sure I barely know him, but from what I do know of the "real Michael", this album displays his character very well.
Michael's recital on the bonus track, Statement of Faith, showcases his conviction for the Gospel very well, if not solely in the emotion in his voice. In addition, the choices of several songs set this album apart in my eyes, with such tracks as I See Grace, which I wrote about last month, and my personal favorite, We Believe. The latter is such an amazing song both in the arrangement and the lyric. Musically, Michael showcases his very wide range by handling the first solo, which is in the lowest key. In fact, just mapping out Michael's lowest and highest notes on the track, he uses nearly two octaves, going from a Bb2 in the first verse up to an A4 at four minutes fifty-three seconds. In fact, when the Booth Brothers first started singing, Michael did not sing tenor. The brothers' father, Ron Booth Sr. handled the tenor duties, while Ronnie sang lead and Michael sang none other than baritone. What a wonderful gift.
Two other favorites from the album are The Gospel Song/Before the Cross, and Absolute Peace. The first few lines of the latter truly captivated me: "When I listen to the news, with its gloom and doom reviews; talk of war and nations in distress. I'm reminded of God's Word, how my every prayer is heard, all my fears are calmly laid to rest. I shall hold fast my faith in the Lord, for He promised to be faithful to His Word. With tomorrow in His hand and His perfect master plan, I will trust Him and have absolute peace." Such simple, yet sweet and true words.
After several bloggers posted a joint review of the album, I knew what to expect out of Then I Met The Master, but even with that foreshadowing, I was pleasantly surprised, not only by the arrangement, but by the soundtrack. The transition from the a capella choral track into piano and eventually full orchestra is quite lovely. One can liken it to a well written movie...the introduction, increasing action, climax, and resolution fit together and are timed very well.
All in all, this album is one of my top listened pieces. I am thrilled to see such continuing quality from this trio time and time again. Who they give the praise to, though is key, and I believe a large part of their success. They could let their gains go to their head, but instead they turn them and use them to further their ministry, as it should be.
Timothy
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Phones, Gold, and the Dying Dollar
It has been a coon's age since I have posted! Lots has been happening...both in my life, the technological world, and the geopolitical world. Exciting stuff! First of all...why I've been gone so long. I was recently promoted at my workplace, one of the two Sam's Clubs in Springfield, specifically 4985 on the south side of Springfield. The Club's opening was July 23, 2009, and I started out as a cart attendant. In October, I moved inside to cashiering. That...didn't work so well.
It didn't work so well in that I am good at it, but it didn't challenge me physically or mentally...it didn't even satisfy me, just bored me. By February, I was doing two or three days a week in carts, then usually weekends on register. As of April 20th, I moved back into carts. Two and a half weeks ago, though, I was asked if I would be interested in working at the Connection Center, which is where I have been now for just over a week.
Having never worked with cell phones much, let alone plans (my Club deals with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile plans), I had no idea what I was getting into. I love technology, and keep updated on computers, but phones had never been my forté. However, I am adapting to the role quite well, especially since the current generation of Android-powered smartphones have the same characteristics of a laptop of just a few years ago. Connection Center is challenging, but I am enjoying it immensely.
For the first time...thanks to my new position...I am VERY excited about the release of a new cell phone. The Galaxy S series by Samsung is releasing on all four carriers. At my Club, T-Mobile released it first, as the Samsung Vibrant, on July 15. July 18, AT&T released the Samsung Captivate, and Sprint is taking preorders for the Samsung Epic 4G, which differs from the other three carriers in that it is about one and a half times as thick (14.6mm as opposed to the Captivates 9.9mm), and features a slider-type design with a full keyboard. I am not sure at the present time what Verizon's version will be called, but regardless, the phone is VERY nice. Especially for AT&T in that it is just as powerful as the iPhone 4 (I'd say a bit more powerful), is powered by Android (mostly free apps as opposed to the Apple App Store's 80% non-free applications), and it is available. Out of eight that we received on the 16th, three were sold on the release date ALONE. Since I have been off work the past two days, I imagine that it's possible that we could have all of them sold by now. Exciting stuff! The Galaxy S series features a 4-inch AMOLED (Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode), a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 16 gigabytes of internal flash memory plus the ability to hold up to a 32 gigabyte MicroSD card. 720p HD recording, a 6-axis accelerometer...all-in-all a VERY powerful device for such a tiny package.
Okay. I'll step off my soap box. Gauging by the way I get fired up about just THIS phone, I think I'll do pretty well in my new position.
I mentioned the geopolitical world earlier. Well, you surely know my stance on Biblical eschatology, and just viewing the world through that "third-lens", there are all sorts of things happening. Out of fourteen meetings between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, only ONE has gone well. That was the last one, in which the subject of a strike on Iran was notably avoided. Also, the US Dollar's demise as the once world standard currency is becoming more evident even within our own borders. For instance, this story just eight days ago details how competing currencies are being accepted in mid-Michigan, pointing out that the Coinage Act of 1965 says "private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash, unless there is a state law which says otherwise." There is plenty of evidence out there of the dollar's demise, as gold continues to rise. I see many commercials for gold buyers on television and there is a wide misconception among folks I talk to on the subject that the value of gold is rising, when in fact the value of gold is staying stable, but the strength of the dollar is weakening dramatically.
Well, I am all typed out for now. I'll have to post again soon and not be silent so long.
Keep strong in the Faith!
Timothy
It didn't work so well in that I am good at it, but it didn't challenge me physically or mentally...it didn't even satisfy me, just bored me. By February, I was doing two or three days a week in carts, then usually weekends on register. As of April 20th, I moved back into carts. Two and a half weeks ago, though, I was asked if I would be interested in working at the Connection Center, which is where I have been now for just over a week.
Having never worked with cell phones much, let alone plans (my Club deals with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile plans), I had no idea what I was getting into. I love technology, and keep updated on computers, but phones had never been my forté. However, I am adapting to the role quite well, especially since the current generation of Android-powered smartphones have the same characteristics of a laptop of just a few years ago. Connection Center is challenging, but I am enjoying it immensely.
For the first time...thanks to my new position...I am VERY excited about the release of a new cell phone. The Galaxy S series by Samsung is releasing on all four carriers. At my Club, T-Mobile released it first, as the Samsung Vibrant, on July 15. July 18, AT&T released the Samsung Captivate, and Sprint is taking preorders for the Samsung Epic 4G, which differs from the other three carriers in that it is about one and a half times as thick (14.6mm as opposed to the Captivates 9.9mm), and features a slider-type design with a full keyboard. I am not sure at the present time what Verizon's version will be called, but regardless, the phone is VERY nice. Especially for AT&T in that it is just as powerful as the iPhone 4 (I'd say a bit more powerful), is powered by Android (mostly free apps as opposed to the Apple App Store's 80% non-free applications), and it is available. Out of eight that we received on the 16th, three were sold on the release date ALONE. Since I have been off work the past two days, I imagine that it's possible that we could have all of them sold by now. Exciting stuff! The Galaxy S series features a 4-inch AMOLED (Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode), a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 16 gigabytes of internal flash memory plus the ability to hold up to a 32 gigabyte MicroSD card. 720p HD recording, a 6-axis accelerometer...all-in-all a VERY powerful device for such a tiny package.
Okay. I'll step off my soap box. Gauging by the way I get fired up about just THIS phone, I think I'll do pretty well in my new position.
I mentioned the geopolitical world earlier. Well, you surely know my stance on Biblical eschatology, and just viewing the world through that "third-lens", there are all sorts of things happening. Out of fourteen meetings between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, only ONE has gone well. That was the last one, in which the subject of a strike on Iran was notably avoided. Also, the US Dollar's demise as the once world standard currency is becoming more evident even within our own borders. For instance, this story just eight days ago details how competing currencies are being accepted in mid-Michigan, pointing out that the Coinage Act of 1965 says "private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash, unless there is a state law which says otherwise." There is plenty of evidence out there of the dollar's demise, as gold continues to rise. I see many commercials for gold buyers on television and there is a wide misconception among folks I talk to on the subject that the value of gold is rising, when in fact the value of gold is staying stable, but the strength of the dollar is weakening dramatically.Well, I am all typed out for now. I'll have to post again soon and not be silent so long.
Keep strong in the Faith!
Timothy
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