Obama's Got an iPad

"Jorge, I'm the President of the United States...you think I gotta borrow someone else's computer?" [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-WC2TgWwrE]

Ha. In fairness, there was a huge deal made of Obama's blackberry back when he was elected.

I can see the dangers of having a personal communications device when you are the President.

But, the world is changing and yes, Presidents will need to have their own iPads.

I wonder what his favorite app is.

UPDATE: YouTube's integration sucks with some videos.  You can watch it here.

-B

Too Close For Comfort

"We want to play a little bit longer." [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJGi05MWtg4&]

Yeah, I want you to too.

I hate to say it but I think Kyrie's presence, while appreciated, has made the team interact in different ways on the court. After he was hurt, Smith became the definitive leader of the squad and with Kyrie back, some of the mojo is a bit...off. Here's to hoping that gets worked out before Thursday. K said himself that it was like coaching two different teams this year. But...

If anyone can coach them through it, it's Coach K.

-B

The Show Goes On

Great highlights. Including some from Kyrie. **He's back tomorrow. It's time for the NCAA to watch out. Duke is coming back to the top.** [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gdjuS7FyJI&]

Don't miss tomorrow at 3:00.

-B

iPad 2 - The Thoughts

So, it's about time I get around to this. I've held off in posting this as I got mine on launch day and my parents have spent the last week waiting in long lines, just to be let down. Until today...when they had the luck of the Irish. So, how is the iPad 2?

I think I can break it down into a few different categories: Speed, Cameras, Software, and Thinness. And then...there's demand.

Speed. Is the iPad 2 really faster? The iPad 2 is faster than the original iPad. Apple claims it is about twice as fast, with 9x faster graphics. I'm not sure about the graphics, but they do seem to be faster. I imagine as apps continue coming out the graphics will really start to shine. When they take advantage of it, it'll be great. As far as the CPU speed...yes, yes, yes. Everything is faster on the iPad 2. Apps open and load faster, Safari is faster (thanks to iOS 4.3), and things don't hang like they used to. The original iPad is not slow, by any means, but there is a noticeable difference between it and the iPad 2.

Cameras. How are the cameras? Well, the iPad 2 has cameras. When Steve introduced it, he announced them as "video cameras" and didn't say anything else about them. When the iPhone 4 was announced, he made a huge deal about the quality of the camera. Take a hint from those facts, the cameras on the iPad are not quality. That's why he didn't talk much about them, that why he didn't display photos that had actually been taken on the device. The cameras are about the same as you seen on the current iPod Touch. Which means the rear camera is a little less than a megapixel. People will not be using it to take photos. Unless they are in a jam. I, unsurprisingly, don't think this is a negative aspect. Taking pictures with the iPad is a bit awkward. If you mix this fact with the idea that they need to keep costs down, this move makes total sense. If you want to use it for images, Apple sells a camera connection kit where you can plug in your camera and use the iPad to share the images.

Software How is iOS 4.3 and apps? iOS 4.3 is not too different from the 4.2.1 running on current original iPads. It has some nice updates to AirPlay and the good news is that if you have an original iPad, you get iOS 4.3 too. So what are you waiting for? Plug it in and update it! But...the apps...are unreal. Specifically GarageBand and iMovie. iMovie will only run on the new iPad and GarageBand will run on both, although much better on iPad 2. I own a lot of music apps for the iPad. A lot of them. GarageBand easily blows them all out of the water. It is diverse, it is well designed, and it is fast. You can record up to 8 tracks, whether midi or audio, and control and edit them with swipes of the finger. This is easily one of the best things Apple has done in awhile. iMovie is great too. It is not quite as powerful as the desktop version and doesn't hold a candle to FinalCut Pro, but for editing together vacation clips on the go, it works pretty well. It is not very customizable but works flawlessly. You can publish to all kinds of things right from the app as well. Here is an example of something I made of launch day: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ooud8Ppxto&] Anyone can edit movies now. That fact alone is VERY cool.

Thinness Does it really matter? The quick answer is no. The original iPad is pretty thin already, and still thinner than all the competition out there. But the iPad 2 is still thinner...with the same battery life. The iPad 2 is thinner than my iPhone 4. And, honestly, I don't see how it could get any thinner. It feels better in the hand than the original iPad, especially if you have a case on your original. The iPad is not really any lighter (although it is a little bit) but it feels lighter because of the thinness. It is a significant difference (although it wouldn't require someone upgrading their old iPad). I didn't consider how much this matters, but it does. On my music stand at church, this takes up a lot less room.

Demand. Do people want these? YES. I arrived to the Apple store for iPad 2 on launch day at 2pm. I knew they would start selling them at 5pm. I was a bit confused about how long the line was at first, but I was probably about 95 people back in line. I was worried if they would have enough. My parents went back to the mall in Florida every day since then. Today, they got one, or two. Apple really has 18 different versions of the iPad 2, and because of that, supply was low...especially if you were looking for a certain version. The sold 10 million original iPads last year. I suspect they sold at least 2 million iPads, maybe more in the last week. Every Apple store is out country wide and the online store now says you'll have to wait more than a month for delivery. More than a month.

It's a great device. If you're new to iPad, it is worth buying if you don't mind the short live $100 premium over last year's model. (If you want last year's model, look fast when they're gone, they're gone.)

I suspect that Apple might be ready for you to buy too.

With the exception of RIM's playbook, I don't see any competition for it anytime soon. Seriously. They are way ahead.

Do you have one? Do you want one? Please share!

-B

Friday by Rebecca Black

I really enjoy quality art. This is soooooo good, I had to share. True talent only comes along so often, and this is really a great example of this fact.

What an inspirational piece. This song really moved me to the core.

What an artist.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0&]

-B

Can anyone confirm if this is real or not? Like for real.

In case the depth of lyrical interpretation went way over your head like it did me, I've also included the lyrics below. True, true poetry:

(Yeah, Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ark) Oo-ooh-ooh, hoo yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah Yeah-ah-ah Yeah-ah-ah Yeah-ah-ah Yeah-ah-ah Yeah, yeah, yeah

[Verse 1] 7am, waking up in the morning Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal Seein’ everything, the time is goin’ Tickin’ on and on, everybody’s rushin’ Gotta get down to the bus stop Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends (My friends)

Kickin’ in the front seat Sittin’ in the back seat Gotta make my mind up Which seat can I take?

It’s Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend Friday, Friday Gettin’ down on Friday Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend

Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah) Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah) Fun, fun, fun, fun Lookin’ forward to the weekend

[ Verse 2] 7:45, we’re drivin’ on the highway Cruisin’ so fast, I want time to fly Fun, fun, think about fun You know what it is I got this, you got this My friend is by my right I got this, you got this Now you know it

Kickin’ in the front seat Sittin’ in the back seat Gotta make my mind up Which seat can I take?

[Chorus] It’s Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend Friday, Friday

Gettin’ down on Friday Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend

Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah) Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah) Fun, fun, fun, fun Lookin’ forward to the weekend

[Bridge] Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin’) We-we-we so excited We so excited We gonna have a ball today

Tomorrow is Saturday And Sunday comes after...wards I don’t want this weekend to end

[Rap Verse] R-B, Rebecca Black So chillin’ in the front seat (In the front seat) In the back seat (In the back seat) I’m drivin’, cruisin’ (Yeah, yeah) Fast lanes, switchin’ lanes Wit’ a car up on my side (Woo!) (C’mon) Passin’ by is a school bus in front of me Makes tick tock, tick tock, wanna scream Check my time, it’s Friday, it’s a weekend We gonna have fun, c’mon, c’mon, y’all

[Chorus]

It’s Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend Friday, Friday Gettin’ down on Friday Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend

Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah) Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah) Fun, fun, fun, fun Lookin’ forward to the weekend

It’s Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend Friday, Friday Gettin’ down on Friday Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend

Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah) Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah) Fun, fun, fun, fun Lookin’ forward to the weekend

The Earth is Yours

Man, I love these guys. I've probably watched this video a thousand times, but realized I never shared it. I hope you come to like Gungor as much as you should.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRUCV78IULQ&]

-B

My New Song...Name It For Me

I haven't written a ton of music as of late. I have a few that are coming but are unfinished. I stumbled across this one, which I wrote at the end of college, yesterday. The thing is, I never really came up with a name for it. I like the song, I think the message is relatively clear, and the recording came out pretty well for being done in our dorm room.

So, the issue remains. I wanted to share the song, but I didn't have a name for it. So I came up with this idea: have you all name it.

I put it on YouTube with the lyrics sliding by as it goes along in hopes that you'll listen to it. The visuals are minimalistic and bare bones, but that way you'll be able to focus. If you'd like, leave your idea for a title in the comments. I'll give two prizes, one for the one I pick or think most fits, then one for the most creative.

I'm seriously considering putting it on iTunes too, so anyone who wants to design some cover art for it as a single will win my heart forever (after Jesus, Allie, and my family of course).

Hope you enjoy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbAihr-ws5o&]

-B

"Passion"ate Music in The Church

I've been enjoying my time off thus far. I've watched television, listened to music, and made Allie breakfast this morning. Good start to the break, This morning I started watching some of the videos from my Digital All Access Pass that I bought from Passion 2011. In the middle of the second one, I started having some thoughts about what was actually occurring. I was watching a worship session, watching others worship to new music that they had just learned. It seemed strange, possibly for one of the first times, that I was watching others worship God. A little weird right? Many readers might take this opportunity to move to the next logical step. The step might be that this is entertainment instead of worship and it's just wrong by principle(and hence why I am watching it and feeling strange) but hear me clearly: they are wrong, uninformed, and overly critical.

I immediately jumped to the conclusion that I was in a place where their feelings made sense. But something felt odd to me still, so I went to YouTube. You know what I found? A whole bunch of videos, posted online, of people worshipping in traditional settings. To traditional hymns. To an organ, sometimes a choir, and whole bunch of awful sounding tones. I mean, really, a lot of it was bad. Very bad.

So I thought, if the contemporary music model is so "wrong" because it allows itself very easily to be recorded and placed in a position where someone might watch it later for, perhaps, entertainment value, why in the world are these churches recording these hymns? There is almost nothing about it that is pleasing to the ear. The camera angles are such that you can rarely see anything of consequence. Why put this on YouTube?

As I struggled with this question, I considered different things: maybe they're trying to advertise their church. Maybe they're trying to pay homage to the old hymns. Maybe they just discovered that you can put things on YouTube and so they decided to try it. Any of these could be right.

But one significant difference stuck out: energy. The Passion videos had energy. I could feel it sitting here on the couch. The traditional videos didn't.

When I lead others in worship, and I tend to do a lot of that, I can tell by the middle of the first song whether or not the energy of the room is anything that can be worked with. I very much believe that though the Spirit is always present, sometimes it manifests itself in ways that are easier seen than other times.

As I sit in Goodson Chapel for worship during the day at Duke, sometimes I feel it, and sometimes I don't.

Over the past four years or so I have tried to experiment in ways that will make my methods of leading more effective. The ways I interact with the musicians, the way transitions are planned, the way the text of songs interacts with other parts of the service, all of this matters.

And I think that is where the contemporary music movement has hit a nail on the head. They discovered a way to be effective. Many of the songs are still used in appropriate times in worship. Many of the songs resemble good musicianship in the layout, form, and overall direction. And because they used a style of music that allows people to really move to and feel within themselves, they reached an inner part of the body and spirit that truly sings. Good music, no matter what the style, does this...but simplistic forms tend to resonate with our inner souls more.

There is a reason that slave songs sounded the way they did.

There is a reason that today's African American Gospel music borrows many themes and styles from old slave songs.

My argument is that I see the contemporary music movement doing and borrowing the same things. That's why, in the mostly-Caucasian world, it tends to invoke more energy in the room. When you hear a worship leader say, "I felt like they were really getting into it." I think this is the principle they are referring to.

Like it or not, in 2011, the traditional services and traditional worship styles of old do not carry the energy. Some may say this can't be true, and I might agree that this is a sad reality, but it is nonetheless a reality. At least I see it like this.

Keeping this in mind, my ultimate question is this: if the Spirit is always present and presumably the Spirit doesn't care what style of music is played, why does it manifest itself inside of this type of music more? How much of that depends on the musicianship of those leading? Do others experience the Spirit in different ways? If yes(most likely), does that manifest itself in ways that speak loudly (and tangibly)?

How do we know?

-B

Born This Way

I believe that by this point I have made it clear that eccentric, brilliant, crazy people intrigue me greatly. I don't really see how this will ever change. But, this new Lady Gaga video is beyond where I am willing to go.

Gaga' new single "Born This Way" found its way onto these here inter-webs in video form last week sometime on Vevo, YouTube's recent offering for legal artist-submitted and promoted music video content.

Born This Way, like Gaga's "Alejandro", is about 7 or 8 minutes long and truly reminds me of the old Michael videos that were really short films rather than just a music video. Something about this production style seems to be very artistic and I really like it. I like story lines, creativity, and one medium acting as another.

But, also like Alejandro, the video of Born This Way does not necessarily add to the song in a way that provides any insight into the textual poetry. And, also like Alejandro, it shows way too much skin unnecessarily. For that reason, I choose not to link to the video here as I would often do. I do consider it an attempt at art and so I won't necessarily discourage you from watching it, but I do recommend that you be careful.

The Born This Way video approaches the art of movie making much like the Thriller video did. It gives a little context, tells a little story, and then infiltrates the screen with dancing and singing. One major difference though: Gaga is nearly naked for the entire video. Same thing was true of the Alejandro video and when she WAS clothed she was dressed as a nun (and it eventually heads toward a sacrilegious ending). Not only is Gaga almost naked, but she enacts sexual movements throughout the video as well. It is extreme overkill. (Arguably, the Alejandro video is still much worse.)

Typically, those of us who are offended by this blatant sexual outpouring from a TV screen would just change the channel or click a different video. But I watched this all the way through because I couldn't figure out if it was the sexual discourse that I struggled with or whether or not it was the fact that this was a great song, written for a noble cause, and was simply destroyed by a terrible video design.

I interpret the text of the song like this: love yourself no matter who you are, what you do, how you feel, or what people think of you or call you. In today's world this is a message that ought to speak loudly. Very loudly. God makes no mistakes.

I interpret the video like this: a star like Gaga was born and helped to raise up followers who don't hate. Given, the metaphor used in the video was extreme, strong, and downright weird...but I still got the message.

Problem number one: is this video about keeping people from wanting to kill themselves because they feel out of place because they are gay, fat, or not cool? Or is it a message that Gaga is helping the world out by promoting self confidence? I would argue that it might be both. As a Christian, I appreciate an effort to promote an idea and message of love.

Here's the issue that I see though. If the ultimate goal is that someone love themselves no matter who they are or what they look like, what is the need for the sexual acts on screen? What good does that do? I might argue that, if anything, it only makes a fan look at Gaga's body and think differently about their own body. This seems counterproductive.

P!nk's new video and song seems to be a better representation of this message.

As a result of the issue stated above, I think that Gaga's new video does nothing to advance culture in a way that she wants it to advance (toward a movement of love and acceptance) because it is so bogged down with sexual aspects that a viewer may never be able to get past it. (Though, P!nk's new video uses the F word unnecessarily as well.)

It seems to me that the popular world is catching on to the damage it has caused. And some artists are trying to fix it. I appreciate that.

But, they're not seeing the whole picture.

-B

I have a lot a respect for Gaga but I think she is quickly losing me as a true fan.

Justin Bieber's Talent

Yes, I did see this movie. By far the most impressive clips from the film were the ones where he beat on things as a kid.  At one point, you watch him open a djembe for Christmas and beat on it, like he's been doing it for years.  He's like two.

He gets a bad reputation because his music is marketed to tweens. But-the kid can sing, and he can play.

Really.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJCN3Mhr14]

-B