mac parodies (and a gust of southern wind)

i realize apple is pretty influential right now. and that the best form of flattery is imitation. but have we gone too far with the apple commercial parodies yet? sheesh.

mac = loser
environmental mac
racial mac
christian mac - i appreciate what they're going for, but it's still pretty dorky.

in other stories, we finally finished gone with the wind last night. yes, part 2 was just as long.

we totally appreciated the story line. and it's our guess that the saga/drama of it made this a timeless movie that ranks highly on a lot of lists. lots of people dying, a bloody war, prostitutes, and a love quadrangle very broken and realistic. it's a love story that doesn't end totally happy and that's why we liked it.

that's also why we're surprised so many others have liked it.

if this type of story has been so successful, then why aren't today's sappy-pathetic romantic dram-edies following suit? no, not with the pretentiousness of another 4 1/2 hour epic. we think they'd be much better off if they ended more realistically, in less of a girl-always-gets-the-guy scenario.

anyways, the filmmakers never really addressed the race issue. and although scarlet and rhett broke the mold of character-types, a few of the other characters, especially those portraying slaves, were pretty standard/boring. at one point, one of the slaves even made an expression (eyes looking sideways, mouth open in funny amazement) that we've seen on every african american sitcom that was ever made.

the writers had a chance to comment on a war and an issue central to the time it was portraying. they failed to make any comment. to it's fault, it's painfully obvious that this picture was written by white folks and aimed at entertaining white folks.

blowin....

jodi and I are in the middle of watching gone with the wind. epic story and movie. highly influential and award-winning... and we're trying to figure out why.

it's tough when you see something so old. you have to force yourself back to the time frame in which it was created. there's a lot of "great for it's time" comments you use to convince yourself it's a worthy piece of art.

it's also difficult when the movie is so stinking long. I'm not talking "long" as in one DVD for the movie and disc 2 for all the extras. I'm talking this movie takes up two whole DVDs. the thing has an intermission in it.

a couple of observations so far:

scarlett is a wreck. she's schizophrenic, attention-seeking and really annoying at times. and that's what we love about her. she definitely makes the movie.

and their portrayal of yankees and Abe Lincoln as evil, twisted foes is interesting, seeing as how the yankee side was fighting to abolish slavery. scarlett even makes a derogatory comment about old Abe.

we're most interested to see how they finish painting their picture of how slavery should be retrospectively viewed. will they paint it "as is" in lieu of the rebellious-romantic story line? or will they allow these enlightened starring characters to see the folly of their side of the war? so far, the painting is pretty grim.

disc two, here we come....

circuit bending

this is interesting.

must... resist... dissecting... boston's toys.

moving... somewhere

for those of you who don't know, the wahba's are moving. to exactly where we don't know. but the above picture creates somewhat of a situation.

i can't believe this is a picture of a home I (used to) own! here's the lowdown: we put the house up on the local market at a reasonable price - not too greedy. in hopes that we might sell by May and most likely move outta the AZ.

within 24 hours, we had 2 offers, both of which were at the asking price. with the buyer, we were able to negotiate, no doubt with the strength of the Big Guy, to stay in our house, rent & mortgage free, for 1 1/2 months after we close.

so now we're trying to figure out where to go. the obvious choice is North Carolina. and that's where we'll probably end up. but I don't have a job there. and as you'll recall we have a 4-month old guest staying with us. a guest that has certain living requirements... such as having at least one parent with a job. I've put in my notice at work and we're praying for God to show us what to do next.

so before Marlow chimes in with his "austin is so beautiful this time of year" comments, we'll go ahead and say we'd like to at least be in the same time zone as our families (EST). someplace that preferably employs PAs or wanna-be rockstar worship leaders.

prayers

sending a prayer up for the Marlows as they recover from such a tough ordeal....

U2be

i just installed a widget on my mac that posts the most watched & highest rated vids of the day from YouTube. check out these gems:

how embarrassing and why is this entertaining?

the ultimate worship song

so, in listening to chris tomlin's latest release, see the morning, I stumbled upon something that amazed me.

in one song, he managed to squeeze in every cliche from contemporary worship over the past decade. in fact, i believe he tried to squeeze them all into the song's title. this might perhaps be the ultimate worship song:

"Awesome Is The Lord Most High"

Great are You, Lord, Mighty in strength
You are faithful, as You will ever be
We will praise You all of our days
For Your glory, we offer everything

Raise your hands, all you nations
Shout to God all creation
How awesome is the Lord Most High

Where You send us, God we will go
You're the answer, we want the world to know
We will trust You when You call our name
Where You lead us, we'll follow all the way

Raise your hands, all you nations
Shout to God all creation
How awesome is the Lord Most High

We will praise You together
For now and forever
How awesome is the Lord Most High

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
How awesome is the Lord Most High
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
How awesome is the Lord Most High

Raise your hands, all you nations
Shout to God all creation
How awesome is the Lord Most High

We will praise You together
For now and forever
How awesome is the Lord Most High


how's this for a new wahba song title:
"I have come to worship you are mighty is our god of wonders".

the show

pete yorn rocked it last night. great 3-guitar singer-songwriter rootsy rock n' roll. so cool to see everyone in a tight band knowing their territory. not overstepping their boundaries. and knowing when NOT to play.

the opening band, aqualung amazed us by doing a whole set of piano-based radiohead covers! (that was a jab).

and we were floored by alison sudol, the lead singer from a fine frenzy, who did a piano-and-synth set. crazy voice and charming stage presence.

all that, an evening alone with Jodi, and a belly full of guinness & sushi = great night.

shows

not my shows - those of ones far greater than I.

jodi and I are going to see pete yorn tomorrow night. sooooo excited. he's definitely one of my faves as rootsy-singer-songwriters go. we'll do sushi, then go to the show for our annual non-valentine's day celebration.

and is anybody else excited about this?

the (left coast) windy city

just got back from our little trip to seattle to see Ken and Brenda.... oh yeah, and for Jodi to present at WCA (Western Communication Association conference).

seattle is really a fantastic place to visit (and probably to live). a few degrees warmer and we'd seriously consider living there - right, honey? bonus: getting to be with great people like Ken/Brenda/Trey all the time.

and seattle's perfect for those three. them's some coffee drinkin' folk. I still have heartburn from the every-6-hour dose of caffeine that seattle life entails.

otherwise, Ken extensively documented our trip here and here. enjoy.