One of the Toughest Days of My Ministry for the Homegoing Ceremony of a Young Soldier: R.I.P. Joshua Caleb Burroughs

Earlier today (Thursday, April 24, 2008), our church where I am the youth pastor (Bethesda Baptist Church in Austell, GA) conducted a home going ceremony (funeral) for a young teen who was gunned down in broad daylight last week.

Gang involvement is being attached to the death and the lines are still blurred and the starting and ending points are still yet to be identified.

Our youth that was buried today, Joshua Caleb Burroughs, was a gentle and compassionate young man who had absolutely mesmerized our church family during a Black History play in 2007.  I was not fortunate to see the play, but every statement made about the play included how well Caleb had performed.

He was our budding playwright or actor and he was reminded of this several times since.

Caleb always had a smile on his face and his eyes always signaled that he was aware of any preaching, teaching, and biblical instruction that was taking place regardless of who the minister was and how the information was being delivered.

I could always personally tell that he was getting it and knew what needed to be done.

Now that the procession of cars and release of balloons have been done, we are depending upon God to lead us on how to not only honor our memories of Caleb, but how to move aggressively in a way to expand the kingdom of God to reach the young men and women who are drowning in lifestyles that will not sustain them.

There is no room or time for physical revenge because such thoughts and actions are simply not productive.

The necessity for our steps to be taken boldly and to demonstrate to the surrounding community and world that a better way does exist that meets your physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual needs.

The kingdom of God is not boring but the uninspired and laziness of mankind will cause it to appear that way.  Today, I am rededicating myself to become more bolder and creative to do whatever it takes to make a difference to reach today's youth and this present age.

My difficulty that I am now experiencing is that I was already in the process of releasing new music beginning in the month of May when this tragedy occurred.  Although the enemy wants to further accuse us all of either activity or inactivity that led to Caleb's death, we have already realized as a church family that this battle is not over yet.

So I am asking anyone that comes across these words to reexamine your relationship with Jesus Christ, allow Him to be your Savior, allow the Holy Spirit to guide you, and be inspired to be, see, do, and have the kingdom of God expanded in earth as it is in heaven.

If Christ Jesus was good enough for young Brother Caleb, then Christ Jesus is good enough for you. 

Now we will work continuously to show you how much better Christ's wine is.

R.I.P. Joshua Caleb Burroughs

Here are URLs related to the funeral conducted today: http://tinyurl.com/52z7e2 http://tinyurl.com/4oywqp http://tinyurl.com/4qg7o3

Peace!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Smiths in Mableton, GA

This morning the idea hit me to make green lemonade and my Wyteria jumped on the idea before our daughters came home from school.

Our youngest daughter Hailey kept going to the nearby bathroom to see if her tongue was turning green:)

It may become a Smith family tradition on St. Patrick's Day and was tasty too.

Somehow the mind tricked my oldest daughter Rachel and my wife's mind in that they said the Irish Lemonade tasted "minty".

Atlanta Tornado Pictures

The world is really wanting to see the damage from this past weekend's storms here in metro Atlanta.

The best footage that I've seen is located on a CNN-affiliated site named i-Report which is actually taken by residents of the affected areas.

The storms were highly unusual in that Friday's storm hit downtown the hardest and a tornado had not actually done so since 1975.

We live in Mableton, GA which is located within "tornado alley" and usually feel the brunt of any high winds year round, but the storm featured thunder and lightning and subsided very quickly Friday night.

Yesterday at church, I heard that a hail storm really poured down in Lithia Springs, GA which is probably less than 7 to 10 miles away in Douglas County, GA.  Our pastor's car had multiple dings all over from Saturday's storm which also hit the east side of metro Atlanta within Lithonia, GA very hard.

I personally only saw tiny, pellet sized hail outside of our home.

I met a photographer yesterday who took a photo of hail from Friday and Saturday's nights storms and the hail was golf ball sized and clearly might kill you if you were hit by them.

I thank God that we were spared from the damage that is having a large impact on the other areas.  To my knowledge, 2 deaths have occurred from the storms.

Peace!

Interesting Discovery While Going straight DSL versus Local Phone Service

After years of resisting an inevitable trend nationwide, I finally saw the light Thursday night and have switched our service to straight DSL and dropped local phone service altogether.

We can be more easily reached by cell anyway.

The point of no return was when I realized that we were paying over $400 annually for what essentially came down to caller ID service.  Taken together with a recent cellphone plan change, one utility bill (water) and another bill essentially becomes free each month with the new cost savings going forward. 

Our cell phones have pretty much become our cordless phones even at home, so there have been no benefits of having local in-house phone service.  We got burned this winter with several triple digit cell bills.  When the bills were mentioned to our service provider T-Mobile and the fact that we were on the wrong plan was undeniable, they provided a credit to us since we have had the service since 2000.

But the biggest discovery of this entire process is that the local phone number that we have had since November 1992 does not get thrown back on the open market after all.  The number is already permanently assigned as our DSL number anyway and can be reactivated at any other time in the future.

If this single fact had been known earlier, then the decision of dropping the local service could have been made a long time ago.

I know that keeping the number was a legacy of "old school" thinking that my parents and grandparents would have had years ago:)

Another thing that was interesting to me alone possibly is that my wife Wyteria made a comment to the effect of "I was ready months ago" when I explained my logic of the changed opinion:)  So you know how the wives are when it is said and done:)

I hope the above discoveries will help someone else if you have been thinking about it.

Peace!

ElectricSlide.com has a new design and music concept!

Check out our new music and creative concept on Electric Slide.com that you have been instinctively looking for!

Tiger Math Coach.com is back online!

A few years ago, a squatter got their hands on one of our domains entitled Tiger Math Coach.com and I was not too happy about it to say the least.

But whatever is meant for you will never be profitable within the hands of anyone else and being able to re-acquire our original concept is making me very happy on an otherwise gloomy, weather day.

Using my years of teaching math and business courses to grades 9-12, middle school students and even adults as the foundation to help more people learn better worldwide, our services and dynamic strategies formed a reinforcing circle that made the website and concept a huge success.

Now with the available technology, we will be able to reach even more people than we could during our most productive years.

One of the beautiful developments that we are offering this time around is that others will be able to resell our services.

We are going to take math education even higher in 2008!

Peace!

Link Updates for New Business Developments

Here are the links mentioned previously.

They should all work correctly now.

Free Money from Free Services: http://tinyurl.com/38n32k

Original Credit Guard: http://tinyurl.com/2fwfn4

Mac Mogul: http://tinyurl.com/25a3qd

BPSD 101: http://tinyurl.com/yt9kvy

Have a great day!

Peace!

New Business Developments

Earlier today, several new products and services have been released to the public. The best part about them all is that technology has finally provided an infrastructure strong and suitable enough to operate each one nation and world wide in most cases.

The biggest twist however is that other business professionals will be able to offer the products and services and receive commissions for sales made. There are products and services that every household is already looking for someone reputable to provide. I feel that it might as well be you and I versus anyone else:)

The list includes:

Original Credit Guard's Lifetime Credit Repair (from my very first business venture started in 1987)

Buy Pennies Sell Dollars 101

Free Money from Free Services (even when you get to a cash register to spend the money yourself, you will still have doubts like I did at first)

More products and services will be added weekly until everything is made available to the public.

I am excited since every product or service reflects industries that I am still within or have already achieved proven results.

The products and services initially only require using e-mail to make others aware of them and receive the commission. Every sale is tracked automatically for the salesperson and customer which I totally love versus manually calculating anything. Just send your friends and family a link that they can click and buy through, and receive the commissions as a result. I hope to make it even simpler if possible.

Feel free to ask any questions as well. I will make the links available within the hour hopefully and feel free to contact me directly otherwise..

Peace!

New Lighting for Creating Videos at Home

Here are a few of my thoughts on Super Tuesday 2008 and it is mostly non-political.

New energy for this blog!

I recently discovered some information that I clearly did not know attesting to the popularity and inherent profitability of this blog.

I was rather shocked since I thought that the information (and resulting royalties) would be sent to me automatically.

With the new information, I hope to create more blog entries on a regular basis as well as add video content as well.

I also found out that I was included within a prominent list of Black tech bloggers, so I must clearly blog more to uphold the recognition:)

This year is a breakout and breakthrough year, so everything included needs to reflect the new level of achievement and opportunities.

Peace!

Reversed Course on Planned Apple Purchase

After making a solid plan to buy a Macbook Pro very soon, I have changed my position and received confirmation that it was the right to do.

The markets collapsed to a degree on January 15th and everything has been a little too wishy-washy to accurately predict the short-term outcome.

Some words shared with others also came back to me and one thing that I have learned over the past 2 years is that a complete solution is far better and less stressful than a partial solution.

This means that to buy the needed HD replacement is a far cheaper solution and represents an "over and done with" moment versus going through the multiple payment option even if there is zero-percent interest available.

The funds required for the multiple payments can produce a greater harvest and then the buying will be within the proper season.

A visit to the website where I was going to buy the MBP then indicated that the price had dropped $500 but there are no multiple payments available. The price drop alone justifies buying Leopard as an individual purchase. But the Ghz on the chip was lower than the one I was eyeing.

So I am content staying on the sidelines still other than replacing the hard drive with a larger one.

A lot of online friends are creating content that includes video, so getting the larger HD will work best to incorporate video on the Macbook when the timing is right for video content for me. I believe that it will happen in 2008 for sure.

Today's bottom line is that through my activity within the financial markets, changing course happens every hour.

At times, one can feel like a hypocrite for changing your opinion so often and so fast. But without allowing the position to be dropped in favor of a larger trend, financial losses can put one out of the game forever.

It is better to let pride go down the toilet versus capital earned through hard work. So getting the HD is a decision I can live with:)

Peace!

Audio from Bible Study Series "Christ Jesus and His Anointing" Available Online

Recently I had the pleasure of teaching a Bible study series within our church Bethesda Baptist Church in Austell, GA under the leadership of Senior Pastor Charles B. Goodman that blessed everyone including myself greatly.

The series "Christ Jesus and His Anointing" answers many questions that new Christian converts and even those raised and functioning as members of congregations for decades have wondered about in terms of properly identifying and understanding the ministry, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The content is not always taught within traditional Protestant churches.

Feel free to listen at your pleasure and ask any questions at anytime. If you wish to obtain a CD or DVD of the audio, just let me know.

The weekly Bible studies at Bethesda usually include songs, prayer, and testimonies before the lessons are taught, so all is included for you to have the full experience as if you were there.

The three parts are uploaded as wave files and they vary in length and part 1 is approximately 1:19 in length. I do plan on uploading the files as MP3s soon also.

Listen and enjoy!

http://www.tnlis.com/podcasts/ChristJesus_and_HisAnointing_Part_1.wav

http://www.tnlis.com/podcasts/ChristJesus_and_HisAnointing_Part_2.wav

http://www.tnlis.com/podcasts/ChristJesus_and_HisAnointing_Part_3.wav

Peace!

Down Goes Macbook Hard Drive Like Frazier!

On Friday, I learned that my Macbook hard drive had indeed bought the farm to push up daisies and all contents went back to the Architect's construct for lost data.  Call it a sign of technological maturity or simply being blessed far above what I could ask or think because I have not been fazed at the development in the least bit.

Everything is clearly out of my hands and one of the biggest surprises learned is that there are no differences between hard drives for the PC and Mac.  This tidbit meant that I could do the repair myself and skip paying Apple $300 to $500 just for the hard drive alone plus the labor charges or to any authorized Apple repair shop.

Since my Macbook is already out of warranty, there is nothing to lose on the repair itself since it is within my repair range.  I have fried enough computers to know:)

I had a great day on Friday and had my oldest daughter with me the entire time.  She had a full week of winter break left and most kids had already returned to school. 

Earlier within the day we had gotten our new 2008 tag sticker with a zero wait (walked straight from the door straight to the counter) and I picked up a wireless mouse made by Microsoft that I am still loving with each touch.  After hearing my favorite oil change place try to fry me on a relatively simple repair, I knew that I was not going to pay a lot for this hard drive repair.

With any suitable hard drive serving as a candidate for the repair, I have discovered that there are prices easily below $200.  I am going with Western Digital as the manufacturer regardless of the actual size of the hard drive and could have purchased one today right at $150 but I saw one online at $134 (before taxes are applied on each quote).

The Macbook Pro (MBP) is available at my favorite online store for music equipment and Apple computers with multiple payments available, so I plan on obtaining one within a week and postpone the hard drive repair until February or almost indefinitely.

The Macbook may become a system for either my wife or my kids to use.  As a result, I am inclined to keep the size of the hard drive to be bought higher than the previous, original hard drive space (80GB) but under the maximum seen so far (320GB).  My target price is looking good at $134 for the 250 GB HD.

250 GB is still no joke and it is awesome to see how storage space is really the new commodity that is to be taken for granted these days.

I always fought to no avail the hard drive wars of limited space and one can buy terabytes of space for what used to cost sub-gigabyte storage space.

But I will need to confirm why the MBP is needed and what advantages are being picked up versus repairing my Macbook.

The repaired Macbook will clearly have more HD space than the MBP does at 160 GB.  I already knwo that the MBP will not have Leopard even though the price is the full price for MBPs sold by Apple, but Apple does have a program called "Leopard up-to-date" that provides a free upgrade to Leopard in the post-iPhone fiasco that occurred last year.

The multiple payments at zero-percent interest are simply phenomenal and are loosening my mind and wallet at the same time.

The portability factor is the real asset being purchased because being able to work, surf, produce, or invest anywhere that has wi-fi is an asset that is really not fully understood until the capability is obtained.

Limitations melt and new opportunities are revealed to the initiated.  Doubters or the not-easily-convinced will never know how much they loss as an opportunity cost for not "getting it" earlier.

Just from the flow of this blog entry tonight, the debate of the HD space is pitting the MBP and Macbook head to head harder than they went at it earlier today.  90 GB of HD space is the real difference, so I need to put a price tag on the 90 GB.  The time required to obtain the HD for the repair is 3 business days after the order is placed and there is an unknown time limitation if the multiple payment options disappear as it did after I bought the Macbook.  So what's a geek to do?

Through the risk and money management that I have been practicing and still learning more in this new year, I see the solution coming over the horizon.

The 250 GB HD will be obtained first and we will see how the repair goes.  If the repair goes smoothly and without any hitches, the MBP ---whoa, whoa, whoa!!!!

The MBP has to be purchased first because of the "Leopard up-to-date" program that expires on January 26th I believe.  I almost do not feel like buying Leopard now or later for some reason and the Macbook did not have it.  But I know that the HD space limitation was a reason why.

So dude, you're getting a MBP!  LOL:)

The only data loss of the original HD is one song that was still being developed but I've lost greater masterpieces before.  I am just glad that my FlickrBeats were not lost since they represented not only a creativity breakthrough, but an investment of time and effort that cannot be recaptured otherwise.

I will share the new car smell of the MBP soon!  At least there will be multiple laptops with the iSight cameras that will allow me to create "at the computer or desk" videos that would have been too prohibitive with my time schedule for anyone else to be involved.

So it all works out in the end one way or another!

Peace!

Still Not Enough to Wreck 2008: Macbook Is Blind to Hard Drive

Today I have a surprise recreational afternoon planned for my girls and since the place has wi-fi, I thought about taking my Macbook.

The Macbook froze during its last usage in 2007 with my wife and I was too busy to invest much time in it until today.

I installed the original CD and RAM to no avail.  It is simply not recognizing the hard drive.

I have an appointment scheduled at an Apple Store on Friday to have it checked out.

I already knew that adding more Macs to our lineup was going to be necessary and I am just curious at this point what is going on with it.

First generation technology is never easy on you once the original warranty runs out.

I now know to avoid such early purchases especially with Apple from now on but 2008 is already going so great and although it would have ripped me apart on some level before, I can take this technology glitch or hardware massive coronary in stride this time around since I backed up everything late November 2007 after seeing the initial warning signs:)

A friend recently shared his backup plan with me and it was so broad in scope that I may implement it as well since multiple backups and remote storage increase the security and reduce the potential stress levels tremendously.

Peace!

Peace!

Tivo Adds Google Picasa & Photobucket for TV Viewing of Photographs

Here is a blog entry that I was creating on December 3, 2007 and just got too busy to finish it in a timely fashion.

I just tried out the new capability on Tivo's digital video recorders (DVR) and came away with mixed feelings in the short-term but positive feelings in the long term.

I had to look for the feature repeatedly today and found the new Photos & Slideshows menu item far below the area where the now non-existing Yahoo! Photos still appears unfortunately.

The menu item should have been placed either at the top of the list or at least viewable on the same screen without scrolling down.  It falls into the background and without any emphasis currently which is unfortunate.  The Yahoo! should be totally removed.

My earlier search this morning upon receiving the news was a failed attempt due to the placement of the new features.

I already had accounts with both Photobucket which is owned by MySpace and Picasa which is owned by Google and entering the appropriate login information was very straightforward.

I got distracted by my daughters while entering my information for the Picasa account and was pleasantly surprised to see that I did not have to start completely over.

You are able to stay logged into both accounts to view photos without going through a cumbersome process to switch between the services.

Picasa has the capability of viewing photo albums within your account and I will need to do further research to see if Photobucket offers the same capability.

There is basically no competition between the services other than the ownership of the services.

While viewing the photographs on the television, they did take on a new personality due to the increased size and seemed richer in depth.

The slideshow capability allows the transitions to be changed to either display the captions and photo titles or not as well as the amount of time between each photo.

Before I believed that Tivo would be acquired by Yahoo! but I now believe that Yahoo! has already missed the train and resulting opportunity.

Amazon has stepped into the picture and the Amazon Unbox service is very cool and we have rented and downloaded paid and free stuff over the weekend.  No trips back to the video store is a good thing!

Amazon could acquire  Tivo in a far better move and with greater synchronicity than if Yahoo! acquired  Tivo.

I doubt that Google is interested since they are more interested in the advertising aspects versus the content side.  On second thought, the data generated by  Tivos would be a goldmine to Google but Google has not moved far enough in this direction still.

Peace!

Erase and Install Recommended for Bounce Issue w/ Logic Express 8

Hello All,

There was no solution found today and this evening with Apple for the inability to bounce a project to my internal or external hard drives with Logic Express 8.

At the Apple Store, a creative and technical person both suggested creating a new account to see if it would work and the problem continued.

Reinstalling the program twice this evening and removing certain files from the Library did not work with an Apple Software Support Specialist on the phone.

Since another erase and install would make my third one in less than a year, I have decided to forego doing another one at this time.

I will transfer the files or create a MP3 through other means and wait until a Macbook Pro or iMac purchase takes place in early 2008 before erasing and installing Tiger again during the holiday season.

I still thank everyone for their help, concern, and suggestions.

One interesting tidbit that was discovered on the phone with Apple this evening is that the earlier version of LE did not have to be reinstalled in order to get LE 8 on the system.  All that was needed was the LE 8 upgrade DVD itself.  With a PC, earlier versions typically have to be installed first before the latest version of a program can be used.

This will be a time-saver going forward within itself!

Peace!

Roney
http://www.myspace.com/seedoflife

Thanksgiving Music Experiment Highly Successful:)

On this past Monday night, I discovered a video podcast entitled "The Weakest Beat" on Podshow.com. What made this discovery so cool is that I got it to work via Tivo first. I did not run across the show on the web.

On the show that lasts probably no more than 10 minutes, a music producer is shown a photograph and given two (2) hours to produce a song that matches the photo.

The host then talks to the producer about what they saw within the photo and how they were inspired to produce the song.

Two hours is clearly not a lot of time for most music perfectionists but one major benefit that the reduced time frame does provide is a single-minded focus and clarity that most music producers (including myself) pray for.

Being that the show appeared to be produced in or around Oakland, California and not with national correspondents, it dawned on me to try my hand at using visual photographs for musical inspiration since we were traveling out of state to Latta, SC for Thanksgiving and I knew that my musical productivity was being restricted home in Atlanta for some reason (probably due to our routines with school drop-offs and pick ups which provides a narrow window of opportunity as well).

So I took my Black Macbook, M-Audio Trigger Finger, and M-Audio Oxygen v2 25-key USB midi controller along for the ride. My Macbook was going regardless:)

I thought that I had all that would be needed but Murphy's Law kicked in within the perfect storm to limit my experiment.

My initial goal was to produce 15 songs over the 3 day period but had to settle for less when the dial up access kept the photos on Flickr from being fully viewable in a timely fashion. 5 songs per day would have been doable but after getting stumped at the entire process of getting online (this was not my first time using my Macbook with dial up at the same house either), I gave up and worked instead from a thumbnail photo of Chicago taken by a Twitter friend during her recent visit there while she was driving. Having traveled to Chicago in 1996, I knew how the vibe should feel and worked from there.

The song created is a medium to slow tempo hip hop jazzy ditty named "Windy City". At 95 BPM (beats per minute), I used only the instruments within Logic Express 8 without any loops or preset tracks.

During the 4.5 hours of travel time from Mableton, GA to Latta, SC, I listened to XM Radio. Using what I heard as a class in structure and music theory and as a result of my musical growth, I wanted to simplify my music composition style versus having too many parts within my songs. But I wanted to use point and counterpoint equally well for balance and creativity.

Chicago has a sophisticated vibe within everything except for my Chicago Bears this year. Other than kick off returns, it is a rebuilding year:) So the groove had to have a sense of style, class, and a clever nuance of elitism.

Near the end of producing the various tracks, I ran across an instrument entitled Atmospheric and lo and behold, it sounds just like the wind while soaring in a plane. This sound was the icing needed.

Upon playing the song for my family, they did not know what the sound was supposed to be and heard it as noise instead. So I lowered the volume on this track of the wind and the song fell into the pocket nicely.

The pizzicato on the violins and a spacey delay on a piano team up to square off against an electric guitar for anyone needing a rock star experience:)

Then while moving a section to a different place within the song, I moved it to the wrong instrument which played it as an instrument I am getting a huge mental block on the name now but it is like an octave curtain of small wind chimes.

The pattern can be heard near the end of the song and I learned that musical mistakes can sound better than intentional thoughts at times, so I flowed with my mistake and accepted it as divine intervention:)

I believe that "Windy City" was initially created on either Tuesday evening and fully completed by Wednesday afternoon.

I tried again on Wednesday to get my connectivity issues behind me and they remained. But I saved the thumbnails to my hard drive and proceeded to create more music.

One thought that is coming to my mind now is that the second photographer actually lives in Chicago and I totally love her photos of food and believe that she can seriously cook. I have never seen food photograph so well:)

While scanning through her photos, I ran across a photo of a cat on a bed with its belly exposed. We have similar photos of our pets, but this photo clearly had a cat that was not startled or surprised in any way.

A favorite song of mine entitled "Don't Disturb This Groove" by The System popped in my head as what the cat was saying to the photographer. I had the necessary vibe as a result and started with a simple piano part to say the words of the title.

More pizzicato violins were thrown in and I think that the same instrumentation set up was used from the previous song.

I found a nice snare-hand clap combo to match with a kick drum and stumbled on a sensual, minimalistic vibe that producers Tim & Bob created for singers Brian McKnight, Deitrick Haddon, and Joe separately.

A simple, descending chord progression quickly fell into my hands and the song took a cohesive life of its own. The bass line was kept to a bare minimum as well.

Somehow the song was missing a lower end anchor and I played the same progression on an electric piano as was played on strings. Then a nice and airy choir vocal instrument was added to play off the chord progression.

After adding an acoustic guitar to pull on the heartstrings and reducing the number of time a motif was played on alto sax, a gentle breeze of a vibe was created.

The final result is a track entitled "This Groove Is Mine" which has a vibe that I felt when I traveled earlier this year to Jersey City and stayed at the Hyatt Riverside which was my first experience with the Hyatt chain. The best keyword that describes my experience is PLUSH.

The groove is so plush that you can consume it either alone or with a loved one:)

The track alone has a chilled groove that says upscale in every way and the track would make a nice musical presentation within a commercial expressing an upscale and sophisticated lifestyle.

The hotel was playing similar music within the atrium and dining area. With the view of Manhattan and Hudson River, I remember being in the city of my birth (Jersey City) near Wall Street and feeling that I made it career wise. "This Groove Is Mine" is going to be an affirmation to myself musically as I write these words. No matter what happens or what others may say, you need to feel a vibe that lets you know that everything is going to be alright and you can make it with or without those who feel they hold the keys to your destiny.

You are not defined by what you do as much as you are defined by what you believe. The amazing thing is that a photo of a cat on a bed drove this point home to me on another level:)

The third song is one that I view as largely experimental, funky, and avant garde at the same time just as much as it is hip hop with a retro feel to something that Afrika Bambaataa might do as a collaboration with Mannie Fresh:)

I found a photo of a young lady walking out of a darkened tunnel and the sunlight was hitting her face for the first time. The photographer is one of my Flickr contacts, so his photos already had caught my eyes before.

Other than a Jam Master jay scratching loop and a loop with a wicked double-time hi-hat, the song is all me. The first discovery was the spacey, delayed bass which is the foundation for the song.

The name of the song is entitled "Step Into The Light" and is the fastest song at 106 BPM that was created during this period.

As a minister who performs gospel hip hop, this fishnet (what I call my songs) is going to be a life changer. The meaning is for the listener to give their life to Christ if they have not done so already. With the funky beat that is irresistible to dancing, everyone is going to celebrate.

I actually hear this song being performed by Kirk Franklin's choir with yours truly getting a short 8 or 16 bars to spit a verse. The song may not be considered a full blown hip hop track due to the verses not being 16 bars in length on the original song as it stands now. But it could be lengthened for that type of rapper.

But it is a party song no doubt that even a marching band may play in the stands.

I could not tell the ethnicity of the lady within the photo, but I found an Indian and Middle Eastern tabla percussion kit that I feverishly twerked as a mad genius:) Yeah, I said it. Your Brother got down thanks to God indeed!!!

Even though I had the Trigger Finger available, I played the tabla part on the 25-key Oxygen2 midi controller with only 2 keys on the keyboard. I think of each instrumental part as one who would actually play the instrument in order to not do anything too crazy or unrealistic.

The bass line leads one out of darkness while there is a clavinet part that sounds like a lead guitar to provide the title motif throughout the verses.

"Step Into The Light" has a couple of breakdowns thrown in for added surprise and to build intensity. I just heard a tom tom roll I added to not leave the percussion too dry.

The thought has just hit me to add the photos used to this blog even though I may just link the photos to the song titles. As soon as I get the MP3s created, I will upload them to my Seed Of Life Records' page on MySpace.

Finally, I created a new group on Flickr entitled FlickrBeats to see and hear others use the same process to create music. It may even inspire someone to shoot photographs for the purpose of inspiring music. The double helix effect should work wonders and create bridges musically, culturally, and internationally.

If the process of creating FlickrBeats inspires you, then join the group and get in where you fit in!

I truly enjoyed the experience although I did not handcuff myself to 2 hours for each song!

Thanks goes out to "The Weakest Beat" for your fine example! A special thanks goes out to the 3 photographers that shared their vision that expanded my musical vision!

Peace!

Citigroup's Downgrade of ETFC Seems Fishy to Me Now

E*Trade Financial's (ETFC) stock took a "my name is Kunta" beating last week after Citigroup ( C) research investment analyst Prashant Bhatia had downgraded the stock.

I am not an investment analyst or an employee of ETFC any longer (exactly on the afternoon of the 50 basis Federal Reserve cut of all days-September 18th) and have nothing on the line either way but within my own opinion, I smell a "knock down the price and let's buy them cheap" move on the table.

Big fish devouring the little fish is what I am beginning to detect for some reason.

Now today Goldman Sachs (GS) kicks the chair out from under Citigroup while they were demonstrating how ETFC's demise might look to financial CSI types. Poetry in motion I say:)

If this is not a "Kill Bill" stand off in progress, then show me the door:)

Charles Gasparino is one financial reporter whose insights I trust almost blindly and his book "Blood on the Street" gave me a red pill on Wall Street wholesale, but the conspiracy theorist in me is seeing the string theory connect the dots like a room sweep flashback at the end of Mission Impossible. Why is everyone so quick to assume that it could not be a possibility in the wake of the financial service industry having to supposedly separate research analysts from investment banking activities?

Of course it would be premature to fully accuse C or Bhatia of intentionally doing this, but game recognizes game and real recognizes real and C is not looking too admirable right now especially with former C CEO Prince falling on his own sword honorably (wink, wink).

I am not going on a hunting or fishing trip with anybody in this climate:) Any such requests are being turned down just as the numerous job offers from Nigeria, staff of disposed dictators, and to process orders for art dealers in the UK. Strings are being pulled somewhere for somebody.

The downturn appears to be a scenario where "I hope you die before I do to distract the attention from my own misfortune". Cramer may have this one right after all.

The best thing that everyone can do is to take a grain of salt with any analyst's upgrades or downgrades until February at a minimum.

No one has to the fortitude to downgrade GS or challenge them honorably at the present time. Does GS have a bone to pick or are they looking for a discount? It does not matter since they have been doing so many things so right for so long, it would be welcomed if they were:)

I studied the financial supermarket concept in graduate school for my MBA in finance and it was a lofty idea back then in the mid 90s. But the execution of the idea has fallen short consistently.

Every company that I have worked for within the financial services industry has not gotten it right either. American Express (AXP) divested of its financial advisory division which is now named Ameriprise ( AMP). The only place where the consolidation of functions appear to be working is actually after an industry divestiture has taken place--the telecommunications industry.

After the US Department of Justice broke up Ma Bell (T) in 1984, time has revealed that the dry bones have been reconnected and a child (formerly known as SBC Communications) has grown up to consume the parent (bigger fish) through acquisitions.

Corporate philosophy and leadership are at an all time low right now. Too many companies are demonstrating that they do not know how to make money in hard times and the economy is paying the price through the wallets of the middle class. A hedge fund full of quants cannot save every company at the same time and although forex is a gravy train right now (even investing guru Warren Buffett has the Kool-Aid on his lips and tongue), corporate America is already busy forming a new bubble within foreign currency exchange from their long-term investments there.

Only after a system has been declared a failure has there traditionally been a restructuring and opportunity for new minds to be recognized and come to the table for implementation.

The AT&T that I worked in the early 90s undeniably failed just as those with a financial supermarket offering are doing so now.

I am not saying that the idea will never work, but clearly it will not work with the current personnel at the helm of these companies. The solution will only come from external sources or those not at the table when the current strategies were considered the right thing to do.

One significant problem that I saw at pre-AMP is that the card carrying customers being called on repeatedly for a formal introduction to the financial advisory side of AXP at the request of managers and supervisors simply had a psycho-graphic composition totally different from what the marketing department thought they did. They were interested within the exclusivity and benefits of membership of the AMEX cards but not within investing.

Linking mentally (somehow as a great idea to an unnamed corporate John or Jane Doe) these customers' credit scores with their investing inclinations had the same effectiveness and was at the same level of doing a hardcore substance-abuse intervention for toddlers:) I kid you not!!! No one even looked at the advisor attrition levels to identify this as an input to my knowledge.

No one at pre-AMP had a clue of a suitable customer profile on any level (I asked repeatedly before taking things into my own hands) and as far as I can tell, the same is still happening there and is more prevalent than these all-in-one-stop companies would dare to imagine.

Anyone within any company that is being told to cross-sell and up-sell existing clientèle should begin to recognize the fallacy of this marketing myth.

You may ask what I am going to do as a result and I am glad that you have done so:) First, I am going to continue the implementation of a long-term proprietary strategy launched in the aftermath of my latest employment transition (nice way of saying that you will have to see my fruit since my seeds are more secure than VP Cheney's assets--LOL:) Secondly: since history has a fondness for repeating itself, I am going to keep my eyes open for the next SBC-type company that springs up within the financial services industry. I missed it last time due to working for the Death Star (as T was called back then in some corners).

Being outside the system is the only hope since the Kool-Aid has to be loyally consumed with every direct deposit.

Even since being terminated from my last employer, I still cannot get my jaw out of the divot from the mindset running rampant at the wholesale and retail levels within the supermarket segment of any industry pre-paradigm shift.

But I do know one thing that will absolutely never fail in my analysis of it all: the management severance packages and golden parachutes are being kept safely and securely by personnel dressed as the old Intel shiny suit commercials appeared. Maybe Diddy and Ma$e will auction their form of the shiny clean-suits:)

By choice and by force, no executive is fighting to stay in control in lieu of taking the big payday and running with it:) Their mamas did not raise any fools on that level!

May God help us all that are not as fortunate in our placement on the pyramid organizational charts.

Maybe the three-card Monty of network marketing may not look so bad after all when compared to this. LOL:) Surely I jest for the record.

Peace!

Interesting Soul Train Episode

This evening I saw on Tivo an old school episode of "Soul Train" that had BT Express on it.

Playing keyboard was a young Kashif.

I never knew his given name Mike Jones until today and believe that I remember reading that he had a conversion of religion that gave him the name Kashif.

He is one of my favorite music teachers although from a distance:)

I do not know what Kashif as a name stands for, but Kashif had written a book and given seminars on the music industry for years.

I think that I also remember being on a mailing list or newsgroup for him years ago as well.

The songs that BT Express performed clearly had a train theme within the music and nice structure.

Keep doing your thing "Brooklyn Boy" and thanks for the inspiration!

Peace!

Two Ordinary but Unique Networks Created Tonight

I got a hair cut today which is not unusual but while my barber was cutting my hair, another barber who is moving to the area from out of town came into the shop. What made their interaction strike a chord within me I cannot determine yet but clearly as a result, two networks were created tonight to see what can possibly develop from the network of customers who get their hair cut at a regular barber shop of choice or upon visiting a new one.

I guess the idea was already within me for some time since I had mentioned to several barbers over the years that they should look to network their customers. This thought may have had too much risk for them due to their reputations going on the line for someone looking to get over on someone, but it happens anyway with or without the barbers involvement.

So why not take the bull by the horns and keep the ball in your court or at least have some online method to cast your support or disapproval consistently.

As a result the Barber Shop Network and Beauty Salon Network were created tonight on Ning which is a great web 2.0 platform.

I will readily admit that the names are not high tech or high definition, but at least you do not have to wonder what they are about:)

Barbers, hair stylists, and shop owners will have the opportunity to create their own networks within the network as well. It may become a Bronner Brothers Hair Show online or something since videos, audio, photos, and pretty much any type of digital content can be shared there.

So check these networks out and let's see where the technology and networks take us!

Peace!

Now Sen. Grassley's Investigation Begins to Make Sense

After reading this article reported by the Associated Press, the most unusual request by Sen. Grassley (R-Iowa) begins to make sense.

He is essentially investigating anyone directly associated with Oral Roberts University (ORU) it appears as well as their ministerial relationships to other pastors and church leaders. Three ORU board members out of the 6 ministries that received the senator's request for more information were named in his investigation.

There is an unworthy guilt by association and I suspect that this investigation will continue and go through several degrees of separation nationwide.

The development also goes to show the prudence and discretion needed to serve on a board of directors as well.

Peace!

Congressman's Investigation Into Televangelists Stinks for Multiple Reasons

Immediately upon hearing the news about a request for operational and financial information from Iowa US Senator Chuck Grassley to 6 different international ministries, my reaction is that something is rotten not only in Denmark, but within Congress particularly from Iowa as well.

This is clearly the misdirected and asleep-at-the-wheel patriarchal hand of the USA at work directing people not only where they should give their money, but what constitutes their faith. The single request will have long-term ramifications and repercussions as well regardless of the short-term outcome.

Forget about the falling US dollar, war and deaths in Iraq, bin Laden still running free, Katrina victims, wildfire victims, and pending recession, Sen. Grassley is looking to earn brownie points somehow somewhere. He immediately raises the quote "You're doing a heck of a job Brownie" to another level.

Even without taking the time to put his political career on the witness stand, his request opens a door that will not bode well for Republicans nationwide.

Is this a final kick of some sort on his part regarding his tenure in Congress? Does Sen. Grassley have too much time on his hands?

Who would he have vetted such an idea within his own party at the least? Does he really need an opponent who will be clearly well-funded now during the next election?

Or is this some time of swan song before his soon political departure that sounds worse than the Aflac duck?

There is no need for some individuals, groups, and ministries to pile on because actions such as this indicate that there is clearly going to be room for everyone to sit in Sen. Grassley's barber's chair. Every church will have to justify its own existence without reason.

The nonbelievers nationwide will drink this Kool-Aid and rush to his side as fools often do. Be careful of what you ask for because you just might get it!

The White House had better pull on his coattail on this situation and give him room to start his own post-Senate nonprofit organization that serves as a watchdog group if that is his pleasure.

His request is not about federal grants or primarily actions taking place domestically since a part of his request to Joyce Meyer Ministries had to do with their international crusades.

His own fellow Iowa residents will not be suitably served through Sen. Grassley's actions either regardless of what their state reputation may have been before. Grassley's actions stains the entire state not with grass either:)

Even within the worst case scenario of financial impropriety by any of the ministries, Sen. Grassley's actions would have been better served if someone other than a member of the US legislative branch carried it out or started it. He needs to re-enroll into political science 101 or give up his seat in Congress more gracefully than the bathroom patrolling congressman.

This is the second most worst-than-amateur demonstration of politics after the chain of events which led to the war in Iraq.

Cheney, get your boy before he pulls down the heirloom china off the coffee table!

This fiasco is not about Sen. Grassley as much it is a pimp slap at the entire experiment known as the United States of America.

Peace!

New Gmail Update

I have the latest version of Gmail and here is a full article to go deep in the new features.

Peace!

Apple Leopard Looks Worth The Upgrade

I just finished viewing the Leopard Guided Tour and am pleasantly surprised with the upgrades within the operating system.

Apple retail stores will open at 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. tomorrow and t-shirts will be given away to the first 500 people. Since I am dropping off my youngest daughter in the morning to pre-k not too far away from the store whose grand opening I attended, I may swing by to pick one up if they do not run out by that time.

My initial plan was not to upgrade right away just in case there are any bugs discovered but after seeing the video, there is a new itch that I am going to fight for at least a week:)

Some of the upgrades are so dynamic in nature while not being too complex for anyone to understand. It makes getting a Mac much easier and desirable.

One of the biggest strategies employed by Apple appears to make the Leopard upgrade its own network just like faxes were when they were first made available for public purchase.

Every Leopard user is going to become an instant evangelist for the new operating system since there are many features that are based upon at least two users both using Leopard.

Sharing desktops is something that you would only trust to a well versed technically literate friend before, and nothing appears to place your Mac in danger since you keep full view of everything taking place.

Collaboration is going to take prime advantage of Leopard as a result and iChat is going to be one application often used far more than it currently may be.

I also become more impressed with the upgrade made to the Mail program since I only used it with my .Mac account. After seeing the templates that I never looked for before if they were available, I can easily see myself using Mail more than before.

I would like to keep the emails remotely versus my Macbook though. Gmail absorbed this function and relieved my hard drives and I never wish to store e-mail locally again.

There were features called Cover Flow and Quick Look that worked very similar in the way you can browse album artwork within iTunes. They were very smooth. But you can virtually view any file created without having to open the application that created the file itself. This feature allows a ton of time to be saved and speed to be introduced for users.

I will probably buy Leopard from Amazon at a lower price and look to find which Mac buddy has it afterwards just to check out the advanced collaboration features out of curiosity.

So if you have a .Mac account just look for me at my first and last name Roney Smith.

Congratulations Apple and you have done it again!

Peace!

Looking westward in Mableton, GA

Image008.jpg
Originally uploaded by wysiwysell

Here is a late afternoon photo snapped from my phone minutes ago!

Mableton, GA is within southern Cobb County and many gale force winds come from the direction the camera is pointing within.

The area where we live is almost like a ridge before the elevation falls as you head southeastward towards Atlanta 15 to 20 minutes away.

Peace!

Stepped Outside Into This!

Image002.jpg
Originally uploaded by wysiwysell

The morning quickly went from a cool chill to a beautiful, blue sky.

I snapped this with my phone and the sun looks almost like an eye.

The glare was so bright that it was more of a point and shoot versus a look and shoot:)

One more photo to upload and share!

Peace!

Perhaps the biggest "I Told You So" is Necessary, Loud & Clear on Harry Potter

After this episode, hopefully the Babes in Christ most of all will sit up and pay closer attention going forward.

I have never read or watched anything related to the Harry Potter series of stories and characters and the author's recent revelation that one of the central characters being a homosexual is no surprise to me.

Clearly I was and still am more upset with those within the Church that lapped up the movie tickets, memorabilia, and anything associated with the author's work.

The unsaved world will never have its eyes opened spiritually with the wisdom of God and those who are saved and called according to God's purpose had to actively overlook or disregard the overt associations with the kingdom of darkness in order to accept the consumption of such material as acceptible.

Step back to altar and ask God's forgiveness in this matter if you consumed the ungodly as it relates to Harry Potter.

It is already stated that there will be deception in the world strong enough to deceive the very elect if we are not careful. There were more than enough red flags on this topic.

There will be no further appeals necessary within this case either. The case is indeed already closed and buried.

Peace!

My Verdict on Fox Business News (FBN)

My vote currently is neutral and I would not recommend any viewing or dissuade someone from watching the channel.

The undeniable NY theme is almost too restrictive and suffocating and I watched multiple programs on the network over a couple of hours.

I rather see regional correspondents, web cam tie-ins, or some other people in the field and throughout the nation to avoid the incestuous, homogeneous, and non-diversified reporting, pundit commentary, and analysis.

Were the words incestuous, homogeneous, and non-diversified redundant enough for you? Now you know how I felt watching the cookie cutter panelists and opinion dealers:(

Having worked in the financial services industry and traveled to Wall Street, Times Square, and other tourist and financial district sites in the Manhattan-Jersey City area (JC is my birthplace BTW), there has to be more business on-air talent than appears on all of the business networks and programming.

Clearly there also has to be more diversity than what I am seeing.

But after viewing enough of the commercials on FBN and CNBC, one can come away with the perspective that diversity in business reporting is not highly desirable after all.

Hmmmmm. Opportunity knocking? I may have to revisit this later and see if more energy and resources are available to tackle the issue.

FBN or Fox 5 Atlanta reading? Send me an e-mail or leave a comment.

I will give the new network several more glances to check if movement beyond the current point in the learning curve takes place.

Peace!

Unklejam Is Not Faking the Funk

Unklejam 3
Originally uploaded by unklejam

I discovered a new group through a blog tonight and their sound is just as refreshing as the band's name which pays homage to Funkadelic's 1979 album "Uncle Jam Wants You".

The official Unklejam website is located at:

http://www.unklejam.com

The first CD is scheduled for release this coming Tuesday, October 22nd.

The band is all over the internet on MySpace, Flickr, Bebo, and YouTube, so check them out as soon as you get a chance.

I sent a message to the Tonex group that I started years ago that I thought one band member's moves reminded me of gospel artist Tonex's dance steps:)

You will not regret it if you love the funk, the whole funk, and nothing but the funk!

Peace!

Come On People, Fulfilling the Dream, & Let's Work!

Earlier this morning, I was "drafted" by my wife to volunteer at our oldest daughter Rachel's school.

Volunteering did not scare me since I was a former high school teacher of grades 9-12, a youth pastor and minister since 1996, a stockbroker with some the richest customers or deadbeat-foul-mood-because-my-buddy-told-me-a-bum-stock-tip-that-took-all-my-money-after-I-bought-it people that anyone will ever meet:)

Everything went as my wife indicated that it would but when I arrived in the classroom, I knew that rubber was going to meet the road in a 21st century way that I had never experienced before as a student or teacher.

The classroom was divided into smaller groups of 4 students on average.  My daughter attends a new charter school within our county by the way.

The smaller groups instantly had an advantage over other educational philosophies in that each student could receive special attention at a faster rate than having a single classroom mass of students.

But the smaller groups also have a dual-edge in that if the student wants to drift off mentally or has problems with learning, the tasks at which the group does not receive hands on instruction will find the student driving off a cliff without any chance of hitting a guard rail or safety net.

As a former teacher, I had a learning curve in that the groups were rotating faster than I thought they should but I later realized that it was for the better.

In today's culture, I now believe that the gaming world, entertainment companies, and education institutions had better get married shotgun-style if American youth will have a chance globally.  The attention span of American society today requires that the small groups change tasks faster than they would when my deceased mother taught school or when I was a teacher or student.

Only a three-way marriage is going to give the masses an opportunity to not appear in printed documents posted within post offices or facing three strikes nationwide.

It is now clear to me that even a charter school will not be able to save some who have not been adequately prepared at home intentionally or unconsciously.

I was assisting first graders with the task of locating vocabulary words within a dictionary and categorizing the words as nouns of either people, places, things or animals, or verb (not a noun).

Some words may have been both a noun and verb and a few words did not actually appear within the dictionary being used.

The first group assisted were already working when I got there.  Almost immediately, I found one young girl to be as equally a drama queen as my own girls whenever things were not flowing her way.

I almost thought it was a ploy to get more attention.  But wait, it was:)

The bell or beep to change tables and move to a new task came faster than I realized.  I kept wondering if they were going to have to leave the classroom for some reason.

Then it hit me like lightning during the second group I was assisting.

One young man came to the table without any tools as the other kids had, appeared to not have been present the previous day, and sat down in a position to watch the computer monitors of kids who were working in another group even though he could not hear the sounds they heard through headphones they were wearing.

The gentle way but slightly mocking tone another young boy spoke about him let me know that the first kid was not going to get the star for the day.

3 of the 4 students rapidly jumped in to locating words while the unfocused kid found other worlds to dwell within.

So I moved beside him and squatted down to get on everyone's level of eyesight and more doors started opening up.

Although I had heard it during the first group, I was surprised to see the children more focused on what page a word could be found versus knowing how to locate the words within the dictionary.  Working together in groups is one thing, but not knowing the process involved is weakness that subverts the teamwork.

The fight to get them to not call out the page numbers was gentle and nonviolent but highly irritating at the same time.

Since the young kid was more focused on the computer monitors I asked everyone the question, "How many of you have played video games before?"  Everyone said yes or raised their hands.

I then explained to them that looking up words within a dictionary was just like playing a video game and counting at the same time.

I confirmed that everyone knew how to count from one to ten.  I then asked them "How many letters are in the alphabet?"  The fork in the road was then reached at warp-nine light speed.

The kids who were bright and appeared in tune with everything kept calling out numbers either too high or too low.  Upon each recount, they reached a higher number surprisingly.

It was the unfocused kid who changed positions away from looking at the computer monitors and made the 180 degree turn that stunned me.

He simply and calmly counted the letters of the alphabet and gave me the correct answer on his first reply.

"26!" was his answer and the rest of the kids even within the other sections did not get it right on their first attempt.

I then explained that they had a code of 26 letters that they had to use just like numbers in order to locate the words by using the beginning letters of each word.

From this point on, those who used the system would find the words quickly and easily while those who focused on the page numbers spent more time starting over and wasting time.

But the correct answer did not sustain the kid and he went right back to looking at the monitors as he had done before.

I stayed beside him and kept asking him about the letters within the words.  He understood the logic involved but would not get to second base of actually looking for the words.

The sessions continued without any further difficulties and by the time the last group reached me, I was back in rare teaching form. 

One of the best things about today was that the comfort zone of only dealing with my own daughters was broken and meeting and working with kids other than your own will keep you more in tune with your own children and you will see some of the nuances that your own kids pick up while attending school.

The time went into fun zone and I really enjoyed it.

But the unfocused kid made me realize some things that I rather not have witnessed but now realize that I can help others like him who have grown up and attending college may not be a workable goal for them.

The kid made me realize that only through a video game or logical flowchart of a video game will American citizens regain the leadership in the quality of life.

Other countries have the lower health standards, higher crime levels and threats of violent wars, but America will slide into the same pits if the inequalities between the haves and have nots continue to multiply.

The creativity involved in creating a video game will capture and motivate youth and young adults above and beyond the criminal lifestyles that pop media is decaying into.

The criminal lifestyle appeared to be within this kid's future but we can flip his script early enough to keep him off that path.  I later thought to myself that the kid clearly has a future of being either Forrest Gump, Nino Brown, or the beautiful mind of a hedge fund quant if he can be reached.  Otherwise, somebody better get a football in his hands and show him a three-point position:)

But back to the breakthrough and turnaround.

People who have taken the paths of dirty money can and will finally see that they can lower their risks of being separated from their families and friends or the threat of being incarcerated if they begin to learn some simple, life-sustainable skills in how to earn clean money that can be taught to their circles of influence and descendants.

It still amazes me that rapper and music mogul Jay-Z and even deceased Biggie have been credited with the ability of not having to write down their lyrics before recording them.  This feat is nothing short of Shakespeare or Einstein in my opinion.

Clearly the skill has the seeds of mathematical finesse only commonly found within financial centers around the world.

Today's youth can turn the country around by learning these skills.

The primary downside or threat that I see is that without the proper guidance and selection of worthy values and moral compasses, earning generational wealth of such magnitude will more rapidly destroy them or be simply in vain.

My calling that was confirmed today is that I know how to share both requirements with them as a minister, teacher, and entrepreneur.

My 20th entrepreneurial anniversary is approaching on November 1st and with each day I am becoming more energized for this new task and the next level that it will usher in.

I realize that I have only a tip of the iceberg in skills to create such a video game.  I know that through the power of God as revealed within the internet and web 2.0 world that the remaining tools can and will be discovered.  I can start to compile the rest of the components that I have within my reach however.

It is indeed the dawning of brighter new world:)

So I am keeping hope alive when it comes to today's youth in spite of all the traps and negative opportunities that await them.  They can and will survive!

Peace!

Middle Atlantic Products Knows How to Delight and Keep Their Customers

Every now and then one will have an encounter with a company that is so far above the norm that you must take the time to tell others about how exceptional the company is and how pleasantly surprised you are at the company's response to your concerns.

Some time ago, we had purchased a pop screen for various audio recordings which keeps any hard sounds during speech and singing from distorting the audio recordings.  When the pop screen was purchased was unknown to me since such a purchase never fully registers in your mind as a significant purchase.

But recently the knob that secured the pop screen had broken and could no longer be attached to a microphone stand and during my daughter's recent recording of her song , we each had to take turns in physically holding the screen while focusing on delivering quality vocals at the same time.

I went on the web and found the manufacturer Middle Atlantic Products Inc. and sent an e-mail requesting information on how to obtain a replacement knob.

After several messages were exchanged, I arrived home tonight to find a package at my front door.

Inside was not a replacement knob as anticipated, but the latest version of their pop screen that the company manufactures.

All I can say is "WOW!!!"

As a result, I am posting this message even before replying to the sales rep to thank them since their service has been just that exceptional and far above our expectations.

This company has firmly secured a customer for life for their audio hardware and furniture equipment.  My daughter will even become a customer as she grows up as well.  The company is clearly a legend within our household and music business:)

I am still floored at their response and they never will have to spend any advertising dollars to get our attention.  We will clearly become proactive customers and seek them out for future purchases.

Thanks Pavia and many companies and individuals can learn from your company's fine example!

Peace!

Electric Slide.com Domain for Sale

The ElectricSlide.com domain is being placed on the market for sale.

The global dance with the name Electric Slide makes the domain a no brainer for its popularity.

The time given to the project was not sufficient enough to capitalize on the multi-sensory domain name since it works for music, motion, and information.

The domain has a built in market and has produced royalties consistently since the domain was obtained in 2000.

The domain should easily work for any music related project or company.

If you have a sensible offer, please send it to:

wysiwysell@gmail.com

Part of the proceeds will benefit a nonprofit agency fighting domestic violence in honor of my late mother.

Peace!

My daughter Rachel's Song "Trick or Treat"

Today my 7 year old daughter Rachel and I recorded her song entitled "Trick or Treat". I thought that it was her first song, but it is actually her second after we composed an avant garde tune entitled "Spaceship".

It is the scariest seasonal song since "Thriller".

Check it out on MySpace at:

http://www.myspace.com/seedoflife.

We took the photo above after we finished the song which is represented by Seed Of Life Music via BMI. The track should appear available for purchase below within 24 hours.

Violent Crime Increases But The Connected Dots and Contributing Factors Are Available Identifiable

The nation is receiving the news of violent crime growth throughout the nation.

The news does not surprise me in that the trickle down theory of Reaganomics has consistently failed the have-nots time and time again and the absence of wealth and increase in violent propanganda have driven the numbers higher.

Whenever wealth is promoted through the mass media and yet somehow remains out the hands of the masses, you will have people killing one another in the streets to get their piece of the pie.  Others will do the same through white-collar crimes.

Whenever the financial prosperity flows throughout the nation as it did during the Clinton administration, you will see the demonstration of the inverse relationship between the increase of hope and the downward trend of violent crimes.  But allow the wealth to be dammed up and flow to a exclusive segment of society, you will create the conditions ripe for violence.

The chart of the violent crimes reported should be superimposed over the charts for the DOW and NASDAQ and the correlation will become more evident.  I am sure that there is a statistic for the amount of violent acts shown on television as well.  All of these dots are connected truly.

Peace!

Resting from a Busy Week!

Today I officiated a wedding at our church while our senior pastor is out of state to give the eulogy at one of his relatives' funeral.

After regaining my career independence earlier within the week, I am going to do some serious relaxing either Sunday evening or Monday.  But the weekend is not over and I am midway between completely vegging out or wandering online which is not productive.

My youngest daughter Hailey is now tailgating me on every computer I get on every chance she gets.

She is micromanaging me now at this moment and although she does not know what I am writing about her, she recognizes her name on my screen.

Two desktops and three notebooks and still no peace for a Daddy:)

But peace to you!

Logic Express 8 Upgrade for $99 Just Turbo Charged My Day!

I installed the LE8 software upgrade after reinstalling my original RAM on my Macbook and have been experimenting with the different instruments this afternoon.

Needless to say that I have a nice, juicy smile on my face!

For only $99 plus tax, the new instruments cannot be beat IMO.

It feels as if the upgrade provides the previous $699 boost to the Logic Pro 7.

There is at least one instrument that I am trying to get the instruments to provide their sounds.  The one with the Legend Organ and other in its chain did not provide any sound.

Any assistance is appreciated in advance.

If you have either Logic Express 6 or 7 (I had LE 7), you will thoroughly enjoy this upgrade.

Peace!

Roney

http://www.myspace.com/seedoflife

Tonex Rebooted and His Global Apology

The summer of 2007 is one that will go down in history as an unforgettable one and clearly one full of swift transition.

I just read Tonex's apology for the Naked Truth and his new MySpace page is located at:

http://www.myspace.com/theofficialtonex

The entire Naked Truth and an interview that I heard online with Wade-O sounded so uncharacteristic that forgiveness is all that is left.

Personally I had recovered from aseptic meningitis in July and it was the hands down the worst pain that I have ever felt in my life.  My doctor kept warning me about "altered reality" and now I know what was meant since the entire experience gave me a totally new outlook on life and caused me to put down and drop some issues that were falsely taking too high a priority in my life.

What does any of this have to do with Tonex you may ask?

We never know in full the details that take place behind closed doors and within others and our own minds entirely.  During my sickness, I was turning off lights throughout our home in thinking that I was conserving energy and money at the same time.

Only when the doctor mentioned the symptoms of the disease did I begin to understand both the avoidance of light, the super foul mood, and intolerance that was building up inside me for my own family.

I had not changed but for no other reason that I was physically sick and my sickness produced emotional and mental impairment at the same time.

I am not saying that Tonex was sick in any manner, but we know that his actions this past spring and summer reflected nothing of the person that we came to know from his first musical release in the late 90s.

Therefore his apology is enough for me.

This past Sunday I preached a sermon entitled "Since God Worked It Out, How Come We Ain't Walking It Out?" and within the message (that will be uploaded online soon) I made the statement that all of us are one banana peel away from trouble and being on the six o'clock evening news worldwide.

Just like Pastor Shirley Caesar's song, some of us are still "Next In Line". 

So get ready for your banana peel, but more importantly get ready for your uprising and bouncing back.

As much as the enemy loves it when we fall, there is nothing like the look in their eyes when we get back up! 

From my own song entitled "Roller Skate", we "roller skate, roller skate, fall down seven times, get up eight"!

To God be the Glory!

Peace!

Roney Smith

RIP: Bobby Byrd & Heaven Just Got Even More Funkier

Long-time collaborator with James Brown and original Soul Generals member himself Mr. Bobby Byrd has passed in Loganville, Georgia.

Mr. Byrd will probably be most remembered by singing the "Get on up" phrase within James Brown's hit entitled "Sex Machine".  It is probably hands down my favorite James Brown song because of the passion and flare of the tag team.  But Mr. Byrd had another hit which he led the vocals on a song entitled "I Know You Got Soul".

There is a clip of the song on YouTube probably, but the song alone made me buy from iTunes a CD that featured artists that worked with James Brown.  The CD is a keeper and one funky CD that will start a party across time and eternity.  It is one that will keep away any negative vibes.

Their raw energy and sublime passion made their music stand out on its own without the constant need for a video and promotion.  Any performance on national television was a historic event that would be burned into your soul and mind immediately.  Their music was so incredible that you would play the same song over and over again just to feel its repetitions of power.

It was Mr. Byrd's idea for the original group to follow Brown's talent versus keeping the Godfather of Soul in a secondary role.  To his credit, Mr. Byrd clearly should not be forgotten for giving up his seat on the bus to make sure that all of us got to the destination of supreme soul power.

Rest in peace Mr. Byrd and God bless your soul.

Peace!

Michael Jackson to Tay Zonday: Tay, I Am Your Father

I admit that I am an early adopter when it comes to technology and most pop culture. I had heard of Tay Zonday and his song "Chocolate Rain", but I never actually heard the song or watched the video until a few minutes ago.

The dude is no joke and has a voice and momentum that it took over 20 years to catch up within American society.

His voice is extremely deep and I actually thought that he was a 15 year old until I saw the video in motion.

The song "Chocolate Rain" was made for the 80s and the early days of MTV without a doubt.

He is actually better than some or many artists that have previously made videos.

In this era of online communications and pop culture, Tay could outsell many artists that major labels have lost money behind.

The funniest thing that I picked up on after seeing his full blown YouTube page is that he looks like Michael Jackson to some degree.

I have heard that Michael's real voice is rather deep and hearing Tay sing made me think of Darth Vader telling Luke Skywalker, "Luke, I am your father".

This would be a hoot and then some!

Regardless, I admired his singing, songwriting, and courage than many studio-only and manufactured plus well-financed celebrities thrown on the public like toxic waste!

Go ahead Tay and do your thing!

Peace!

Apple's iLife '08 Is A Winner

This afternoon I bought and installed iLife '08 by Apple and it is a great improvement over the previous version.

I really love the way iPhoto was improved since it now features events which better organize photos.

I tried out GarageBand's latest version and now wonder if samples from a Jam Pack were deleted or renamed since it failed to find at least 2 loops for an existing song made before. But it has a new feature called Magic GarageBand which is almost like a video game of creating music with different instruments. It does not fully create a new song as it creates a new arrangment, but it is a time-killer for sure.

I am excited to try out iMovie since I saw how easy it will be to create movies from photos and videos already captured.

I am going to update my .Mac web page soon iWeb and after seeing Apple's CEO Steve Jobs' presentation earlier this week, I know that the new results will be awesome.

So Apple is really going to get computer users' heads to capture special family and friends moments as the school semester starts.

Peace!

Shaggy Goes Gospel?

I just saw a music video by rapper Shaggy entitled "Church Heathen" on Yahoo! Music that you must absolutely see!

The video is clearly an indictment against false-only-on-Sunday Christians and other church pretenders.

I probably need subtitles to understand everything he was saying, but the visuals are undeniable.

The song has a beat that has clearly come from Africa and is deeply embedded within various religions that our ancestors embraced after being stolen from their homeland.  I have heard the rhythm within songs by singers in South Carolina singing in a a Geechee style with only hand claps, foot stomping, and a pole to keep the beat.

Check out the video and reach your own decision!

I am still in awe of the video and give it an 8 of 10.

Peace!

iPhone Review: Thumbs Up!

I am in the process of watching several videos produced by Apple for the new iPhone that will be sold this coming Friday evening at 6 p.m. nationwide within each respective time zone.

The only downside that I currently see is that AT&T is the exclusive network provider.  Other than that, you really have to consume a ton of haterade in order to dislike the device.

The visual display rotates depending on how you hold it and it offers the same website display as any computer would without distorting what you would think you would see.  There are no awkward finger combinations needed to do anything.  It works more like the computer displays within the Tom Cruise movie "Minority Report" than anything I have seen released for public usage.

Even without a keyboard, the device has a way to prevent automatic turn ons while it is kept within your pocket or purse.  I just wonder how strong the screen will be to avoid scratches.

E-mail, videos from YouTube, movies, and iTunes content all work seamlessly on a single device as if it was an iPod, laptop, and let us know forget--a cell phone.

I had a first generation Treo by HandSpring (now Palm) back in the day and can tell from a distance that if my network provider offered the iPhone, I would be on it:)

Clearly the iPhone is going to make users wonder how using a Mac will feel like once they realize how pleasant it is to use an iPhone.  As a Macbook owner, the operating system is either a cousin or child of OS X and possibly includes aspects of the upcoming operating system Leopard to provide Mac users a few surprises when it is released later this year.

The hype is indeed real and there are people already gathering around various Apple and AT&T stores nationwide just to be the first-day owners of the device.

I am sure that there will be some type of first-generation quirks and upgrades revealed later, but Apple is going to make a ton of money and create opportunities for unique partnerships and other distribution opportunities for technology geeks like myself.

If and when you get your own iPhone, how about sending me a photo of it?

I have not heard much about a camera phone aspect of the device, but seeing Google Maps, widgets, and movies on it sure earned my vote.

Peace!

Self-destruction on Yahoo's Flickr due to Google's Acquisition of Feedburner

Flickr once had a nice feature that would make any search result appear as a RSS feed.

But now the feature has disappeared from their website while it still works for past searches created and saved.

I wonder if Google's acquisition of Feedburner had anything to do with the decision?

The development is clearly strange although Flickr would not be harmed by Feedburner since having RSS feeds further expands Flickr's reach.

So Flickr, what gives?

Peace!

Photos from this past Sunday's ordination on Father's Day

Here is a link to photos from this past Sunday's ordination on Father's Day!

http://picasaweb.google.com/roneysmith/MyOrdinationOnFatherSDay

Peace!

Ordination on Fathers' Day

I am scheduled to be formally ordained as a Baptist minister next Sunday at Bethesda Baptist Church in Austell, GA at 11:30 a.m.  It will be a memorable occasion indeed.  My uncle, the Rev. Dr. Truman C. Tart, is going to bring the morning message as well.

Video will be recorded and the weekend is going to be one for the record books all around.

Having just celebrated my 11th ministerial anniversary, it is always something special whenever a pastor and church feel that one is worthy of greater expectations and responsibilities.

With the season of breakthrough that is currently upon us, it is very important to remain humble and allow God to present new direction and empowerment to go according to what only God can bring to pass.

So we will hope to move forward and higher!

Peace!

After the Movie Review: Lord Help Us

I'm Giving Away Opportunities for You to receive $5 for yourself and other multiple times!

Last week I discovered a new service that has pleasantly surprised me to say the least.

It is amazing when you can try a new service and instantly "drink the kool-aid" without wondering if there is going to be a downside further down the road.

Lo and behold, today's mail brought a new debit card provided for free by this dynamic service that is going to throw a monkey wrench within a company that most will consider a competitor to the new service.

Just send me an e-mail or reply with your contact info and I will hook it up for you.

No spam, no regrets, and no worries--it is just that smooth!

Peace!

Check Out The Movie Lord Help Us!

Lord Help Us

If you are looking for a great flick to check out and enjoy the warmth of good laughter, intense acting, and a solid good time without the ickiness that Hollywood may often give you, then by all means pick up a copy of "Lord Help Us" at your nearest Target or Wal-Mart today!

I knew the movie was being released in a direct-to-DVD fashion several months ago, and it is great to have my own copy after seeing it this past weekend at Target.

Be sure to support director-writer-editor-executive producer Shavar Ross who is getting his Spike Lee on for the first of many to come!

Once you get your copy, let me see your photo of your copy (no Blackbuster copies either) online.

Peace!