Review: Sleep Easy by The McMakens and a Special Offer

My friends, The McMakens, just released their debut album, and I had the pleasure of attending their Release Party this last weekend. After two years of putting it together, I'm so excited for their huge accomplishment. "Sleep Easy" is unique because many of their friends contributed to the project--background vocalists, musicians, producers, designer, etc.

"Sleep Easy" features nine original songs and two folk arrangements that's a mix of folk, Americana, rock, and jazz. I'm having a hard time getting some of the songs out of my head, and it's probably because I've found it's perfect music for my drive or as background music while I'm working.

The songs are soothing, and the lyrics are deep and meaningful--driving me to think of Christ and rest in Him. As their website says, it perfectly captures "this duo’s timeless songwriting, lush instrumentation, and evocative vocals."

Please take a listen to samples here.

Visit their website here.

Please consider buying the album--it's only $10. As a special offer, and because I want people to have this album, I'll cover $3 of it for the first 5 people who are interested (email me directly or post a comment and I'll get you a copy)

My Favorite Thing in Awhile

Have you been introduced to PS22 Chorus yet? If not, you don't want to miss this. Last week I heard about this group of 5th graders from a public elementary school in Staten Island, New York. They've been around since 2000, and it's a new group of students each year. They're not a school for the arts or a magnet program. And they're led by an energetic young teacher, "Mr. B."

I'll let them speak for themselves below:









And so many more! I'm addicted. I love these kids!

See their blog here

See their YouTube channel here

Introducing Kyria.com

I wanted to share my latest big project at work--the launch of Kyria.com. Let me give a little back story.

This year Christianity Today International decided to cease publication of Today's Christian Woman magazine, our largest magazine, with the September/October issue. Corporately, we are making the move this year to go back to our core--developing and publishing resources for pastors and church leaders. This magazine fell out of that scope.

Not as a replacement, but as a way to provide a ministry resource to women who want to grow deeper in their faith, to disciple others, and to help shape the church and change the world, we decided to develop a resource and announce it in the last issue of the magazine.

This was quite a task--considering we had about two months to make this work. So, that was our goal over the summer--develop a mission and brand strategy, come up with a name and tagline, mockup and design the website, put together an editorial strategy and content to launch with, and write and roll out a communications and marketing plan.

We did it! And launched Kyria.com in record time on August 26.

You may wonder why we chose the name Kyria. Kyria is a word in the original language of the Bible. In Greek it means “honored woman.” The epistle of 2 John, for instance, is addressed to one such “kyria,” translated there as “chosen lady.” A similar word, “kyrie,” is the masculine form of the same word, usually translated “lord.”

We chose this name because, just like the biblical Kyria, we feel it conveys something about the place of women in the life and ministry of the body of Christ, his church. Women are chosen, called, and gifted for ministry.

Kyria will equip women to use their gifts, take responsibility for their spiritual formation and the discipleship of others, and fulfill the work God has called them to—through the power of the Holy Spirit. The resource includes web articles, a monthly digizine, weekly newsletter, a blog, and an online store with hundreds of Bible studies, guides, women's ministry tools, etc.

Connect with Kyria here:
Free Newsletter
Facebook
Twitter

And to join now and get full access through October 26, you can become a member here.

Movie Log: September Tally

Monthly movie tracking update here.

Man, I suck. I've watched so few movies since earlier this year. I'll do better--I promise--Oscar season is coming!

48 total for the year.

All About Steve 9/6 (T)

Love Happens 9/20 (T)

Why I Hate My iPhone

I've wanted to write a Top 10 list about why I hate my iPhone for a long time, but as I started to think about it, it has grown to a Top 20 list!

Please understand, I actually love the iPhone and am very thankful for it. Overall, it is the best phone by far that I've ever had, and I think it's the best phone on the market. However, there are some fairly simple features missing and some functionality and usability issues that drive me up the wall sometimes. And, all you ever hear is glowing reviews, and I thought it was worth taking an alternative view.

There may be ways around some of the problems I experience below, so feel free to share if I am just ignorant.

Without further ado, the top 20 reasons I hate my iPhone (in no particular order):

1) No video recording. Come on, I had a video camera on my old phone five years ago

2) The camera is terrible. Half the pictures turn out blurry and when you upload them places, the resolution is awful.

3) The camera has no ability to zoom, which makes for some pretty useless pictures.

4) There is no way to email an MMS message (multimedia messaging service)—like photos or video.

5) The only way to receive an MMS message is to go online and type in a code, and half of the time the code doesn’t work.

6) It’s impossible to email more than one photo at a time. And to email a photo you have to go through your photo library. You can’t do it through your email client.

7) It’s impossible to attach anything in an email.

8) Syncing seems slow compared to other phones, especially as you have more applications or add other bells and whistles to your phone.

9) On the topic of syncing, you can only easily sync with one computer, at least without messing up your calendar, contacts, etc. That drives me nuts

10) When you sync, if you have photos on your phone, there is always, ALWAYS a pop-up that asks if you want to sync them separately on your computer. This wastes me time.

11) I’ve still not found a decent to-do list, especially ones that syncs with your phone.

12) While I’ve gotten more used to it, the keyboard for texting is not easy to use. No one has fingers that small.

13) It is not easy to move applications from one screen to another when you have multiple screens.

14) This may be more of a Google problem, but I often can’t sync my Gmail.

15) The battery life is not great. If I spend much time in an application, on the Internet, or in email, I easily could kill my battery in just a couple hours.

16) I hate being forced to spend another $30 a month just for a data plan. Yes, I definitely think it’s useless to have an iPhone if you don’t get this, but the price seems exorbitant to me—and it doesn’t include text messaging.

17) The volume control does not go loud enough. I’ve had this problem with several of my phones, but I want it louder on this phone because of its ability to play music.

18) You cannot forward text messages to other people.

19) You cannot see other people who were sent a text message.

20) The phone often freezes when I’m typing or texting because it can’t keep up. It makes me think of a typewriter from 20 years ago.

And don't get me started on my new MacBook.

Movie Log: August Tally

Monthly movie tracking update here.

46 total for the year.

The Hangover 8/8 (T)
(500) Days of Summer 8/21 (T)
Notes on a Scandal 8/22 (I)
The Reader 8/23 (I)
Inglourious Basterds 8/28 (T)