wow how crazy is this movie? glad there are no antelopes where I ride.
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Mountain Biker vs. African Antelope
bucky
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Andy Timmons Video Interview with Harmony Central
bucky
Guitar Lifestyle – sweet videos!
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And yet please donate…
bucky
“The January 2011 issue of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research reported that Christian religious leaders will commit an estimated $34 billion in financial fraud in 2011 while $31 billion will be spent on global missions. Researchers from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity estimate that Christian religious leaders will commit $90 million in financial crimes daily and the fraud is growing at a rate of 5.97% each year. If the researchers are correct, religious financial fraud among Christians will almost double in 14 years to $60 billion annually by 2025.”
Via donate now and often and please more
Being part of a church that was recently rocked by some financial troubles, its really hard to get behind supporting any kind of church. Really what are you to think when you visit these large churches with coffee bars and stadium sound systems? Where does that money go? Should all churches be small, and is it bad for them to get big? And if you have that kind of money, how do you decide what to do with it?
- Sure there are things to pay for, but are they the things people should pay for at the end of the day?
- Should staff salaries comprise the largest percentage of its budget?
- Do you really need someone with a doctorate or high level of education on staff to share the message - its a simple message right?
- Is there, or should there be a conflict with those who preach/teach/minister and also control the church finances?
- Who should control church finances? (sadly no real answers here, everyone from members to elders have messed this up)?
- Should the church offer counseling for people based on biblical principles, the same bible that says these things?
- What is the deal with churches and taxes?
- Is it a fundamental problem then to expect something out of them in the first place because you are paying them?
- What are preachers paid for, if this gospel message and salvation comes freely?
- Is preacher really a position, or just something christianity has because of the example of Paul and other apostles? Why is that person always the focal point, shouldn’t all members be able to share on some basic level?
- Is the gospel message something that should be a career choice?
- If it requires 35 volunteers and 6 paid staff members to put on a 1 1/2 hour show once a week (not counting Wednesdays) to simply say “believe and be saved”, is that overkill?
- Is it really responsible to think the bible even gave contemporary Christianity some kind of guide as to what a modern church should look like? * Spoiler: no
- Can the church and its message really be relevant 2000 years later without taking principles out of context and trying to force them into modern society? If its principles are good, why do we need all the the other stuff that gives the bible such a bad name, or need the bible at all; isn’t that something we could just write down now (why isn’t the first commandment do not kill btw)?
- Is the message of Jesus more likely one of an apocalyptic prophet and less of a God?
- If God is all powerful, why become a man and get himself killed to forgive our sins? Does this sound more like an uneducated rationalization of someones death, or the eternal plan of an almighty creator? If the bible was written today how would that play out? This didn’t even make sense to the apostles, and they were with Jesus!
The reality is church has become a business. Jesus is a fashion sense and a wearable catchphrase. Is christianity even relavant anymore, and should it be when you actually read its words? Are church attendees even aware that for contemporary Christianity Paul is Lord and Jesus is Christ?
Churches that so frequently ask and are so open about constantly wanting money are dangerous. Often these churches seem to think Jesus handed them a business model and not a way to heaven, which I guess is the only way.
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Andy Timmons Clinic
bucky
San Diego Clinic
Here is a short recap of the clinic given by Andy on 9-1-11. First let me say how awesome it was to finally meet him and listen to him live. All those live sound clips on the web don’t do him justice! Nothing like having your head vibrate from the air being moved by the speakers. He was smart to have ear plugs
. I had brought a recording device but he asked for no recordings so I just have pictures and memories.I got to the clinic at Guitar Trader/Music Power pretty early, like 2 hours before it was supposed to start – oops. About an hour before I realized my phone was almost dead so I had to run out and buy a charger so that I could make sure I got a pic with Andy, otherwise I would be sad. When I arrived back from the errand, Andy had just arrived and was starting to set up. Its great how the music store has a stage section, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but you could easily fit a 4 piece up on that stage:
He had some help but for the most part he was setting up all his stuff himself, and he was gracious enough to answer questions and meet fans while this was going on.
Not only that but he played my AT-100 (poor guitar is sad today when I played it), he answered a few questions I had about it, specifically the trem tuning issues. He suggested nut sauce, which always sounds inappropriate, but I hear it works.
After he rocked out on the guitar he took a moment to sign it
I guess I will laquer it, any suggestions on what product to use? Andy told a story during the clinic about how he got to play with Ace Frehley and had him sign the guitar on the back, he got it laquered but it has basically warn off at this point.
I took some pictures of his pedal board, I’m sure lots of you have seen variations of it at some point. He only uses 9v batteries, he said he can hear a difference especially in the studio, and has used those voodoo labs power bricks in the past but prefers the batteries.
He had some stuff in a rack cab up near the amp heads, most importantly the Carl Martin compressor he puts in front of the clean channel on the lone star and has the bass rolled way off. He was using this to control amp switching and some effects. During sound check it was great to hear the differences between stuff as he was tweaking getting everything back into the sweet zone.
The clinic started basically on time, with a nice intro from Richard from Mesa Boogie. Andy commented that he likes to run the clinics like a mini-concert, which is totally fine with me, he played alot off the new album and would break for questions.
Here is the set of what he played:
This first set was all to show off the LoneStar
- Super 70s
- Pink Champagne Sparkle
- Beautiful Strange (has the coolest percussive riffs on this song)
- Falling Down
He commented that the Lone Star is his desert island amp. Provided that the island has power (ha). He said though that that new T-30 is quickly becoming a versitle favorite. His delay settings are generally a 375/500 split which gives you a quarter/dotted 8th feel. Also he can’t play Pink Floyd’s The Wall solo. For shame Andy.
He then switched over to the Stiletto amp and played these songs:
- Deliver Us
- Helipad
- Gone
Another round of questions – and yes learn stuff by ear!
He then plugged into the T-30 to show off its tonal range, and played She’s Leaving Home, the slap back delay he was trying to use to show off the intro riff failed, so he freaking double picked it! What an animal sheesh.
Back over to his lone star/stiletto setup he finished off the evening with these songs from Sgt Pepper:
- Sgt Pepper
- With a little help from my friends
- Lucy in the sky with diamonds (that opening riff is gold)
- Within you without you (ok, that was impressive. a couple people there were floored by this song)
- Strawberry fields – winner!
- Cry for you. chills.
He’s hoping to come back to San Diego area with ATB to support the album, I’ll make a show for sure if he is able to make it out here.
Thanks Andy and everyone at Mesa Boogie for making this possible.
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Expression Engine 2.0
bucky
Not good. Too bad.
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