iPhone Crazynesss
Howdy Ho, blog friends. Brian here. I had a brief post for all you techies out there:
During our recent trip to Chicago we stopped by a mall to take a break. We ended up on the second story catwalk, trying to find a reasonable lunch option (yeah, fat chance of that), and looking down we found ourselves staring at a large crowd of well-dressed twenty/thirtysomething geeks:
Looking right, we saw what drew the crowd:
That’s right: we had stumbled into the middle of the iPhone waiting line. I figured there were 120 people in line. At $500 a phone, that picture at the top represents $60,000 waiting to escape. Crazy world we live in…
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s off to work we go…
It’s been a bit quiet around this homey little blog lately. That’s mostly due to summer weather (beautiful!), summer projects (er, not so beautiful yet, but coming along…) and work. The nine-to-five sort of work.
So I thought I’d take some time and blog about a few projects we recently finished at Gospel Communications. Here’s a quick run down:
We co-produced this one with Mars Hill Productions down in Texas. The HOPE is a film designed to share the Gospel to an audience that doesn’t have a churchy background. What’s super-cool about The HOPE is that the narrators are interchangeable: they’re shot using a bluescreen, allowing us to add different languages at an extremely low cost. In fact, we just got done producing the Romanian version a few weeks ago. Over the next couple of months and years we’ll be adding more languages.
The 2007 Internet Ministry Conference
Every year we produce an annual conference for the members of the Gospelcom.net ministry alliance (around 250 organizations). Three years ago we decided to open the event up to anyone and everyone, and this is the first year we’re seriously marketing it to a larger audience. I think the guys did a great job on this year’s site.
In my spare time last year I learned Spanish and started Evangelio.com, our new Spanish blog. Actually, if you know me at all, you know I’m completely joking: I couldn’t learn another language for all the tea in China. We hired a native Spanish speaker to write at the site, and I’m extremely pleased with where it’s going. I expect we’ll be reaching 20,000 people a month through this site by the end of the year, and will open up some interesting doors to Latin America.
So, there’s a peak into my work as a website producer. We have a few other biggies in the pipeline for later this year, so I’m sure this isn’t the last time I’ll be blogging about sites. In the mean time, enjoy your summer!
Dear Mother Nature…
…we realize you have a lot on your hands with “el nino” and that whole “global warming” thing [1]. However, we’d like to suggest a review of the recent weather here in Michigan. Please accept the following video for said review:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7GwNfOpOTM]
We believe that the file “Spring” was mistakenly misplaced, and that your seasonal weather computer somehow started looping “Winter” over and over. Not cool.
We suggest you upgrade to a more reliable computer, or at least perform a back up now and again.
Sincerely yours,
The Tols.
[1] BTW, we also suggest you get a better spokes person for said “global warming” than Al Gore. Seriously. We still hear the term “lock box” ever time the guy opens his mouth.
Breaking News: Cat Surrenders to baby. Film at 11:00.
Well, since it’s 11:00 somewhere, here’s the video:
[youtube http://youtube.com/watch?v=h1l__eVRass]
The camera ran out of space, so I ended up catching only 11 seconds of Noah torturing playing with Mocha. Mocha apparently decided it wasn’t worth the effort to move. Or (and equally possible) she’s just given up all hope that we’ll return Noah whatever place we picked him up at.
Either way, she just didn’t care anymore, and boy, did he have a good time pulling her tail.
16lb
That, my friends, is how much weight I’ve lost since January 2. I’m now a lean, mean blogging machine.
Here’s the full scoop:
After Dad Tol’s heart attack, Amy and I decided we could use some lifestyle adjustments. I’ve never been truly overweight, but I wasn’t exactly the skinny punk I was back in college. And given family history looming over me, it seemed like a good time to make some changes.
So we started walking more (two times a week at the mall), I’ve been doing yoga (don’t laugh: I can now flex into all sorts of kung-fu positions and take you out), and – most importantly – we’ve been doing Weight Watchers.
Well, we’ve been following the Weight Watchers’ points system. We haven’t actually joined a program or anything. That said, I’m now a bit fan of the program, and a firm believer that it works.
My overall goal wasn’t to turn into a vegan, but to make subtle and sustainable changes that I could stick to. Weight Watchers provides you with just those sorts of changes.
For example, I now understand how really, really bad cookies, regular pop (that’s “soda” for you Virginian readers) and other sweets are for you. Using the W.W. program, I get 30 “points” a day. Points are calculated based on a foods calorie, fat and fiber content. Most cookies are 3 points, or 10% of my daily food intake. 10% for a little, tiny cookie? No thank you Bob!
We’ve also been amazed how simple changes – like using reduced calorie butter and fat-free soups – can make a huge difference as well. And then there are the point-free foods. Beans and carrots are free. We’ve got beans coming out of our ears!
Besides the actual 16 pounds, I’m feeling better, too. (I know, surprise, surprise). I’m sleeping better, and I know longer experience dulling sleepiness after lunch. I haven’t officially checked, but I bet my cholesterol is down, too.
So, 16 pounds in 60 days. Not bad if you ask me! At this rate I’ll be back to modeling in Paris again in no time… 
Brian’s New Tumblelog
For those of you who can’t get enough of me, I’m happy to announce my new tumblelog at wiremine.tumblr.com.
“A tumblelog?” you ask. “You got to be kidding me. You made that up.”
Nope, I kid you not, dear readers. To steal an explanation from the tumblr.com site:
To make a simple analogy: If blogs are journals, tumblelogs are scrapbooks.
To expand on that a bit: A tumblelog is a blog of sorts. But instead of regular written posts, a tumblelog is a hodge-podge of pictures, quotes, links, videos, conversations and other random stuff.
In other words, you can think of it as Brian’s online scrapbook. Just like a real scrapbook, except without all the nasty paper-cuts and out-of-this-world prices.
Enjoy!
To our loved ones and friends who have recently moved…
…you made the right choice.
I took this shot on my lunch break looking out the back window. Wind chill is in the single digits.
Update: In case you thought I was joking, here’s some extra proof:
Most of West Michigan is under a blizzard warning, and US 131 was just shut down with two multi-car pill-ups. One involved 25 cars, the other 30. Yikes.
Sense-Oh, that’s good!
It’s no secret I’m a coffee addict connoisseur. I like my coffee strong and black. None of this sugar and cream junk for me.
My family is well aware of my coffee-loving ways, and are eager to support my habit hobby. In fact, I learned after the fact that no less than three of them attempted to cherry pick a Senseo from my Christmas list. Amy deftly handled the situation so that we ended up with only one.
30 days into being a Senseo owner, I couldn’t be happier. It now sits lovingly on my bookshelf at work, with an open invitation for everyone to use it. Just BYOP (Bring Your Own Pod).
Next up in my Senseo journey: Making my own pods. Stay tuned…
BTW, if you’re into single serve coffee, my coworker Mr. Pott (Or “The New BCP” for those in the know) is also a Senseo connoisseur, and tipped me off to apply named SingleServeCoffee.com. I’ve been enjoying it greatly.