This is cool… and so much less intrusive than giant mind farms…

In the last 24 hours, Google produced 9,921 kilowatt-hours of electricity from the sun.

Interesting article… the hard part is actually getting off the treadmill as it gets faster and faster…

Can capitalism survive environmentalism?

As for the personal or individual level, members of the new branch of the psychological profession who call themselves “positive psychologists” say that we are on a “hedonic treadmill.” We earn more to spend more and then have to earn more to spend more and then…We get a quick burst of pleasure from our purchases but no long term increase in happiness. Meanwhile, many are stressed by working all the hours to do jobs they don’t believe in with people they don’t care for.

Increases in the baselines of our happiness, it turns out, don’t come from money once you’ve achieved an income equivalent of something like $40,000. What the positive psychologists say happiness does come from, on the other hand, is strong interpersonal relationships, doing what you are naturally good at, living a life that is in accord with your values, and achieving meaning by connecting to something larger than yourself.

I cannot wait to see this movie. I loved Bruce Almighty, it was hilarious, yet there was such a good message behind it, so many things you could take away from it. How many times in your life have you felt like Bruce, kneeling in the middle of the road, at the end of your rope, completely burnt out from trying to do everything you wanted, your own way, having no other way to go but to stop, look up and say…”I give up, I submit to your will, I can’t do this on my own”.

When I first caught wind of Evan Almighty, my first reaction was probably the same as most people.

“What!!?! No Jim Carrey!?!?”

But after seeing the trailer, I was convinced that the movie would be fine without him, my only other concern was that the movie was just being made for the sake of making a sequel. This article confirms that is not the case. Hopefully more people in the arts, be it movies, music, writing, whatever, take the same approach Tom Shadyac does.

In the world of music, artists generally fall into two categories. There are “Christian musicians” who make Christians albums for Christian record labels that are being bought mostly by Christians. And then there are musicians who happen to be Christians. I take it you’re a director who happens to be a Christian, and not a “Christian director.”

Shadyac: Yeah, and I even have a hard time with that label—though you’re not going to meet a bigger Jesus freak. Someone asked me the other day, “What’s the biggest influence on your filmmaking career?” And they started naming filmmakers. I went, “Naw, it’s Jesus actually.”

Brad Paisley cranks out another great CD.

I have to admit, I love the humorous lyrics he continues to use along side the killer guitar work.

These days there’s dudes getting facials
Manicured, waxed and Botoxed
But with deep spray-on tans and creamy lotiony hands
You can’t grip a tackle box…

Yeah with all of these men linin up to get neutered
And headin out to be feminized
But I don’t hide by my head, I’ve still got a pair
Yeah honey, I’m still a guy

Oh, my eyebrows ain’t plucked, there’s a gun in my truck
Oh thank God I’m still a guy

How can you not like that!?! Throw in some guest vocals by Carrie Underwood and the “Kung Pao Buckaroos” (Whisperin’ Bill Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens and Vince Gill), and I’m sold. The duet, “Oh Love” with Underwood just shows how versatile he is, going from singing about checking his girlfriend for ticks, to a great tune about love without missing a beat.

You’re the simple truth and you’re the biggest mystery
Oh love

There is also the standard gospel tune he has on each of his albums, “When We All Get to Heaven”, which almost requires that I sing along in perfect harmony.

I haven’t listened to Mindy Smith in a long time… I loved her last CD (One Moment More) and I just never got around to getting this new release last year. Pretty much the same soothing sound, a mix of folk, country, blues, jazz, gospel and pop… and great lyrics. Check her out…

I need peace of mind and a gentle hand/As I try to change the way I am/And hope God forgives me when I can’t/I need peace of mind and a gentle hand.

One lucky winner will receive a guitar designed to match Third Day’s Chronology Volume 1 album. Here’s your chance to own a piece of Third Day history! I signed up! This cool… but then again… I’d like to win any guitar… at.. all…

*sigh*