Amazing Grace (2007), the story of William Wilberforce and his fight against the slave trade
The Matrix —
A classic—still blows your mind after all these years! "The Matrix is all around you!"
Blade Runner ― Another classic mind-expander. "More human than human is our motto."
Syriana —or Singaporeana—or Philippiniana—how the people who decide the fates of thousands are not necessarily the ones whose names are in the headlines.
Kubrador—You're following the bet collector's life merrily along, when—BAM!—the point of the whole movie hits you smack in the chest—you never saw it coming—and you finish the movie woozy from the blow. And the point comes from the Bible! How about that?
Here’s an interesting presentation of THE Big Story of God, humans, and the world:
Please bear in mind that this is a three-minute summary, so do give the presenter some leeway if he does not include some details we would prefer to see if we were the ones to present a Big Story .
Animoto will create videos for you from your own pics and choice of soundtrack music. You can choose soundtracks from their library or from your own music collection. They promise that no two videos will be the same. You can use the same collection of pics and same music, but they will remix it to come up with different videos every time.
Free videos will last only 30 seconds. You’ll have to pay for longer ones.
Just to see how good they are, I tried them out with some pics from when Perry and I were in Italy. Here’s what they came up with, in less than seven minutes:
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You can then post the videos in your blog (as I did with this sample), in WordPress, MySpace, Friendster, Facebook, Multiply, etc. You can invite your friends to view them, or upload them to YouTube.
Great tool for 30-second promotional messages for your services, organization, church, etc.
For only US$ 33, each of us can help provide clean, safe drinking water to tens of thousands of people in Africa.
I just received an email from BirthdayAlarm. They have teamed up with the non-profit organization charity:water . The vision of Charity: Water is to help provide clean, safe drinking water to billions of people all over the world who don’t have access to it. Its founder, Scott Harrison, had the inspirted idea to celebrate his 32nd birthday in September last year by asking for donations of US$ 32 each from concerned individuals to help benefit needy people in Kenya, particularly a hospital which sees about a hundred patients a day, but out of whose taps can come only muddy water.
92 people responded, and most gave more than $ 32 each. They were able to raise $150,000. They dug a well which gave that hospital and the community around it access to clean drinking water.
The idea worked. So this year, they’re aiming to raise ten times that amount, in order to help provide water in Ethiopia. They want to provide wells to at least 300 villages in that country.
For his 33rd birthday this September, Scott is asking for $ 33 from people whose hearts are moved to help provide this very important resource. Most of us take water for granted, but there are tens of thousands in less-developed places who don’t have ready access to it.
Thirty-three dollars. It’s worth it. Give a gift of life. Let’s give a gift of drinking water for thousands of our fellow human beings.
But I’m still happy that Charice Pempengco got to sing with Andrea Bocelli. I’m sure that thousands of other Filipinos have already seen her videos on YouTube. So? I still want to post links to her videos in this blog. Hey, I’m a fan .
In the Wikipedia article on Bocelli, the tenor is quoted as saying that he was actually looking forward to promoting Charice, whom he called a “force of nature” . Here’s what he said, according to the Wikipedia article:
In an interview, Andrea Bocelli said that “In realtà il mondo è pieno di grandi voci e ho avuto la fortuna di cantare con tanti artisti, da Christina Aguilera a Bono. Ma, se proprio dovessi trovare una nuova interprete, punterei su Charice, una ragazza delle Filippine che a soli 15 anni è una versa forza della natura. Ne sentiremo parlare.” or “In reality, the world is full of great voices and I had the opportunity to sing with so many artists, from Christina Aguilera to Bono. But, if I would like to look for a new voice, I would push for Charice, a girl from the Philippines that only at 15 yrs old is a flush force of nature. That we shall be hearing.”
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So here they are, Charice and Bocelli, singing “The Prayer” (the video is a bit shaky, since it was just taken by an audience member, but their voices were sure and steady ):
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For more news on this wonder kid, click here. There are also more and higher-quality videos of her various performances with different artists in other countries at this site (including her performance at the Paul O’Grady Show in England). ..
The following news clip on Charice features a snippet of her fantastic performance at the tribute concert to David Foster, held last May at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. The news is in Tagalog, but the praises heaped on her by the 14-time Grammy Award winner Foster and by JoshGroban (!) are, of course, in English. She received standing ovations for her renditions of “I Will Always Love You“, “I Have Nothing“, and “And I am Telling You“.
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And here’s an interview on a Philippine entertainment show:
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Hats off to you, Charice! Man, if you’re this good at 16, who can tell where you’ll be, even just 5 years from now? I do hope you stay humble, and that you never ever forget the Creator who gave you your gifts. God bless you!
Couldn’t update the blog as much I would want. Couldn’t even visit it as often as I would want !
Busy with the project, and a day job found me ! Oh, well…
But my sister sent me a link to this beautiful video, as posted at the Times Online (UK), and I just had to post it, just in case a visitor here hasn’t seen it yet. The link at the Times is Lion Becomes Internet Sensation.
The Times article links to this video on YouTube: ..
The career of Elijah is one of the most dramatic and significant in Scripture. This early prophet confronted idolatry at the highest levels, and his message is relevant for every generation of believers.
Immanuel Kant represents a watershed in the history of philosophy. He synthesized certain elements of rationalism and empiricism and said that knowledge begins with experience but not all knowledge comes from experience.
The glories of Israel under David and Solomon did not last. Following the death of Solomon, the kingdom divided into two parts, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.
Come on folks. “I walk for the planet earth”? I wonder if the school would have “I walk for the unborn.” What do you think? Again, while I have nothing against biblical stewardship of creation, I have much against the presentation of this type of indoctrination and unbalanced agenda. I feel like saying “I don’t walk, I just [...]
Mom is still the same. We had a sincere prayer for healing offered, yet God chose not to act according to such desires. Someone asked why I would take her to another church to pray for healing. The answer is that my church does not encourage people to approach the church, elders, or pastors for prayers [...]
D. A. Carson at Omaha Bible Church last week:Making Sense of Suffering - Part 1Making Sense of Suffering - Part 2Making Sense of Suffering - Part 3Making Sense of Suffering - Part 4 (Gospel Reflections on Trials and Tribulations)There was also a pastors' session on "Preaching and Biblical Theology."HT: Erik Raymond
On my visit to Wheaton College for homecoming this past week, I saw notice of Carl Trueman's participation in the upcoming conference Reading the Decalogue through the Centuries (November 6-7). Doubtless Carl is contributing in the area of the Reformation, but perhaps he could let us know the exact topic.
by Paul Copan
by Richard J. Foster
by John Piper
(2007), the story of William Wilberforce and his fight against the slave trade
—
A classic—still blows your mind after all these years! "The Matrix is all around you!"
― Another classic mind-expander. "More human than human is our motto."
—or Singaporeana—or Philippiniana—how the people who decide the fates of thousands are not necessarily the ones whose names are in the headlines.
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