Come Together

January 19, 2009 //

This Sunday, January 25th, The Ecclesia Collective will be hosting a worship gathering of missional communities throughout the San Diego area.

The missional endeavor, like the mustard seed of Jesus’ parable, is often small. [I’ll share some thoughts soon on how, though the phrase “missional” has been misused, over-used and downright abused lately, it is worth rescuing.]

Although they might not headline conferences or publish best-selling books, small communities of Kingdom conspirators and mischief-makers are springing up throughout San Diego.

If you are in the San Diego area, we invite you to join us as we seek to:

Provide an opportunity for these different communities to continue growing together

Let others know of the different communities now meeting across the county

Allow a diverse, ecumenical group of people to work together to create a space of worship

Categories church, community, missional, worship

Friday Freebies: Twoshirts (and Some Songs)

January 16, 2009 //

A little while back down here in San Diego I met Jason Coker, who started an organization called Twoshirts. In their words:

Twoshirts is a community of gift-giving where people freely give and receive all kinds of different things in our items listings, from appliances, to clothing, to help and services.

Twoshirts members have given away over 1000 items to each other since we started in January, 2008. We simply think generosity is a better way to live.

In fact, our vision is to connect the world in relationships of generosity.

There’s hardly a better way to become a generous person than to begin practicing generosity.

Also, if you’d like a quick music fix, you can find free tracks from Rooftop Vigilantes and Handome Furs over at Stereogum. Insound has a couple of free MP3s as well, including the irrepressibly bouncy Los Campesinos!

If you’re feeling kinda dancy, but not particularly bouncy, you can listen to the new The Whitest Boy Alive track at their MySpace. Can’t wait for the new Kings of Convenience album!!

Categories community, freebies, stewardship

For Those About to Transport Data…

January 15, 2009 //

… we salute you!

These days, USB drives are offered with ever-larger capacities at lower & lower prices. So, other than competing with rock bottom pricing, how can a tech company differentiate itself from the rest of the field? Gang signs and devil horns, of course!

See the images below for the Hand USB sticks a company called Sirtified will be releasing in February [h/t: Engadget]:

When the USB sticks are plugged in, they remind me a little bit of the Wicked Witch of the East getting crushed by Dorothy’s house.

I guess nothing says, “I might look like a working stiff transporting my data from a regional quarterly sales meeting in Dayton, Ohio but, deep down, I roll on the westsiiiiieeeede” like this blue model.

Categories communication, design, tech

There is No Charge for Awesomeness…

January 12, 2009 //

… or attractiveness, as Po from Kung Fu Panda says.

We can thank the internet machine for the awesomeness and attractiveness of these Diamond Dave nuggets to kickstart the work week.

The first is the David Lee Roth Running with the Devil Soundboard. [h/t: Marko] Guaranteed hours of fun.

Or, if you want to take things to the next level, you can bask in the glory of/recoil in horror from this truly mashed-up mashup of Diamond Dave colliding with Microsoft’s Songsmith [h/t: Gizmodo].

Songsmith is a program that generates music to accompany a singer’s voice. Could be interesting, but the background music sound un-ironically 8-bit. Call it a failure of my imagination, but I can’t see a purpose for Songsmith other than the DLR fail. I give them credit for their surreal, ultra-cheesy ad, but, seriously, I’m confused — “So help me a find a way to move my groove on”? Really? Is that even a phrase, or is Microsoft trying to invent new slang?

Categories advertising, communication, just grinning

Get Out the Vote

January 6, 2009 //

Reports say tickets for President-Elect Obama’s upcoming inauguration are being sold for anywhere between $20,000 to $40,000. I heard a radio report awhile back that mentioned hotels have long been sold out in the DC area for the inauguration, and local residents are offering the barest of bare-bones accomodations (read: you can set up a tent in their cold, cold backyard — and no restroom facilities) for $100/night.

Change.org has been running an online competition for ideas to change America. Change.org will then launch a nationwide campaign to support the top ideas and will present them for the full consideration of the Obama administration.

Charles Lee, co-founder of JustOne and lead cultural catalyst of New Hope Church in the LA area, has made it the final round of voting. His idea is to build more shelters around the nation dedicated to helping victims of human trafficking. Here’s the full description:

In light of the recent growth of awareness and practice of reporting human trafficking suspicion around the country (which has resulted in more rescues and arrests), I would like to see our government help fund a national media campaign to build more trafficking shelters around the United States. In addition, our government could also award some of our private, recognized service providers with funding for building and operating shelters for trafficking victims.

You can check out Charles’ blog here or vote directly at Change.org to help build more trafficking shelters. I strongly encourage you to raise your voice and help this worthy idea rise to the top of the list.

Categories community, faith, justice, missional