Vasilating

Greetings Faithful Readers…

If you like to fill your head with great music….check out John Mayer’s latest project…“Where the Light Is” I bought the DVD from Best Buy for a paltry $9.99.  Best 10 bucks I ever spent… He opens with a 5 song acoustic set…then goes directly into a set with his trio and finishes with a bunch of songs with his full band.

I have always liked John Mayer.  He’s about as real as you can be in the music business and I admire his ability to craft lyrics that are the soundtrack of my life.  It’s rare these days to find a musician so in tune with who he is and what he wants out of life.

Do yourself a favor…treat yourself to some ear candy…

BV

PS:  He’s also got a great blog that he mostly writes himself…

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Here it is…July 4th…and it’s raining.

It’s not supposed to rain on one of the few days during the year that I WANT to go outside!  We’ve got our sparklers and snakes ready to light…but the lightning continues to strike…so here’s what is going on in the Vasil Castle.

-  Mindy made dinner and is now sleeping off a migraine

-  Brianna is doing impressions of Wall-E into her laptop and then adding computer voice effects to it to make it sound authentic

-  I am journaling a bit about ministry goals…catching up on blogs…and getting ready to install a new piece of software into my mac.

I know it sounds like we’re declaring our independence from fun…but we’re just enjoying the downtime…

On a side note…I am really looking forward to this weekend…a new series begins…I have a meeting scheduled to talk about the new Internet Campus small group in Caracas, Venezuela…and I get to catch up with everybody online….

In the meantime, I think I’ll put on my new John Mayer DVD and just chill….

See you this weekend,
BV

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Well today is July 1.  We can officially begin counting down the 10 or so days ’till Apple allows us to dive into the wonder that is 3G speeds on the iPhone.  I won’t be upgrading, personally…  not yet anyway…

However, I know many of you will be.  Here’s the latest:

ATT released a bunch of “Get Ready” information on its website

Apple now has a walkthrough of the iPhone 3G Video

Both are worthwhile peeping at if you’re into this kinda thing…. (who isn’t?)

Phones go on sale at 8AM on Friday, July 11, 2008.

Will you be on line?

BV

Greeting Faithful Readers,

Pastor Troy has challenged the staff this summer to think and read as we head into the upcoming ministry season.   I’m a reader year-round…but this summer I’ve kicked it into overdrive.  Here’s what’s on my nightstand right now:

Inside the Magic Kingdom - Tom Connellan

A great book about how Disney achieves success.  There are seven gems in this book that we will be implementing into the Internet Campus in the coming weeks.  A definite read if you are a Disneyphile like me!

Meatball Sundae - Seth Godin

A book about effective marketing… basically if Seth writes it… I read it.  I hope to use a lot of this content as we work to spread the word about the FRC Internet Campus.

The Big Moo - Seth Godin (and 33 other leaders)

Yes, another Seth Godin book…but this time he edits the thoughts of 33 other leaders/marketers/writers… It’s a book filled with thoughts that stretch my way of thinking about stuff…

There are a couple on the horizon that I am going to dive into after these… but that’s for another post…

See you at Barnes and Noble!

BV

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Went to see Pixar’s newest movie, Wall-E, yesterday and wanted to give you my quick review…

Go see it.

Now for the slighly longer one… Wall-E is an amazingly animated and touching movie.  At its heart it is a love story…but covers such topics as the environment, corporate mentality, and technology gone awry.  I won’t spoil anything for you, but Apple fans will definitely recognize several sights (and sounds) from products that they love.  I will tell you that there are no actual lines of dialogue for the first 30 minutes of the film…and you won’t care.  The wonderful storytelling of this movie supersedes any awkwardness that “no spoken lines” might bring on.  Oh, and one of the main characters is a cockroach.

Go see this movie.  Bring the kids…they’ll love the robots…  and you?  You’ll love the heart.

BV

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Just had to share this photo with you.

You’re welcome.

BV

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Tomorrow is going to be a great day!   Here’s what mine is shaping up to look like:

8:00 AM - Wake Up
10:05 AM - Go see Wall-E (first showing @ Aventura)
12:00 PM - Aventura Mall Apple Store
5:00 PM - Get ready for the wedding of the century (congrats Peter and Julie!!!)
6:30 PM - Peter and Julie tie the knot
7:30 PM - I get my dance on at the reception
7:35 PM - Leave the dance floor humiliated at myself and my lack of bodily rhythm
?:??         - Back home to start watching Season 2 of LOST

What makes it even better is that I get to spend the whole day with my family…

Cool beans!

BV

Greetings Faithful Readers,

In case you didn’t know it…this is the last full week of Bill Gates’ full-time tenure at Microsoft.  Now before you go and think I’m going to bash Mr. Gates…I’m not.  Actually I admire him very much.  He is a brilliant mind that helped to usher in the computing era.

He and his wife Melinda are doing incredible things around the world with their money and I applaud them for it.  I wish for the best for Mr. Gates and his family… and that’s coming from a true Mac user…

BV

Greeting Faithful Readers…

Well it’s almost 1AM and somehow I am still awake… I just wanted to take a second and thank all of you for your support, encouragement, and prayers.  It really meant a lot.  I was honored to be asked to teach!   Don’t forget…share your God-story with somebody who needs it this week.  I am praying for you.

Blessings!
BV

Greetings Faithful Readers…

Those of you that know me understand that I am a die-hard Minnesota Vikings fan.

Here is an article that I completely and totally think is prophecy.  (not really…but I’d like it to be true).  I know it is months before football season…but GO VIKES!!!

BV