Back during my childhood, our parents would often load
up my brother and me after Sunday morning church services for a leisurely drive
around where we lived. Even though we
were seeing mostly familiar sights, it was still good to see them, and this is
why “A Sunday Drive” sounded about right for the name of a weekly series
revisiting familiar sites that are well worth seeing again and again. The link below the image is to the site
itself, and the image is linked to the post it was first included in here.
This is a weekly
series that will include a brief summary of the latest articles that have been
published on The Tribulation Times Herald-Exhorter. Hopefully, this will encourage you to go
check out some truly outstanding articles that have been published by a number
of truly outstanding authors. Moreover,
I hope this will also encourage you to want to become a contributing
member/author, as well. The “Hear
Ye! Hear Ye!” site explanation near the
top of the side-bar should answer many of your questions. Yes, this series also included an “SOS! (Spam
On Saturdays)” segment before, but it
just wasn’t working for me. Therefore,
that will be replaced by a republishing of one of the Trib articles.
This is an attempt
(the first one, actually) to produce an audible version of The Crackerhead
Chronicles in my own voice. If it is not
already, it will soon become obvious that I don’t know much about audio
engineering, video editing, nor digital graphics. I have that on good authority, I’m told. Of course, my darlin’ wife, Arlynda, would be
a whole lot more enthusiastic about this project if I sounded a whole lot more
like THE CELERBRATED American actor, Sam Elliott. Hmm, I wonder if there’s an app for
that? Anyway, let’s move on to…
What
you just read is the text for the opening of each of the crumbs/chapters that
will be uploaded to YouTube. Since it
pretty much explains what is going on and is not included in written form
during the videos, it seemed appropriate to use it as the opening for this.
Alas,
I really should have a lot more accomplished than I do. For I only have one more crumb/chapter
actually ready to upload, but a couple are awfully close.
Speaking
of awful, what I would think would not be all that much has been a nightmare so
far. Suffice to say that I have newfound
great respect for those who can simply read something out loud without mumbling
and slurring. Furthermore, those who can
add true feelings to what they are reading are most certainly not getting paid
enough!
Of
course, what they are given to read does make a difference, and when it is not
right, their job becomes exponentially harder.
Despite countless attempts at proof-reading, there was/is quite a bit
about the text of [The Crackerhead Chronicles] that wasn’t right, and correcting
those mistakes has taken a lot time and energy.
In
all fairness, I anticipated the actual recording and video editing process as
being a lot more fun than what I wanted to participate in. For I did not even realize that there was
such a program as [Windows Sound Recorder] before I started this project—let
alone that it was already included as part of Windows 7 on my computer.
Oh,
but wait—there’s more! For I am using a
microphone that came with our first computer back in 2000, and I can hardly
hear what has been recorded without cranking up the speaker volume to 100%.
So,
some amplification was needed, and that has involved two more programs that I
never knew existed before. For
[Audacity] can amplify recordings, but it will only work with mp3 and WAV
files. Therefore, [Free Audio Converter]
was needed to convert the WMA files from Windows Sound Recorder to a WAV file,
and then used to convert the amplified WAV files to mp3 before they are be
added to the video.
The
video itself has not been as much of a nightmare as I thought it might be
beforehand. For I played around with
Windows Movie Maker a time or two before while trying to produce some
WhiteHeart videos, and the Windows Live Movie Maker that I now have to work
with is easier to get along with in many regards.
Still,
if anything was really easy to do, He wouldn’t be having me do it—now, would
He? Sigh.
The SOLE purpose of this weekly series is
to help call attention to sites that I think many would find most
interesting—in one way or another. Just
to be clear, inclusion in this series is not necessarily meant as a
recommendation, and I have included sites that are rather disturbing to
me. The link below each image is to the
site itself, and each image is linked to the particular post from which it was
taken when applicable. Please, go see
for yourself. Oh, and as of August 10,
2012, I will be no longer including sites that have auto-play and word
verification engaged.
This
weekly series will include as many of my all-time favorite tunes as I can get
my grubby little hands upon (so to speak).
Now, each one included in each edition will have some connection to the
other—albeit only as a figment of my imagination, but they will not be
numbered. For I just cannot bring myself
to rate some higher than others. So,
this will not be a countdown, but if you are enjoying them as much as I do, it
won’t matter. Besides, with no countdown,
this could go on forever and ever! Oh,
and despite the fact that there is absolutely no way that your musical tastes
can be as exquisite as mine, I welcome any suggestions that you might dare to
make. I am, after all, quite magnanimous
by nature.
By
the way, I plan on only including two at a time in this series, but this first
edition has three. Furthermore, there is
really no connection between them—other than I came to love each one during the
1970s. However, they do display just how
varied my musical tastes are.
To
provide some not-so-obvious background on the first one. I was part of the overall Missouri state
champion and nationally-recognized Cassville High School Concert Band that
featured it during the 1973 competition season.
If you can make it through the flowery opening, it picks up considerably
around the 4:00 mark. Next comes a
passage that might sound rather familiar to [Looney Tunes] fans, and make sure
you have a firm grasp on your reality around the 8:46 mark. Hey, the video even comes with a warning
about the possibility of seizures for epileptics! Although, this has to do with the flashing
lights in the video—not the music.
The
second was an all-time favorite of mom, and one of my most pleasant memories of
oh so very long ago (to me) is of watching her become something other than a
rather rigid authoritarian whenever that song started playing on the
radio. Therefore, it had to be included
in this series.
Since I have not been given much of a life, I watch an
awful lot of television, which includes an awful lot of commercials. Now, a “GOOD” ad is one that holds my
attention and makes me want to at least learn more about the product or service
it is for. A “BAD” ad is one that
quickly becomes nothing more than background noise when it cannot be skipped
over. “UGLY” ads are much worse. For not only do they make we want to never
see them again, they make me want to never have anything to do with the company
that paid for them to be produced. Of
course, you may feel differently, but I sure wouldn’t say much about it around
anyone with a lick of sense. For I am,
after all, an expert on such things—albeit only in my own mind!
Not every song that
will be featured here will be what is generally considered as being “Christian”
in the eyes of this world. For some will
be anguished cries from the pit of despair while others will be quite obviously
fervent rants of rebellion. Nonetheless,
be assured that they will all be of our Heavenly Father (in one way or another)
and I hope that you have been given ears to hear the message.
