Joel's Place

Worship

2011-01-28T10:35:00.001-05:00

Tonight I lead the Men in worship. 3 songs. Famous one, Trading My Sorrows and Sweetly Broken. It is amazing to me the anxious/nervous feelings I get before doing this. I have played my guitar and sang before people since I was in 7th grade, or 12 years old, which is 33 years. I have led songs or sung songs for groups as small as 2, all the way into the hundreds. I like to sing. I like

Joel's Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle

2011-01-18T14:25:00.000-05:00

I’ve been asked repeatedly by different folks about my process for losing 49 pounds this past year. So rather than continually repeating myself, here it is in written format. There were several factors that played on my decision to get fit. The first was in January 2010 on a trip to Woodstock First Baptist Church in Georgia. We went with our Pastor to a "Sunday School in High Definition"

Too cold to ride

2011-01-12T06:21:00.003-05:00

I want to ride by bike. But it is too cold for a whimp like me, so I will chaufer my wife in the Subaru.Still like riding in style.

2009-12-24T21:53:00.003-05:00

So I ran down the problems for the fuel in the crankcase. I believe that the extreme tow angle, couple with a weak needle valve were the culprits. I rebuilt the carb, drained and changed the oil, and there isn't any fuel in the crankcase anymore.I went on to time and tune the engine, which led to an idle issue. A very common problem with a 1600 dual port is that there are quite a few things, and

Bus Story - The origin of my Westy

2009-12-16T21:01:00.009-05:00

So We loaded up the little 74 Beetle and headed to Augusta, GA where we traded for our new 1970 VW Westfalia Day Camper. The guy in the pictures is Tom (From North Carolina). Great guy. He has many of the same interests I do. I never dreamed I would be able to get a bus. Always wanted one. Don't know why it worked out now, but I sure am thankful. The pictures tell the story.Now that it is home,

The Bus Chronicles Begin

2009-12-13T11:52:00.003-05:00

Hard to believe I haven't posted anything in 2 years. Time gets away. The thing I want to blog about now is my latest acquisition. A 1970 VW Westfalia. More to come soon.

Bikeweek 09

2009-03-08T08:13:00.005-04:00

Yes, I went to Bikeweek with my wife. We ride a 2006 Honda VTX1300R.We have had several motorcyles, all harleys. This is the first Honda I have had since my Honda 400 back in the 80's.It rides nice, is loud and has enough power to be safe.So we went to bikeweek in Daytona and stayed at the Thunder Gulch campground. Nice place run by a nice lady. We had to pay $68 a night, which was about half of

School Days Part 2

2007-09-04T22:50:00.000-04:00

Here are pictures from my other class... Intro to TV Production. It is at Deerwood Center. Very cool class. Cool location. Cool instructor. The studio is well-equipped. Enough to satisfy the needs of ESPN2. They film the SEC Update there on Wednesdays. Very cool.This will be one of the tougher classes I think. When your Final Exam is based directly on your performance producing a show... you

School Days Part 1

2007-09-04T12:18:00.000-04:00

For everyone who has been wanting me to share my school experience, here are some pictures from my graphic design class. You will first notice the halls I come down are displaying works of art. I like it.The computer lab is ful of Mac computers, which is alright if you are one of those Mac people I suppose. PC Mac, it's all the same to me. The power is in the software, which runs on either.Art is

Gizmos

2007-08-21T23:22:00.001-04:00

I received my new wireless flash triggers today. All the way from Hong Kong.$29.99 worth of fun.Although they look like every other great picture from a Nikon. These two were taken using 2 flash units at 12 ft from subjects. Triggered by my fancy new gizmos. The lense was approx. 8 ft from the nose of the dog.In particular, notice the reflection in the eyes. (Hint: if you blow it up you can see

School days

2007-08-15T08:05:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I published anything. Time sure gets away from you. But I've been busy. Video, photographs, editing... it never ends, and I'm glad.I officially signed up for 2 classes at FCCJ. I met with one of the professors there and he put me into Digital Survey, which is a class on graphical design and foundations. It is taught by Dr. Troy Johnson, who is also my

Random Pictures for Parents.

2007-07-18T06:56:00.000-04:00

In case some of you miss your kids, here are some random pix. I hope you see yours, if not, they are here and fine.

Tuesday Night Update

2007-07-17T23:06:00.000-04:00

Hi All.Just a quick word before I turn out the lights. Whatever you guys are doing back home, in terms of prayer, keep it up!After the service tonight, we had our group time. The Lord showed up in a big way tonight. You could truly feel the presence of the Lord. As Bro. Kit began the discussion, he asked them to describe to each other, what God was doing here this week in each of their

Fat Guy falling and Dodge Ball

2007-07-17T15:41:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon from Gardner-Webb University, home of Crossroads 2007. Many great things continue to develop here, and I will have to say again, that youth are amazing... or is that the first time I've said it?Last night Clayton King spoke to the kids on purity. Mom's and dad's, he said what all of us want our children to hear. God's plan, and God's way for a life of purity. He verbally attacked

Youth Camp 2007

2007-07-16T07:13:00.000-04:00

We survivied the trip from Jacksonville to Gardner Webb. Got checked in. Settled in. Everyone made it alive.Crossroads is pretty exciting. The "team" met the kids as they got off of the bus. They yell and scream. Then they pass out the room keys and we unloaded the bus.We immediately attended a rules pep-rally, where we were educated on things that will get you sent home.Worship was at 7:00pm. A

Continued Camera Fun

2007-07-10T18:56:00.000-04:00

I just completed a roll of 120 film shot through my Kodak Duaflex. I adapted it to use 120 film, as it originally used 620. As I used the last exposure, I began searching for a place to develop and print the film. My search led me to Foto Technika in Jacksonville. http://www.fototechnika.com/The best I can tell, these are probably the most professional folks around our area. They do just about

4th of July or What's wrong with this Canon?

2007-07-04T22:44:00.001-04:00

Click any of the following pictures for a bigger view. My sisters will do anything to try and get a good picture from their Canon play cameras. They even tried to shoot through the view finder of a 50's model Kodak Duaflex. I don't think they got it done.If you want to see what it looks like looking through a duaflex, it's the last picture.

The Tour

2007-07-02T08:53:00.000-04:00

Saturday we got up and went "abroad"... or actually just around Jacksonville, looking for some photo opportunities. We were each shooting with our Nikon's, and we each had a film camera just for fun. We had a great time, got some pretty good shots.

The Camera pix.

2007-06-28T20:53:00.000-04:00

Well, they are here, and here are some of the pictures of the newest additions to our collection.Konica TC Nikon D70 Brownie No. 2 We are pretty happy with the condition of the cameras. My favorite film camera is the Konica TC. My favorite overall of course is the D70...Brownie Six 16 actually had a used roll of film in it.Brownie Duaflex IV Brownie Bullseye Brownie Duaflex Here is a view

New Cameras

2007-06-26T08:05:00.000-04:00

Some of my cameras came in yesterday. 2 of them, well, 3 of them are noteworthy.The Konica TC is sweet. I have some great lenses for it. It is smooth. All I had to do was clean it up and make a small modification to it so it would power the meter from hearing aid batteries. The meter is slightly hot, but close enough to compensate on the fly.The Duaflex was brand new in the box. The strap

Sunday Morning

2007-06-24T07:48:00.000-04:00

Good Morning.Sunday mornings are like no other. Unfortunately, there are a whole host of folks who miss out.I get up and get ready for church. I go in and meet up with friends and family. For the most part everyone is happy to be there. We talk about the past week, things that were good, things that were bad.We sing, we share, we enjoy each other. And we come into the presence of a Holy God,

Rangefinder

2007-06-22T22:20:00.001-04:00

Hello again,My Mom found an old camera she's been hanging on to. It is an Argus C3 Rangefinder. It was my Dad's Dad's camera. We loaded it with some film and shot random pix, and they actually turned out. The only film we had was 400, but the camera really needs 100. At any rate, they are still pretty good... have a look.

And Another One

2007-06-21T16:11:00.000-04:00

Yes. I am extreme. When I get into something, I like to go all out. I got another camera. This Beautiful Konica TC. Why? Because a while back my devoted wife found the deal of the century on 7 lenses. 4 of them were for a Konica camera. The others fit my Nikon. I can't wait to get my hands on it so I can try out the lenses. I have become quite the camera geek. This one is 35mm film. Just another

Toys

2007-06-19T20:41:00.000-04:00

So I bought 4 cameras. All together. A Brownie No. 2 from the 30's. A Duaflex from the 60's, and a Six-16 from I don't know when, and another that I don't know what it is. I got them for $20. Why? At first I thought it would be nice to just add them to my collection. Nice conversation pieces.Then I read where you can pretty easily adapt them from 620 film to 120 and actually shoot some pix. Might

Another Camera?

2007-06-17T07:50:00.000-04:00

Yep. I did it again. I ordered another Nikon. It is like a disease. The need to get more gear to do more stuff, that makes you want more gear.My wife and I love to go take pictures. When we got our D50, we thought that I would continue to shoot with my Sony HVR-A1U video camera. It will do stills also, but I don't have control over exposure, DOF, and all of the other things that make great