socks

Boy howdeee! Cool game Cool Waters! Just got back to it, finally got out. Had to come back to the dancing guy on the wall couple times before I saw what he was doing. SWEET!

Radar :)--> ex10, :)--> Everybody :)--> I'm just a smiley foo' today. Blue forms - for tax accountablity, sure. For measuring or evaluating a person's well-being, nasty. The endless blahdee blah, "if you're BLESSED you'll be giving. If you're not BLESSED and NOT GIVING, something's wrong. With YOU". I'm not proud of the way I handled all of this over the years. Eventually my underlying convictions fought against requirements at times and I rebelled in stupid ways. I'd have been more honest to just say yes I want to be in the Way Corps and yes I want everybody and their uncle to be blessed but no I won't do something I feel is being used wrongly. If I feel something else can be done with the fellowship's resources I'll discuss it with everyone involved and if that makes me derilict of duty so be it, kick me out, I'll just do what I believe with people somewhere that want to work that way. That's eventually the route our fellowship went when we ended being an "official" Way twig. We were just a fellowship of willing participants and we were eager to retain friendships and associations, with no enemies. But if you got in my face or our people's face without showing the same respect we gave you, I wasn't going to tolerate it. Don't let the door hit you on the butt on the way out. What's really weird to me now is that in one of those now infamous expositions that I once heard VPW give on this whole ABS/blue form thing he said to a small group that if he was in a twig and there was a need or something he felt like ABS should be used for, if it was him he'd just do and keep it between God and himself. "Just don't tell anybody". Oh, I thought that was so cool at the time. He wasn't suggesting irresponsible behavior but from the legal and tax standpoint he knew it could get dicey. So that was an "answer" for certain situations. But it really wasn't. Because it wasn't a standard it was an exception. If you did that all the time, those blue forms would creep back up. "The ABS has gone down. What's wrong, isn't everybody BLESSED?" So at best you'd have people all over running around doing whatever they wanted to and not telling anybody. Maybe that would have been better, it might have brought things to a head a lot sooner.

Yup, my3cents, just use the INSERT FILE feature. I like to start and record a blank/no sound audio file for the default 60 seconds and save it. Then insert it back in and it adds it on to the existing 60 seconds, doubling it. Save that, do it again in a new file, get 180 seconds, etc. Then all you're doing is re recording over the file in the final step to record what you want. But it will work with any wav file to start with.

Hey sudo, good question. I've used Sound Forge to do what you're trying. Once installed, it will run off the same sound card that plays your streaming audio. All you have to do is prep the file you're about to play, and open a new file in Sound Forge, hit record and then hit play in your media file or whatever it is you want to play. It captures the sound as it plays, you just adjust the audio volume on the media player. You can get a 16 bit stereo wav file that way and edit it in Sound Forge. I use mp3-2-wav from www.mp3fe.com to do a simple conversion to mp3 if that's what I want. I subscribe to Rhapsody and have uh, tested this method on stereo audio playbacks. All I have to do is snip off the blank time at the beginning and end if there is any and I've got a perfect stereo wav file. Another simple way to do it is to open your Sound Recorder that comes with Windows and select record and record a file to the default length of 60 seconds with no sound and save it as a TEST.wav file. Then select EDIT and INSERT FILE and select and insert that file, which will now give you a length of 120 seconds instead of just 60. You can do that as many times as you need to get longer recording time. You can select FILE and PROPERTIES to get a 16 bit stereo 44,1k format too. So now you have a blank file that you've saved to record over. Just reopen it and prep the file you're trying to record on the fly, hit RECORD on the Sound Recorder program and hit PLAY on the media file or whatever the source is. Bingo, just stop it when you're done and save it as a wav with a new name. You can also do conversions to mp3 by selecting FILE and PROPERTIES to convert the format. It's free and does a pretty good job, you may have to fiddle with the player volume a bit to get the result you want. That might do it for you.

ex10, your comment about the blue forms made me laugh. I bet there's boxes in closets and garages all over the world that still have some of those in them. The business about the blue forms was the most hateful of things I experienced in the Way. Point of fact - my wife and I moved to a large Area in about 82. We had a little twig, and "twig area" which was 2 or 3 twigs depending on the month. Anyway, for most of the first year I was either not working or working intermittently. Another guy in our twig the same thing for most of that year. There were a few others who had regular "day jobs" and between us all probably only two people with decent incomes. But we all gave what we had and sent it in and we were all pretty happy if not rich. My point, we weren't a "big money" fellowship of people. Anyway as we got started the second year the local Area coordinator got with me to tell me some news - he'd been doing the books for the previous year and lo n behold! Our twig from the previous year was the SECOND highest ABS'ers in the entire Area, which totaled 3 branches plus our "twig area"..... ??? The highest ABS'ers was a fellowship of long standing grads who were always "# 1". Which made me scratch my head. How could a bunch like us, a brand new twig in it's first year, be the second highest "givers" in that Area. It didn't make sense till I realized that apparently either we were the only ones who were stupid enough to try and share on a regular basis OR everyone else was poorer than dirt. (actually it was due to one couple for most of the year, whose husband was one of the greatest guys I've ever know and who of course was considered marginal by other Way bosses because he didn't kiss everyone's a$$ on cue). There were several instances of those kinds of things that happened while I was in Florida - ABS, PFAL registrations, WOW registrations, twig "numbers", split. Our folks always seemed to quietly go about their business and I tried to not get in their hair...yet I always had some Wise Elder on my a$$ telling me what a lousy job I was doing because I didn't do it "the right way" or according to the Holy Rules of Behavior of the Way. Funny looking back. I was a pretty tweezed "leader" by any standard but I saw some amazing things inbetween failing and succeeding. :)-->

For the record, I'm strange. Anyone who wants to give me money can contact me at soques@hotmail.com

The verse in Romans 16, about marking and avoiding those who cause "divisions and offences".... The definition of offences includes that which is offensive by EXAMPLE and action as in a stumblingblock, something that causes another to err, trip or fall. Something that offends another. Isn't the ol' greek word "skandalon"...? Yeah, it's real scandalous if you don't vacuum your home twice a day. Dust mites, that'll really screw someone's faith up. But bad mouth people, give bad advice, destroy reputations, have to fire your acting President because he can't keep his pants on, have half your staff "leadership" suddenly grow zippers on their lips because nobody knows nuttin' about nothin' and ain't never seen nobody do nuttin' wrong ever... That's not offensive? Well, according to their little 25k TV add, no. They're the heart of America. NOT TO MENTION the incredibly bad hair that seems to have proliferated at the Way Nash in the last 10 years or so. Geez. Talk about offensive. I have to avoid Rosalies photo on this site's homepage lest I fall in to a serious out of fellowship funk. (I don't think it's fixable, from what I've seen that kind of hair thing can only be made right by mucho prayer and fasting). THAT needs marking and avoidance if anything ever did. Seriously.

Well, 'gracious' isn't a word I'd associate with the Way, at least not anymore. It may be that they've learned their lesson the hard way about this mark and avoid issue, but time will tell. If they haven't they need to grab some people by the short hairs and tell them to shut up! while they still have a farm to squat on. I'm certain that quite a few people who could quantify damage sustained by the Way's mark and avoid actions could sue for damages. One's good name is generally considered to have a value. Not that a law suit is the answer for every problem by any means, but it seems to be the only thing that gets the Way's attention. They're like near sighted pigs that have to be led out of the muck by the nose.

cool! I got in to the room, but will have to finish it later. (I think! I got as far as the key and had to stop, not sure where it's going but it looks like fun!)

Tom, I've been pondering your picture and it's possible meanings....this is no mere coincidence! I'm sure of it. Visitation and sightings are up! Physical evidences abound! Awareness is rising, like a great organ. Interesting point I've considered on my journey to the Great Monkey! Check this out: The lowest Point in North America is Death Valley, California: 282 feet / 86 meters below sea level. The HIGHEST point in the northern hemisphere: McKinley (Denali), Alaska: 20,320 feet / 6194 meters. Death Valley is just a day's drive or so. We're on our way. Once covered by water...who knows what lies below the surface of that hot, bleached sand! This line from "The Big Book of Brine" by Dr. Frederick G. Gilley has always caught my eye (chapter 2, p 898) "The ancient city of Salinea, long thought to be myth, was described in writings by the Italian historian Joeceephus as having been located on "the western rim of the Great Land where the sun sets". I smell a connection!!! Ala, we're playing I Still Haven't Found The Monkey That I'm Looking For right now!

JL, word on the wire is that the LOASMFW's (League of Amazing Sea Monkeys! Freedom Warriors ) have dispatched a squad of Minja's to your area. Help is on the way!

That sounds like them, wyteduv58!! You can verify that by checking out this cool link to a short video of Amazing Sea Monkey's mating as they play and cavort! They're real cavorters! Don't worry, it's Family Rated! p.s. remember to turn your speaker volume up to hear the swingin' music!

MOW! So little time, so much amazingstuff!! A comrade in arms, attacked by the Dark Monkey's minions!!! His mighty ones, powerful they are! But a match they are not for the concerted power of ML! OLM's...unleash the... MONKEY LOVE!!! Feel the love! Be the love! Live the love! Words of Watery Power are needed...! The life is in the water The water is life By the water I am all things I know all things I see all things! The water is life The life is in the water!!! Be CLEANSED Dark Monkey Minions of Madness!!!! Back!!! BACK!!!

Thanks Hope! That helps the timeline to make a little more sense. GEEZ. You can really see Craigbo's torturous use of language. His double speak is incredible. Not joking here, he is truly a master of saying nothing. “The Prevailing Word in the Promised Land of the Household, or Promised Land of the Prevailing Word in the Household--I guess either way would work." ??? --> That's surreal! It's like giving a new name to an old horse, parking it at the end of the track and saying "We won!". One day, everybody's putzing along dodee dodee doe. The next day - "We be prevailin' mo'fo!" "and as we move into Generation II of The Way International Ministry of Research, Teaching, and Fellowship, there has to be ways to focus our thoughts and define it, both culturally and in language that communicates, as well as Biblically and spiritually.” Doink! Define it biblically? Why bother? Just say "thus saith the Lord" and declare whatever drops out of your nose this week to be the Nectar of the Gods. He's struggling to manufacture a vision. "leaders are to stand in the gap between the adversary and the believers in the household" How? By kicking them out the second they have problems? Way to gap bro! "I believe we are right now at the brink , on the very verge of the actual experiential reality of the prevailing Word. And we are at the point of bring into functional reality the seventh section of the book of Acts.” Functional reality, a favorite phrase of his. What in GAWDS name does that mean? Actual experiential reality....it just goes on and on. What a mess.

Raf sed: How about, like choosing between Bluto and The Joker then? I'd go for that comparison. :D--> How many Way Leaders does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Answer: depends on how many underlings they have and how many times the underlings have to be reproved for not doing it right.

I don't get what the problem is over this letter of Craig's. Whether this was a perfectly justifiable corporate call for solidarity or a loyalty call for spiritual fidelity the result's the same. If you didn't want to stay, you left. I don't think the Way International would have righted itself simply by more people staying longer. (but then I don't think it was in great shape anyway) Some people stayed longer and it didn't right itself. We can't change history. A better chance, OM? From this armchair, slightly better but let's face it, it was time for some of us to go if we were going to be honest. Things change. If the goal is to make sure the Way continues successfully, sure, everybody stay, the more the merrier. But Craig made sure that anyone who DID stay got cleaned out if he didn't think they were up to snuff. So one way or the other most of the people in the Way were going to leave. Craig's illicit and insane "standards" were in a growth stage all through the 80's. 100, 000 people weren't going to change his direction.

Tom, I'm going to review chapter two from the PFAML book and syllabii. I don't want to slow the nurturing down though so if Bluz has the news and is ready to fly, let it be! There's so much.....!

Wow, so much love on this thread! Amazing Sea Monkey Love!!! I am now 4 days in to my journey to find the Great Sea Monkey! Preparations were hasty, and slightly delayed by the arrival of an unusual package in the mail. Wrapped in plain brown paper, the small parcel contained a single photograph, old and faded and smudged by what appears to be...jelly. Grape jelly...??? It's hard to tell. It's an image that must have been taken from the road somewhere, perhaps from a car. The landscape is wide, small hills, looks like summer with the open fields beyond all yellow and burnt. Filling the center of the picture is a road side billboard, old and gray and weathered by many years. It's an advertisement for ... a restaurant? or store, perhaps a gas station, can't make out the image it's so old and faded on the sign. Across the face of the sign in irregular spacing are these letters...words...???? Li Shri Bu He --> Scrawled across the bottom border of the photo are these words in red ink: What doesn't remain the same must change.... I've packed the photo in my backpack, in plastic to protect it. I'm not sure what it means, but it seems to remind me of something...something long ago....????? there was no return address or name, and when I chased down the postman to try and see where it was sent from, the guy I found on the next street over said he hadn't been to our street to deliver....yet. But I've already encountered several troupes of MOW's!!! They're hot! Gave two of them a ride to Lake Tahoe in Northern California. They were so excited when they saw the lake! They hopped out and tossed me a 10 dollar bill. "Get gassed!" the one laughed and they scampered off. It was amazing!!!! The Missus is saying it's time for bed, so we're going to turn in. Tomorrow's another exciting day of MOW!!!

Awww, Momhood ROCKS, ex10. :)--> Most things would become insignificant if I knew I was 50 breaths away from my last. Everything else fades when we see the first one being taken, too. It never really gets any better than that, does it? You were workin'! :)--> There's that movie "City Slickers". Curly's big line about the secret of life. "Just one thing". "That's what you have to figure out" he says. It's sappy, but it's true I think. Whatever that one thing is that really fulfills us, that we live for, give for. That's it. I know I found mine and everyday since has had one of those silly goofy smile moments when it hits me again. It's like time stops and I feel as if I'm living forever. :)--> My children have a lot to do with it. As if! :D-->

ex10 sed: Yikes!!!! You were busy, Mom! Give this woman a Cold One. :)--> That just made me think how inconsquential and miniscule so much of this crap was. Loyalty letters. --> I got yer loyalty letter. Greater loyalty hath no man or woman than to the woman who gave them birth. Socks 5:2b. Take THAT and stick it where the zip codes don't shine, WAY!!! It really reminds me what a load of self-gratifying pigwash I was in to. It makes me ashamed. *clink* Cheers to LIFE!

In the '89 letter LCM says he'll listen to anyone who has something specific to say from the bible. Time and again, he blew people off who tried. His later description about being in a "fog" was part right. Basically he was afraid, and filled with guilt and self-doubt. So he clammed up. For 3 years, he really didn't lead the Way ministry, he let it lead itself. His responses that I was aware of were thinly disguised put offs. If you weren't in the "inner circle" of the Way Nash or had some access to it, you really didn't know what was going on. But not much was going on. He didn't really ever put together a coherent response or plan from the whole POP piece. Frankly, it didn't have much substance to it anyway, but the impact of the events of 86 required a response and some work. Ignoring that seemed to me to indicate a strong denial of reality. That's not to say that everyone who approached him or communicated with him in one way or another did it well or even had LCM's or the Way's best interests at heart. There were enough efforts to satisfy me that he had virtually shut down from any practical standpoint to coordinate the ongoing activities of the Way. 3 years is a long time. Life goes on. One of the things I think he failed to recognize was that during that period he cast a clear blanket of doubt over his ability to be the acting president of the Way. Even at that point, it doesn't make him a bad man because he couldn't it would just mean he needed help, help he says he was open to but for whatever reasons never got through to him. It also pointed out how the entire leadership structure of the Way was wanting. As we see he started in 1989 to "step back up" to the plate but his position allowed him to do so without any accountability for his actions. He was "the man of God". The fact that he'd been mentally mailing in his job for 3 years was swept under the carpet. IMO, no one in their right mind could put much trust in him.

OLM's, new peop's, faithful brinesters, I'm off to find the Grand Monkey! and find the Answers to Life. I know it will be amazing! :)--> I hope to bring back good news! Watch the PH levels!

Circling....Circling...

Coool, Krys. I just got it set up recently and I'm finding just about everything I look for. Need a bigger music budget though! I was going to kick in a couple cents worth on the music discussion. Diazbro mentioned Ted F's postings awhile back and he noted how his idea for music in the Way was to keep it a separate entity, involved with The Way but not directly under VPW's direction. A "music ministry". That idea of a "ministry" is really at the heart of the concept I think. Ministry being a type of service. The Way had a self-described ministry of research, teaching and fellowship. By definition, those would be specific kinds of service, service to all people and the broader body of Christian believers. One example I use is of a General Contractor who has individual contractors within his company who do specific things to help build a house, say. Plumbers, carpenters, roofers, etc. Each trade does a part of the work to contribute to the construction of the building. Service is done by people, for people and for what they need. The best I understand from the bible is that ministries of all kinds work similarly, such as they are and when they exist, under the direction of God, through Christ "the foundation". No single ministry is separate to itself. They'll be potentially as rancorous as The Way was, single minded and focused on what they're doing. The best thing for a ministry of any kind is IMO to have to work with others of different kinds and focus, so that there's balance. When one wants to say it's the most important (we're the Hands and the Hands rule!) there's usually another saying the same thing. Everyone has to be reminded time and again that all are needed. Balance doesn't come easy sometimes, but it can be maintained through effort. (" Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.) :)--> But if you flip everybody off and go your own way, you lose that broader context of working together. It's like marrying your own sister. She may be cute, but it's kinda weird. Anyway, that idea of a music ministry is an interesting one. Music is something to be enjoyed! From what I've experienced pre-Way and post-Way, it requires a great deal of freedom and discipline. The kinds of music aren't as important as working in cooperation with one another. If you have one guy waving the wand over the whole thing, declaring what's right and wrong, you don't get that whole benefit of all the "contractors" working together. You need diversity or you end up with a house built by a plumber. Sinks and faucets everywhere, no light fixtures! Focusing on one kind of music over another ("country and western is godly...!" "Metal is devilish!" is stupid. All ages and backgrounds produce music of all kinds. Personally I like and listen to all kinds of music. Some of it is kind of extreme, and I like it because what the music and lyrics say is true when they rant on the hypocrisy and hatred that rules so much of the world. I like to be reminded of that sometimes, that the comfy world I live in isn't enjoyed by the majority of people on this planet. To quote a favorite lyric of mine, by Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails: god money's not looking for the cure god money's not concerned about the sick among the pure god money let's go dancing on the backs of the bruised god money's not one to choose no, you can't take it no, you can't take it no, you can't take that away from me head like a hole black as your soul i'd rather die than give you control bow down before the one you serve you're going to get what you deserve bow down before the one you serve you're going to get what you deserve Amazing! I bet he's into Sea Monkeys! [This message was edited by socks on March 17, 2004 at 23:10.] [This message was edited by socks on March 17, 2004 at 23:12.]

Sun Zoom Spark, papajohn! speaking of secular muzak, in the wake of the RIAA's campaign to grind out the free exchange of music, I've turned to Rhapsody.com as a great service. For 10 bucks a month you can listen from a library of 400,000 + songs. You can test it and find out more at LISTEN DOT COM. You can also download songs for 79 cents a pop. (if they're in the library) :)-->