Biscuit's Grand Adventure | An epic tale three decades in the making!

[GreatBiscuit]

HOLY COW!!!!! 2 pink, 2 yellow, and 1 blue in each glass???

Uh, yeah - I guess you COULD pour that on your pancakes!

When I bring the BIG cup to work, I usually go with 8 pink packets. But it is a really big cup. Back when I used sugar, my "perfect" sweetness was 1 1/2 cups of sugar per gallon of tea.

 

[Millie12591]

English children go from Breast to Tea
Just another tidbit "squash" is Koolaid

Ms. Rose, that's to funny. I'm curious, how does squash relate to Koolaid? You got me stumped on that one.

My favorite form of artificial sweenter is actually a blend of the pink, blue and yellow packages. (Two pink, two yellow, 1 blue to be specific.) BUT, we only have the pink stuff at work and although I've been meaning to pick up some of the other stuff, I don't always have the worlds best recollection when it comes to that sort of thing. We do have Splenda at home and use it for cereal, oatmeal, coffee and what not. Oddly enough I rarely drink tea at home. In the evenings I'm home so late that it keeps me up. In the morning, I'm not in the mood for it.

Yikes! Who needs lab rats when you can just test GB on the effects of un-natural sweetners!
GB, have you ever tried the new truvia sweetner, it's suppose to be natural (not like they say Splenda is natural ) from the stevia plant. I tasted it and it was amazing, I didn't think I would like it because I had tasted true stevia and it was bitter, but Truvia takes from the plant what is the sweetest part and left out the bitter. Tastes pretty darn good and no nasty fake sweetner after-taste. JAS

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Yikes! Who needs lab rats when you can just test GB on the effects of un-natural sweetners!
GB, have you ever tried the new truvia sweetner, it's suppose to be natural (not like they say Splenda is natural ) from the stevia plant. I tasted it and it was amazing, I didn't think I would like it because I had tasted true stevia and it was bitter, but Truvia takes from the plant what is the sweetest part and left out the bitter. Tastes pretty darn good and no nasty fake sweetner after-taste. JAS

I've never tried it. I'll try to look the next time at the store. Maybe I need to write it down somewhere. Not that it does me any good. The last time I wrote a list I left it at home and still had to call First Lady Biscuit.

 

[englishrose47]

Ms. Rose, that's to funny. I'm curious, how does squash relate to Koolaid? You got me stumped on that one.

JAS

Squash comes in a bottle and is a concentrate fruit flavor so insead of powder Koolaid they pour a little in a glass and add water !!The most popular was lemon squash!!!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Squash comes in a bottle and is a concentrate fruit flavor so insead of powder Koolaid they pour a little in a glass and add water !!The most popular was lemon squash!!!

How cool!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

I should be asleep right now, but for whatever reason, sleep eludes me. And when I’m distracted, this is somehow where I invariably end up. Since I don’t have an episode ready, I guess I’ll do a “What I did this weekend” update. It’s actually been an insane two weeks. If you’ve been following along, you know that I’m the media pastor at our church. This has evolved over the past several years and now encompasses sound, lighting, video projection and video production.

18 months ago, the church purchased a moderate consumer grade camcorder from Best Buy to do some video announcements and to record our services for the troops. In the time since, we’ve recorded nearly every service and special event and one of the men in the church edits them and sends DVDs to the troops from our church every month. (Anywhere from 12 up to 30 depending on the deployment schedule.) I did produce a couple of video announcements at first which we played before the service.

(Click here to view our most “famous” announcement.)

Then my hours changed at my “day job” and scheduling became a major issue. Now we mainly just film the services. For the most part, this portion of media ministries ran itself until 2 weeks ago. That’s when our camera died. I’ve been working on a plan to upgrade to a Pro-Sumer grade camera, but thought I had a 6 month window. As it turned out, in order to have the camera in time for our Christmas musicals, I only had a 3 day window to narrow down my camera options, get bids from 4 vendors, get approval from the finance committee, get approval from the board, get the purchase order done, and get the camera ordered. I was busy. We got ‘R done.

A week later, a Canon XL2 was delivered to our door. This was great. It was fantastic. I was excited. I was pumped. I was nervous. It’s been 12 years since I worked in the campus TV studio and a lot has changed since then. I worked with our camera operator to set the thing up and get a passable picture. We’ve got a lot of tweaking left to go, but it’s already a vast improvement. Now I can’t wait to shoot my first project. (A "Welcome" DVD sometime in January/Feb)

With the camera setup and the operator as trained as we could get him in a week, that left the next task which was programming the light board for 3 shows on the same day. (Adult cantata in the morning service and the kids & teens programs in the evening.) This is my old stomping grounds and didn’t take too long get setup. A few shots:

Eating a biscuit in the church kitchen. (I couldn’t resist.)

Setting the zoom rate.

And some techno pics for fellow geeks:

The View from my seat at the light board.

The Spotlight

Sound board

Toys!

Sorry - no pics of the video projection computers. (It's a sweet setup though.)

And thus concludes tonight’s rambling reflections. I hope to post an episode either tomorrow or Wed. I have to edit video from both Sunday Night shows this week and finish editing a video accompaniment track for the song Tracy is singing on Sunday, so we’ll see how it goes. Night all!

 

[jordanyosh]

You need to come out and sit down with the Sr Pastor so we can get a budget for a media person. i've been "discussing" this with her for 2 1/2 years and now we have someone who does projects for us and that's about it.

 

[All7OfUs]

I always get really nervous when I walk into a church with a vid. setup-

I'm always afraid I'll accidently pick my nose and have it immortalized forever- or worse, broadcast to a cable TV channel!!

 

[vamassey1]

Wow impressive! Of course all that techie stuff was over my head, but I liked at the shinny buttons.

Loved the Turkey Shoot piece!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

You need to come out and sit down with the Sr Pastor so we can get a budget for a media person. i've been "discussing" this with her for 2 1/2 years and now we have someone who does projects for us and that's about it.

That would be awesome! If I ever make it to Cali, you're on. Our budget fluctuates. Our most epensive item was the theater lighting system we installed 3 years ago. Video production is one of those things that's virtually impossible to do consistently as a volunteer. It just takes so much time to edit and render. We're lucky in that our camera operator is retired and enjoys spending the 12-15 hours a week it takes just to edit and burn the DVDS of the services for the care packages.

I always get really nervous when I walk into a church with a vid. setup-

I'm always afraid I'll accidently pick my nose and have it immortalized forever- or worse, broadcast to a cable TV channel!!

Not to worry, we don't broadcast! Someday maybe, but that's a lot of dinero down the road.

Wow impressive! Of course all that techie stuff was over my head, but I liked at the shinny buttons.

The buttons on that camera are a trip. The user guide has THREE full page illustrations in order to get them all in. And that's just to label them all. It takes another hundred pages just to tell you what they all do!

Loved the Turkey Shoot piece!

Thanks! Glad you like it! It was a ton of fun to do.

 

[vamassey1]

The buttons on that camera are a trip. The user guide has THREE full page illustrations in order to get them all in. And that's just to label them all. It takes another hundred pages just to tell you what they all do!

You read directions? Wow, now I'm really impressed.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

You read directions? Wow, now I'm really impressed.

Nothing like a good technical manual to warm the heart. Plus I had to pass the time while it was being shipped so I downloaded it from Canon.

 

[pipersmom]

Nothing like a good technical manual to warm the heart. Plus I had to pass the time while it was being shipped so I downloaded it from Canon.

Truly the sign of a tech addict! Seriously though, you sound like a veeery busy man here lately, be sure and try to take some time to relax

 

[Millie12591]

I've never tried it. I'll try to look the next time at the store. Maybe I need to write it down somewhere. Not that it does me any good. The last time I wrote a list I left it at home and still had to call First Lady Biscuit.

You sound a lot like I was when I was preggers with my youngest. It was the running joke that when I came home from the grocery store everyone would come from all over the house to see what I came home with....or didn't, even though I took a list.

Squash comes in a bottle and is a concentrate fruit flavor so insead of powder Koolaid they pour a little in a glass and add water !!The most popular was lemon squash!!!

Ah! Now I get it.

Well, GB...I'm not sure what to say to all the techie stuff, it's so not up my alley, but I'm happy your happy with your new toys.
Just like Amanda said, be sure to get plenty of rest at this time of the year, I know it's a lot to take on with a family.

 

[eandesmom]

Nothing like a good technical manual to warm the heart. Plus I had to pass the time while it was being shipped so I downloaded it from Canon.

Toys are good. Very good. About as fancy as we get at church a sound board and audio recording. My dad does the sound and it's an old cranky system.

He'd be drooling about now.

 

[Jessie888]

 

[MKBekka]

Good point. The year we were in Minnesotta happed to be record year for cold. I remember well the day one of the guys in the church talked me into going ice fishing. Driving a truck on a frozen lake in minus 30 wind chill to sit in a hut and stare at a hole is apparently quite a thrilling pasttime up that way. I swore if the Good Lord would be my frozen derrier off that lake, I'd make sure to never put it there again.

HA! I'm never doing that. Ever. Besides, a good deal of the people who do that in Blankastan fall into the river, and if they go down, they cann't get up. We hear about it several times a year. and yes, I do swim in the same river in the summer.

I like your new camera! very cool!

 

[englishrose47]

Good Morning Biscuiteers !!!
Wow that Tech stuff lost me after the first sentence !!Wit I have Tech I don't

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Truly the sign of a tech addict! Seriously though, you sound like a veeery busy man here lately, be sure and try to take some time to relax

I plan to relax soon. Promise!

You sound a lot like I was when I was preggers with my youngest. It was the running joke that when I came home from the grocery store everyone would come from all over the house to see what I came home with....or didn't, even though I took a list.

I need a good medical excuse. Hmmm let’s see…shingles maybe?

Well, GB...I'm not sure what to say to all the techie stuff, it's so not up my alley, but I'm happy your happy with your new toys. Just like Amanda said, be sure to get plenty of rest at this time of the year, I know it's a lot to take on with a family.

Toys are fun! I’m mulling over a couple of production ideas now. We’ll see how it comes together. My last “Big” project was a documentary I made a couple of years ago for the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. Given that I spent about 100 hours working on a 9 minute short, I’m not sure how feasible the idea is right now but it’s fun to dream.

Toys are good. Very good. About as fancy as we get at church a sound board and audio recording. My dad does the sound and it's an old cranky system.

He'd be drooling about now.

I know how it goes. We had an outdoor event a couple of months ago and I drug the old soundboard out of storage. It did not go well.

And now you will tell me the location of Rebel base.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.) Howdy and

Glad to have you aboard.

HA! I'm never doing that. Ever. Besides, a good deal of the people who do that in Blankastan fall into the river, and if they go down, they cann't get up. We hear about it several times a year. and yes, I do swim in the same river in the summer.

Yeah, it does have it’s dangers. One of the guys in that same church was nearly killed a few years before we go there when his fish house exploded. (Gas leak on his stove.) Luckily he was still getting stuff unloaded outside. Otherwise, the Carbon Monoxide would have probably killed him before the place blew apart. As it was he was injured, but not severely.

I like your new camera! very cool!

Me too!

Good Morning Biscuiteers !!!
Wow that Tech stuff lost me after the first sentence !!Wit I have Tech I don't

Hey Rosie! You definitely have Wit! And with your new multi-picture posting skills you are stepping up the Tech ladder as well!

 

[Millie12591]

Hey GB, I'll be up your way this Sat., my son has a meet in Belton.