I got a new TV this week. Out goes my trusty, very color accurate 30” Toshiba CRT HDTV and in comes a ginormous, behemoth of a 50” Sony Grand Wega rearprojection TV. This TV was a gift from a really good friend, who got it from his neighbor. He gave it to me since it didn’t work at the time, and even diagnosed the part that it needed to be fixed. $80 and a couple hours later, it was fixed and ready to go.

I’m really digging this thing, and it’s my hope that I can use it to bless people with hospitality even more. I’m planning on opening my condo to friends for this Seahawks season, and hopefully there are many movie nights and Rockband parties ahead.

YES!

I have very fond memories of live-streaming Apple keynotes way back in the day. I’m very much looking forward to seeing this happen again.

Martin Scorsese Attends Free iMovie Demonstration At Apple Store

Imagine if he had iMovie when he was cutting Raging Bull.

Waiting for Step Brothers to start at Redhook.

Pretty rocks. I love the macro focus on my camera.

For all of you Twilight and/or soccer fans

Finally, some clarity on church fonts

1. If you are doing a sermon or series on the Old Testament, you have to use Papyrus, that ancient feeling font. This is the Gandalf of all fonts.

Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

Today, my iPhone 4 arrived via FedEx. I found it on my desk waiting for me when I got out of a product demo to take a phone call. To tell the truth, it was hard to concentrate on the call a little bit. After all, I’ve been anticipating this new phone for almost a year now and it’s finally here.

I had prepared to set it up before it arrived. When I got to work, I backed up my old iPhone 3G so that I could restore, jailbreak, unlock and ship it away to its new owner in New Jersey (more on that later). After taking care of the customer on the phone as best I could, since it was my first call as a sales rep and I wasn’t anticipating having to deal with a return, I opened up the phone and plugged it into my MacBook Pro.

When I’ve done this in the past, restoring the old data to the new device has been a snap. Not so much here. I’m not sure what happened to my backed up data from the old iPhone, but something didn’t work. I got my apps installed, but my SMS messages, photos and app data didn’t transfer. Gone. After much struggle (and turning my phone into airline mode so I didn’t have to erase new texts), I had to wait until I got home and restored my iPhone backup folder from my Time Machine backup and I was able to get my data on the new phone. That was a relief.

At the same time, I’ve been needing to prep my old phone for shipment, since I sold it for $300 to fund the new one. That has been a huge pain, since it’s ridiculously hard to jailbreak and unlock the newest software. I’m still trying to figure it out, and will have to stay up as late as needed to get it done for my customer.

Now, on to first impressions. The new phone is FAST. I can’t believe how quick it is to zip around from app to app. I love the speed, especially coming from an older, slower iPhone 3G. Graphics are amazing on Homerun Challenge 3d, I can actually play Guitar Hero. It’s wonderful. The retina display is not something you’ll believe until you see it. Text is sharp, and the viewing angle is incredibly wide. The phone is really thin, even thinner than a Motorola Razr, which was by far the thinnest phone of its day. Check out the full gallery here.

I am surprised, however, at the sense of difference there is in the experience. I didn’t want to use the word remorse, but it just feels different. on my 3G, I knew where everything was right away, and I knew its quirks. That’s not true for this new phone yet, but I’m sure it’s going to get there. I really want to give the camera a full run, shooting video and stills.

I know I’m going to love the phone, it’s just going to take a bit longer than I had expected.