Hey folks, thought I'd write something a little less mushy and a bit more observational at best. I'm going to touch base with something a bit more technology-based here, all of which I don't get to get into all that often. That thing is known as the latest operating system from Apple known as Lion.
So, you're a Mac person, eh? Same here for about the past two years. I've been on Snow Leopard since I had it -- until I heard of Lion. Once it came out, I got on it like someone in heat! I needed to see what improvements I would experience and what nice little tweaks they'd pull off. The first thing I noticed was the simplicity and fine-tuning they did on the touch pad motions. For scrolling, up goes down and down goes up. It was a bit strange but you get used to it very quickly.
Remember the clunky aspects of having multiple desktops? Gone. Like seriously, they cut it down to four desktops and by swiping with three fingers left to right (and vice versa), you switch desktops. I found that so much simpler.
Three fingers swiping up and you get a bigger view of things known as Mission Control. It lets you see everything that's going on in all the desktops, including the dashboard.
Your usual dock station goes unchanged for those that are well-accustomed to it. Then you have this little thing known as the Launchpad. It emulates a feature found on the iPod touch/iPhone/iPad, where you can put all your favorite apps together in one box and join different sets of the apps in multiple boxes. In essence, it renders the whole Stacks aspect of apps from Snow Leopard near-useless.
Textedit now has a more word processing-friendly view and arrangement. Nothing dramatic but it's arrangement in options are well done.
iCal has, by far, the most dramatic change in appearance, interface and use. That is, in my opinion, a welcome change. The clutter it used to be is no more and has a much more polished presentation and its simplicity in presentation makes organization that much easier to accomplish.
The Address Book also brought about a big change in terms of presentation. It is simpler, cleaner and has a slickness about it of which going through your contacts is quite easier.
Photo Booth now has more options in terms of effects, as well as a full screen setup. Heck, even Safari now has a full screen options and I must say, it looks great.
Now for Facetime. To be sincere, I've never really had a need for it for a few reasons: 1. Skype, 2. ooVoo, and 3. iChat. Granted, the video conferencing and its quality is what makes Facetime special but at the end of the day, if you've preferred ooVoo, Skype or even the video chat options found on iChat, then you won't be missing out on anything.
To conclude this half of the review, Lion takes Snow Leopard and fine-tunes what is already present. Is it worth it? It all depends on your sense of comfort. To me, it was worth the download.
Now for the other half of this segment. As some of you know now, I'm now in two bands -- Brotherhood Of Outcasts and Anointed Covenant. As of late, I've been hanging with the AC crew for a bit and I must say, it is interesting to see how times and people have changed. I found myself, along with my gear, playing in a few places where I can't help but feel a sense of shock. Why? Simple -- 10 years ago, I would've been burned at the stake for even having a goatee, the slightest hint of a soul patch, jeans and even the slightest overdrive on my guitar tone. Today? The game has changed. The perspective on the treatment of fellow believers and people have changed.
I recall jamming at a Baptist church looking as though I came right out of the derriere of Seattle -- Plaid/flannel shirt, jeans, sneakers and lots of scruff. Of all my guitars, I was on my 2006 PRS SE Custom (yea, the one with the Guitar Hero II sticker). I looked far from the part of your usual Sunday afternoon worship team members. I felt nothing but love there. I felt a bit on the shy side because I didn't know what to expect or what reactions would take place. Nothing but love folks, nothing but love.
Then I went to jam at an all-too-familiar kind of demographic -- the ultra-conservative M.I. Pentecostal sect. Yeah because nothing can be more testing to someone like me about acceptance than such a conservative joint, right? Apparently, yet again, I looked entirely different, possibly more out of place than the usual. I thought I was going to be crucified upside down with my guitar impaling me! Alas, just nothing but love and I couldn't help but feel shocked at the love going on. No looks of disgust or actions of awkwardness -- characteristics that I would expect from such a conservative crowd.
You're probably wondering why I'm making a bit of a fuss on the whole image/music thing. It's because within the past decade, the treatment a guy like me would get has changed. I come from a very strict and conservative Hispanic Pentecostal background -- where women with pants were judged, you'd get a doodoo face for having a beard and one heck of a grimace at the slightest overdrive on the guitar or even the wildest fill on the drum set. Where I come from, image was everything and God forbid you ever chose to go past image and go to the heart of the person. I came from a place in life where pastors, ministers and leaders focused a lot more on appearance rather than the character of the person. I can rest peacefully knowing that the perspective and treatment towards the unusual has changed for the better. The one thing that did hit home to me though was seeing something I haven't seen in a while -- kids getting inspired to jump on guitar. You'll always get people interested in singing, playing keys, bass or drums. To see a bunch of kids say that after seeing me play, they'd want to be like me on guitar, I felt humbled and blessed. I wanted to give every last one of those kids a guitar pick that night!
I may only be on my way to where I have to be in life but I'm getting there. Perhaps this change of attitude in churches today will inspire me to be more fellowship-friendly and just be able to enjoy being me again -- the guy that was care-free, not letting a darn thing chip at me and simply do what I'm meant to do best (amongst other things) -- ripping it up on guitar and makin' my babies squeal! I've got a teaching career to make flourish in time and goals to achieve and someone's heart to re-capture.
Run with the Wind,
Ron Gunz
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