After much searching and a few test drives, (and ignoring my suggestion to “just go with the Town and Country we test drove”) Shannon finally got the Pacifica she wanted!!

On this special day as we celebrate the mothers in our lives, there will be many flowers given. AJ took it to the next level with these.

Happy Mother’s Day!

There is simply no denying it – Mark Zuckerberg is a very smart man. And perhaps one of the most influential entrepreneurs of our time. One could even argue that Facebook has had as much of a profound impact on the world as any great war. From world-wide social connection, sharing of ideas, and the spreading of news and information (whether credible or not), no one can deny the fact that Facebook forever changed the way that billions interact and communicate. Love it or hate it (or simply tolerate it), Facebook covered the globe like a great blue ozone layer.

But as is often the case with many things done on a massive scale, it has not been without plagues of problems and controversy. For 2018, the 21 biggest scandals have been outlined here by WIRED.

Among all of its issues, concerns over privacy has been the greatest, which has lead to many either deleting the app, taking a break, or dumping Facebook altogether.

But the news isn’t all bad. In fact, Facebook (as a company) still commands the lion’s share of all social media interactions world wide. This is primarily thanks to Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp (which accounts for its great dominance outside of the U.S.). Again – Mark is a smart guy!

Truth be told, in spite of all of its bad press, the majority of Facebook’s users either simply don’t care about such things, or enjoy their experiences and interactions so much that the “bad stuff” is simply accepted. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? Is it all really that big of a deal for the average Facebook user?

Then there are users like me – those who have become more and more weary of Facebook. Not so much because of anything horrible, but more because of a greater understanding of the scope of it all: how information about you is gathered and used, who ultimately has control over this information, and how to be one’s own steward of this information to the best of your ability. And I cannot deny the fact that for quite some time my Facebook news feed at best has been “less than appealing” to look at.

So why don’t I just ditch it altogether and be done with it once and for all? I’ve told people time and time again that I don’t actually “hate” Facebook. Quite frankly because the vast majority of my family and friends interact there heavily, and if it weren’t for them using it so much I would be long gone. But what I’ve come to realize is that it’s not whether I hate or don’t hate Facebook. Rather, I think Facebook has some really great features. This leads me to the title and point of this post – my opinion on how to Make Facebook Great Again for users like me.

Simply put, Facebook should split out all of its great features into stand alone apps for those like myself who love these features but don’t want to necessarily use the primary Facebook app. Facebook already has stand alone apps for Messenger as well as Facebook Pages Manager. But just think how awesome it would be to have stand alone apps for Groups and Events (not the Facebook Local app which had seemed to be what I’m referring to, but is more about finding events nearby – I’m referring to Events created by your family and friends on Facebook’s calendar). And so on and so forth – even down to Facebook’s games. Of these, Events would be of the greatest use to me personally, followed closely by Groups. From birthday parties, to graduations, church functions, and simple get-together s,  I find Events to be very useful and effective. Quite possibly one of Facebook’s greatest features in my opinion, as it makes creating events and communicating with event organizers and attendees a breeze!

Of  course each of these stand alone apps would have typical app notifications, and bring with them all of their current feature sets found in the primary Facebook app. And of course the primary app would still have all of these features – users simply wouldn’t have to use the primary app to use the stand alone feature apps. Facebook would still count stand alone app users as active Facebook users (after all, you’d have to have a Facebook profile to use them). And since ads are revenue, they could even throw targeted ads into each of these apps.

Think of it as Facebook à la carte, much like we see in the world of television thanks to Cord Cutting.

#MFGA!!

Last year when Google announced it will be rolling Google Play Music into YouTube Music, I was just as skeptical as the next guy. But unlike some, I didn’t have the knee-jerk reaction of”That’s it! I’m going to [insert other music streamer here]!”

Instead, as I do with all things tech, I simply embraced the fact that everything updates, changes, and evolves over time. I also understand that some use this to reinforce the battlecry that “Google kills everything everyone likes”. I for one welcome Google’s current trajectory which seems to be one of streamlining apps and services, and shaking off the reputation of being nothing more than a beta playground. It’s simply time for Google to grow up.

As such, I’ve been spending more and more time using YouTube Music as opposed to using Google Play Music like I usually do. The problem is, there is no problem – at least none that I can readily find that impact my listening.

Of the worries I initially had when Google announced this move was the fact that I don’t want to have videos playing while I’m listening to music. But this was addressed with a simple “Audio Only” toggle. With this enabled, not only is the current song played without video, but also every song afterward until you disable it.

However, what’s missing is the ability to leave this enabled via app settings. Thus, every time you launch YouTube Music and you want audio only, you have to enable it again. My hope is that one the transition is completed (Google says sometime this year) this will be added as an app setting option.

As of now, if you have playlists in YouTube (as I do, because I’m a bit obsessive about organization) they are also readily available in YouTube Music.

Downloads, playlists, albums, likes… All there.

The only other thing is the question of music that users have previously uploaded to Play Music. I personally have over 3,500 uploaded tracks there. To date, there has been no announced change to Google’s statement that uploaded music will also be made available in a what was referred to as a “music locker”.

Some people have mentioned that searching for music doesn’t seem to return the same robust amount of results as searching for music in the Play Music app, but Google has encouraged people to be patient and give it time. This is still a work in progress.

That all being said, I personally don’t foresee having an issue with this transition. I have no interest in jumping ship and trying to adapt to a different music streaming service. To me, that would require much more effort than simply adapting to the changes Google is making. So far, for me anyway, Google has been making this transition pretty painless with sensible changes and features in YouTube Music.

So what are your thoughts? Have you tried using YouTube Music as your primary player / streamer as opposed to Play Music? If so, has your experience thus far been similar to mine, or are you of the “abandon ship” crowd?

Lately, Bethal Music has been receiving some much deserved attention for their rendition of a piece of classic American Gospel. Even our church, Rivers Crossing Community Church, had its worship team perform a beautiful rendition of it as well.

Funny thing about that day – going into service, we were given the weekly handout and the title “Ain’t No Grave” immediately jumped out at me. I turned to my wife and asked, “Are they gonna play some Johnny Cash today!?” Because the fact is, for many years now, this has literally been the only version of this song that I have recognized:

Thing is, I simply love this version. It’s gritty, haunting, and (for lack of a better term) “real“.

But as is my nature, after we heard the Bethal Music version at church, I turned to my wife and said, “I have to understand the history of this song!” As expected, it has a rather storied past:

Ain’t No Grave (also known as Gonna Hold This Body Down) is a traditional American gospel song attributed to Claude Ely (1922-1978) of Virginia.

^{Claude Ely describes composing the song while sick with tuberculosis in 1934 when he was twelve years old. His family prayed for his health, and in response he spontaneously performed this song. Originally recorded by Bozie Sturdivant in 1941 in a slower, Appalachian gospel style and in 1946-7 by Sister Rosetta Tharpe with barrelhouse piano; the song in Ely’s version was recorded in 1953 but composed in 1934. Many notable artists have performed the song, including} Johnny Cash on the posthumous album American VI: Ain’t No Grave.

In 1967 the song was featured in the film Cool Hand Luke while Luke (Paul Newman) is digging a grave, performed by Harry Dean Stanton^.

In 1989 Russ Taff covered this song on the album The Way Home and also as an extended version on the 1991 album Under Their Influence.

In 1997 it was featured in the film, The Apostle, performed by the movie’s star Robert Duvall^.

In 2006 Crooked Still recorded the song on the album Shaken by a Low Sound.

In 2012 a cover was recorded by Scott Lucas and the Married Men for their Blood Half Moon album. Through the latter-half of 2018 this version was played on tour by Scott Lucas’ primary band, Local H.

In 2015 Tom Jones recorded the song on his Praise and Blame album.

In 2017, Bonfire Records Bluegrass recording artists, Wilson Banjo Co. recorded a cover of “Ain’t No Grave” on their album Spirits in the Hills.

In 2017 a cover of the song by Hidden Citizens appears in the trailer for the film Aftermath^.

In 2017, a version of the song performed by Bror Gunnar Jansson was used over the end credits of Episode 1 of Damnation.

In 2018, the song was used as the end credits to the final episode of the first season of Altered Carbon.

In 2019, the song was covered by the band Cageless Birds on their album Ain’t No Grave, and appears on the Bethel Music album Victory, with Molly Skaggs singing the lead vocals in both songs.

Johnny Cash’s version:

Johnny Cash covered “Ain’t No Grave” shortly before his death in September 2003. The recording was released on February 26, 2010, as part of a posthumous album titled American VI: Ain’t No Grave^.

In 2010 Cash’s version of the song was featured on the episode “Patriot Down” of NCIS^.

In 2011 WWE professional wrestler The Undertaker briefly used Cash’s version as his entrance theme in the lead up to and including his match at Wrestlemania XXVII with Triple H^.

In 2012 Quentin Tarantino used Cash’s version for the trailer for Django Unchained^.

In 2016 Cash’s version was featured in the end credits to the first episode of Westworld^.

In 2017 Cash’s version was featured in the second trailer for the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales^.

In 2017 Cash’s version was featured in the 2017 BBC television documentary The Scottish Bounty Hunter starring Christian Matlock.

And yes – I love the Bethal Music version as well!:

I’ve never been into award shows. Not really into the “G.O.A.T.” thing either. Simply because I have always loved music – literally all music – and there has always been, and there continues to be, some truly great artists out there.

And of those great artists is TobyMac

It seems that he is filled with great music which he has been delivering consistently for over 18 years.

And this, one of my current favorites, is a perfect example!

 

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Now that I’ve gotten End Game out of the way, here is the next movie I’m super hyped about seeing!!

Most people remember Jay-Z’s hit “Big Pimpin’ “,but most seem to forget that there was a lawsuit that followed. It was because of the alleged unauthorized use of music from the original here. However, as late as 2018, a court ruling finally dropped the copyright infringement case against Jay-Z and Timbaland (who actually produced the track that Jay-Z and UGK rapped on). Simply put, the court ruled that the nephew of the original Egyptian composer, Baligh Hamdi, basically had no right to sue under Egyptian copyright law.
So it wasn’t based on whether or not the sample was taken. It was based on whether or not there was a right to sue over the sample.

The Allens are in the house at Regal Cinema! And I promise – no spoilers!!