A New Passport!

Holding your very own passport in your hands can be a wonderful experience. It means you belong somewhere. You have a home you can always come back to. It gives you a group of people with which you can say you are a part of. It also means you can travel relatively freely from country to country and the one to whom you belong will always let you back in.

Now if you don’t have a passport and you wish to be a person who occasionally leaves his or her country it is now getting quite a bit more difficult. As many of you already know the rules in North America have recently changed. A Canadian leaving Canada now needs more than just their driver’s license to enter America. For those of you living outside of North America you might be thinking, “You didn’t even need a passport to go to America?!” Well actually, we still don’t, that is if we are driving over the border and we are doing it before January 2008. But if we are flying we do still need ye olde passporte.

Recently my passport was in need of renewal due to a work visa application. I applied for the express service and Passport Canada had it back to me in just a few days. This was back in November though, a very different time. My wife on the other hand applied for hers in December without the express service, as she wouldn’t need a new one until February. We figured we definitely had enough time for the 20 business days to pass. We even had a few extra days if necessary. Well we needed them.

We have a flight to Florida from Toronto leaving in two days. We are going on an all expenses covered cruise. A “working” cruise for me but a ‘paid for’ cruise still. Sherri’s passport has been gone since December and Passport Canada is way overloaded with phone calls so we have had no way of knowing when the passport may arrive. The last we had heard was the week of January 22nd. Needless to say we have multiple contingency plans, which are quite detailed and require recruiting the help of multiple family members. (Thank you greatest family in the world!!!)

The good thing is none of that matters now because Sherri’s passport arrived today. Thank you Passport Canada!! Anytime I have tried to call them and gotten a busy signal all I can think of is, I’m glad I don’t work there. (I also think how many Canadians are hearing the same busy signal and cursing.) Yet when I did get through the guy was still very polite and pleasant. Our experience wasn’t ideal but from what I have seen they are doing quite well with the unthinkable increase in volume that they are experiencing.

So, if you are a Canadian and think you may be traveling in the next year I suggest going to this website and printing the application immediately. Fill it out then BRING it in to the closest office. This will shave a few more days off the process. It’s going to take a long time so be patient but get it done as soon as possible. There will be another rush once you need a passport to drive over the border in 2008 so the sooner you take care of it the better.

So now both Sherri and I can proudly hold our passports and say we are Canadians. We have a place where we belong. We have a place that will always let us in. Even when it’s -15C and we’re not sure we even want to come home.

GL

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Some Good News!

We received some great news today for my band downhere. First we found out that our song "A Better Way" has reached the number 1 spot on the K-LOVE radio network. This is pretty huge as K-LOVE is the biggest Christian radio network in the U.S. It's pretty crazy too considering A Better Way was released to radio way back on March 17 of 2006.

Then later on this evening we found out that we have been nominated for a Juno for Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the year. Pretty awesome!! We even will get to be at the awards this year. They are in Saskatoon and will be hosted by Canadian artist Nelly Furtado.

And this all comes just before we get to "work" on a cruise which will be followed by a UK tour. Sometimes timing is pretty good.

All that said here's an interesting letter/article written by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, called Thoughts On Music. He talks about the business of selling music online and how he thinks it would make more sense for the record companies to not enforce digital protection on downloaded music. He makes a good case. If you are interested in music or business I think you will enjoy.

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The Television Effect

Does watching television make you fat? Does television make children dumb? Does it make adults dumb? Is television making us more violent? Is watching television ruining our ability to keep relationships?

I have heard all of these questions before and asked some of them myself. Obviously none of them have a blanket answer but I think just about anyone would agree that watching less television, whether child or adult, is a good thing. So I want to encourage all of us to get our fannies off the couch and away from the TV or computer or video games.

First I’ll start with some stats found online. I share these in order to hopefully scare you off your tush.

The US government's Health and Human Services Department (HHS) reports that nearly 61 percent of US adults and 13 percent of children and adolescents are overweight. The number of overweight adolescents has tripled since 1980. Of the 61 percent of overweight adults, nearly half are characterized as obese.
(link)

American children, ages 2-17, watch television on average almost 25 hours per week or 3 ½ hours a day. Almost one in five watch more than 35 hours of TV each week (Gentile & Walsh, 2002).

Twenty percent of 2- to 7-year-olds, 46% of 8- to 12-year-olds, and 56% of 13- to 17-year-olds have TVs in their bedrooms (Gentile & Walsh, 2002).

Children spend more time watching television than any other activity except sleeping.

Television’s impact on reading and other academic skills depends not only on the amount of television watched, but also on what is being watched as well as the age of the child (Reinking, 1990).

Successful readers read often.
(link)

(I guess this means most kids are successful TV watchers!!)

A 20-year-old man who watches TV three hours a day until the age of 70, could have extended his life six and a quarter years merely by turning off the TV.

OK, enough doom and gloom. I said this would be encouraging. Only good can come of turning off the TV. It’s actually quite liberating when you can finally bring yourself to miss an episode of whatever or a sports game or an entire sports season. So what can we gain by turning off our televisions?

How about a new hobby/skill? Playing piano? Woodworking? Sewing? A new language? Gardening? With an extra 30 minutes or more a day this is easily accomplished. Beware though; our brains are a little bit mushy from all that TV watching. We’re used to stories and concepts and ideas being given to us on a silver platter. We’re not used to creating them ourselves in our own minds anymore. It’s going to take some effort. Working out all the details of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry takes much more work and imagination when you haven’t already seen the movie. So take it slow, be patient and enjoy it!!

Want to get in better shape? Cutting out one sitcom a day will give you at least half an hour to fit a walk or run in. Or maybe you can even get that gym membership you’ve always wanted. If that’s still out of the budget check in with your local church or community center, they often have gyms and some sort of time for activities, usually free or very cheap!

The sad fact of the modern world is that, in the main, men do not read at all, and many women are captives to the escape romance novel, which is of such poor quality that it should not even be considered literature. We simply must raise our sights. (from Mark Lee's blog)

Yes, there is always reading. Lots to be learned and appreciated. Again, if you haven’t read much since you finished school then there will be a bit of a curve to get back into it. Sure a romance novel may not be raising our mental capacity much but starting with something easy will at least get you back into reading. I mentioned Harry Potter earlier, great book series to get you going. (New one coming our in March!!)

"The primary danger of the television screen lies not so much in the behavior it produces - although there is danger there - as in the behavior it prevents: the talks, the games, the family festivities and arguments..." link

If you know you may have a night of television watching ahead of you why not invite some friends or family over and turn it into a night of games. The interaction with your friends will be remembered and cherished long after the memory of your television show has disappeared.

Anyone feel the same??

GL

p.s. The ironic thing is I finish this post as I sit in the van for a 9+ hour drive watching reruns of American Idol!

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Loss of Innocence

Well I’ve definitely had some interesting comments on the last couple of posts. In fact, since watching the CBC special on Goji Juice and reading some of these comments, Sunday turned into a real day of thinking and reflection for me.

You see I’m a very trusting and accepting kind of guy. I try to see the good in everyone, you know, believe that what they say is true. My wife likes to say I’m a dreamer as well as an optimist. I can usually see the merit to any argument, from any point of view. For instance, someone will say, well that’s not true because of so and so and I’ll think, good point. That person is right there. Then someone else will pipe up and say, well yes you may say that’s not true but when you take into account this and that and the other thing it sure looks true. I think, hmmm that’s a good point too. And so the conversation goes, back and forth, my opinion, like the wind, changing with each new point. I can’t help but think as I reflect on this attribute of mine that it sometimes makes me feel a little stupid. I mean shouldn’t I know what my opinion is on something and be able to stick with it? Now I know I’m not stupid but why do I sympathize with whoever’s opinion I last heard so easily? And where can this sort of thinking be to my advantage?

Yes, this line of thinking definitely has me second-guessing my involvement with Freelife. I guess just posting that statement will sort of screw me over for any future business. I told you I wasn’t a good salesman. There really has been an unusual amount of progress in my running since I started drinking the juice, which is why I have any belief level in it. (Saturday I ran a half marathon distance in 1:38. 20 minutes faster than my previous best time!!! Crazy!!!!) But if so many people are against the company and against the juice it doesn’t seem wise to be part of it. I don’t want to be associated with a company that has the perception of deception and dishonesty, even if it is just by a few people.

- Just to prove my point, I am proofreading this before I post it and have just realized that I’ve taken the information from Mr. Anonymous Commenter as truth. He’s not even telling me his name and I believe him. Geez. For all I know he and the CEO of Freelife are childhood enemies and this is just revenge! -

It’s too bad really. I like to think that people are straightforward and honest. The people I share most of my life with are. It doesn’t seem right to expect dishonesty and deceit from people, even if you’ve just met them. I feel like this is yet another loss of innocence in a way. I don’t think I’m a naïve person but I do like to expect the best from people. I guess when you expect the best there is always the risk of being disappointed though. I suppose it’s a lot like loving someone. Anytime we risk love there is always the possibility of that love being lost and us being hurt.

Well I’m going to continue to risk being hurt and disappointed. People receiving unconditional love and trust are well worth the cost.

Glenn

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Himalayan Goji Juice on CBC's Marketplace

On CBC’s (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) show Marketplace this week, Himalayan Goji Juice was featured. This is a show that is there to help the consumer make informed decisions. Here’s a description of the show from cbc.ca.

"designed to inform and protect the harrassed Canadian consumer in this age of spiralling prices, questionable sales practices and insidious small print on iron-clad contracts."

Goji’s most prominent advocate Dr. Earl Mindell was the focus for much of the episode, I’m guessing because he is Canadian born. Last time I checked the episode was available to watch on their web site so I won’t get too much into what they said. I felt that they did make some valid points though. They make entertaining television, which is what they are supposed to do so I wasn’t sure how fair everything was presented. I wondered how is Freelife (The Himalayan Goji Juice company) going to respond to this? In my inbox yesterday was an email with a response to the show from the CEO’s of the company. I’ll only copy some of it but if you’d like to read the whole thing just let me know in a comment and I can get it to you.

Last night, a Canadian television station ran a story on Dr. Earl Mindell, FreeLife, and Himalayan Goji Juice. While some portions of the program demonstrated the incredible impact FreeLife and Himalayan Goji Juice is having on people’s lives, other parts of this program were inaccurate and misleading. This surprised us since dozens of other media reports from much larger and more reputable media sources, such as TIME magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and the TODAY show, have had nothing but extremely positive things to say about the impact goji is having on people’s lives.

If the television producer’s goal had been to find out the real story about FreeLife, Dr. Mindell, and Himalayan Goji Juice, they would have taken us up on our offer several weeks ago to bring their film crew to our Corporate Office in Phoenix, see our facilities and people, and do an “on-camera” interview with us. Indeed, in our communications with the television station, we reminded them that their own professional standards required them to interview the company and that we were requesting such an interview to ensure the accuracy of any statements about FreeLife, its product, or Dr. Mindell. Why they declined our written invitation, we may never know. We also find it unfortunate that a television program that claims to be an advocate for consumers would so mislead the public in an attempt to discredit a product that has helped hundreds of thousands of people around the world to enjoy better health. Had the television program taken us up on our offer to communicate directly with us, here is what they would have learned:

Dr. Mindell is a pioneer in the nutrition industry and is considered by many as the father of the nutritional revolution. As with many pioneers, he has been subjected to much scorn and ridicule throughout his professional career. For example, 30 years ago, he was mocked for suggesting that every person supplement their diet with vitamins. Today, the American Medical Association agrees with Dr. Mindell and recommends that all Americans supplement their diet with a daily multivitamin. That’s what a visionary does.

Dr. Mindell received his pharmacy degree from North Dakota State University in 1963. In his 30s while raising a family and working full-time, Dr. Mindell furthered his education and received a Ph.D. in nutrition taking part-time classes from Pacific Western University, a California Accredited Educational Institution and one of the only schools in the country that offered PhDs in nutrition at that time!

The media attention that FreeLife, Himalayan Goji Juice, and the goji berry have received over the past year has been incredible. This year, TIME magazine called the Himalayan Goji Berry the “Super Fruit of the Year” and a few days after that, Himalayan Goji Juice was positively featured on the TODAY show in the United States. This week, Woman’s World magazine featured the goji berry with a fantastic article:
“Chinese Miracle Berries for Perfect Health.” “Move Over Blueberries. The New Super Fruit? Goji berries, used by Chinese herbalists for over 6,000 years known as the ‘herb of longevity.’”
FreeLife’s Himalayan Goji Juice has experienced an unprecedented level of acceptance and passion throughout the world. We have hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers who benefit from Himalayan Goji Juice and purchase it month after month after month.

There is an extensive history of independent research on the goji berry proving its benefits. Consumers interested in educating themselves should log on to www.pubmed.gov and type in “Lycium barbarum” the Latin name for the goji berry. This is a United States government sponsored website that provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date research regarding scientific studies. As of today, you will find 79 studies on the goji berry, including 12 new ones published this year alone. The 79th study was just posted this week.

The renowned Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York has a page devoted to the goji berry which you can view at: http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69287.cfm.

The vast majority of studies on goji, including the 79 peer reviewed scientific studies you will find on pubmed.gov, relate to the research on goji’s unique polysaccharides named LBP-1, LBP-2, LBP-3 and LPB-4. These polysaccharides, not yet found in any other plant on earth, are what make goji unique and the biggest breakthrough in nutrition that Dr. Mindell has seen in 40 years. They are, by far, the most beneficial component of the goji berry. Knowing this, Dr. Mindell and his research team developed our trade secret, a proprietary manufacturing process that maximizes and standardizes the polysaccharide level in every bottle of Himalayan Goji Juice. That is why our customers get better results with Himalayan Goji Juice than with any other goji product on the market.

Interestingly, we had learned that the Canadian television station was testing our Himalayan Goji Juice for several ingredients like protein and beta carotene. We showed them that we never claimed or advertised high protein or beta carotene content in Himalayan Goji Juice. While there are trace amounts of numerous other ingredients, we informed the television program that they were misguided and should be testing for goji’s unique polysaccharides. As with much of their story, their report on the test results of our product was 100% misleading. It would be like testing an orange for its iron content and then concluding that an orange has no nutritional value because it has little to no iron. We all know that nobody consumes oranges because of their iron content—people eat oranges because they are loaded with vitamin C.
We have developed a Spectral Signature to ensure that every bottle of Himalayan Goji Juice is packed with goji’s unique health-promoting polysaccharides. It is your guarantee of potency, purity, and authenticity in every bottle. If the Canadian television station had tested our product for polysaccharides, they would have identified an abundance of the most important health-promoting ingredient in the goji berry. For customers looking for high protein or lots of beta carotene, we recommend saving some money and eating a lean piece of chicken with a carrot.

FreeLife offers a 90-day, no-questions-asked, 100% unconditional money-back guarantee to all of its customers, even if the entire bottle has been completely finished.

Obviously Freelife is about making money, which explains why there is so much hype. I am happy with the response given by Freelife and because of how I feel Goji Juice has affected me and other people, be it placebo or the real thing. I will continue to drink it, learn more about it and tell people about it.

Glenn

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My Goji Juice business update.

Today will be another two-post day. Otherwise there will be one long post.

A couple of months ago I found an opportunity to possibly make a little extra money with a company called Freelife. They have a great product and it’s a great fit with my current job of being a rockstar. After all, rockstars do need money. For the regular readers of this blog I told you I would let you know how it’s going. So, being that it’s a job that entails selling and I’m not a salesman (I knew this going in), it’s starting a little slow, but no slower than I expected. I’m pretty much on pace with where I thought I’d be and I’m figuring the next couple of months will pick up.

So the product is called Himalayan Goji Juice. Here’s the quick run down. I’m not doing this for a sale but just to give you some context for this post and the next one. Of course if you want to buy it from me I’d be more than happy and you could follow the link in the sidebar!! So yeah, the product is Goji Juice. It’s a juice made from Goji Berries. The big deal with this berry is that it seems to be one of the most nutrient-rich foods on Earth. So naturally making a juice from it is a good idea. I’m always happy to get as many nutrients as I can from natural sources. To see some of the things found in the Goji Berry check out the Goji wiki page. The thing that makes Himalayan Goji Juice stand out is this.

"The vast majority of studies on goji, including the 79 peer reviewed scientific studies you will find on pubmed.gov, relate to the research on goji’s unique polysaccharides named LBP-1, LBP-2, LBP-3 and LPB-4. These polysaccharides, not yet found in any other plant on earth, are what make goji unique and the biggest breakthrough in nutrition that Dr. Mindell has seen in 40 years. They are, by far, the most beneficial component of the goji berry. Knowing this, Dr. Mindell and his research team developed our trade secret, a proprietary manufacturing process that maximizes and standardizes the polysaccharide level in every bottle of Himalayan Goji Juice. That is why our customers get better results with Himalayan Goji Juice than with any other goji product on the market."

Many people have some pretty incredible testimonials about changes to their health since drinking the juice. My running started to improve significantly right around the same time I started drinking Goji Juice. To see more testimonials check out this link.

So that’s the quick lowdown on Himalayan Goji Juice. There is lots of information on the web about it and I have a few links in my sidebar so check them out.

There have been many great articles and features on this new juice in the media and from what I understand all of them have been quite favorable. However, this week on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) there was a show that gave Goji some bad press, thus the need for another entry in my blog.

Glenn

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Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gnarles Barkley concert review

It’s quite nice to have very kind friends. One of these such friends called me around 5:30pm on Wednesday and asked if I wanted to join him for a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert that night in Nashville. I had plans already but they were with friends who know me well enough and would understand I’d likely back out of just about anything to see the Chili Peppers. After all, I’d never seen them before, I own pretty much all of their releases, and I’ve been a fan for around 15 years now. (Wow! That makes me feel old.) This friend even said he would pay for my ticket. So this was a no-brainer.

Before I say anything about the show let me just say that buying tickets from scalpers can be very, very risky. Enough said.

The opening act was Gnarles Barkley. Gnarles has been made famous by one song called Crazy. It’s a decent song with a great vibe to it. I figured if that’s his sound I’ll like his show. The seats we had for Gnarles were pretty awful and so was the audio quality for his whole set. It was too bad. I think in a smaller setting I would have enjoyed him and his band. My favorite part of his set was when he introduced his hit song Crazy. He said, “This next song is the reason I am here tonight and the reason I am now so rich and famous.” If you’re a one hit act you might as well make light of it!!

They cleared the stage of the string section, the drums, keyboards, bass and guitar amps, and background vocalists. All that was left was a nice clean stage with a bass amp on stage right, drums in the middle and guitar amp on stage left. Much simpler than Gnarles and much simpler than most bands I see anywhere. We moved to better seats and by chance ended up behind my friend Brock. We were ready to rock!

The show started with the three instrumentalists, Flea (bass), Chad (drums), John (guitar) just jamming. This really set the tone for how the rest of the night would be. This was a show that was more about music and less about entertainment. They didn’t even play a few of their biggest hits, including Under The Bridge. It was interesting that for a band who at one time was all about shock value, did nothing shocking. They came out, hardly said more than 10 words and just played their songs. I guess some people would consider not playing any hits shocking. The crowd definitely missed those songs I noticed as I listened to what people were saying as they were leaving.

I didn’t miss them at all. I like the hits, they are some of their best songs and I can listen to them anytime, but what I can’t hear anytime is Flea, John and Chad improvising on the spot. And they did lots of that. And they did it well! I have a new appreciation of the musicianship of these guys now. I always respected them as musicians and hearing them live brings that to a whole new level.

The sound was WAY better for RHCP and their lights/video production was pretty cool too. I felt like it suited them well. The picture gives an idea of what things looked like. It was taken on my camera phone though so quality is a little weak. So all in all I had a great time and would love to go and see them again anytime we happen to be in the same city on the same night. Thanks for the show Josh!!

Glenn

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Bobby McFerrin

I'm on a posting rampage right now. That's the way it works with me. I go in streaks. Sorry.

I haven't posted any you tube videos on here yet. Not for any reason in particular other than I haven't ever seen anything worth posting to my blog community. But today I have found the one. I have to share it. I don't know if I'm extra emotional due to a pretty long run this morning or what but as soon as the music started in this clip I just broke down! I couldn't stop myself. I tried!! So I just let it out and had a good cry. WEIRD. That's the great thing about music though. Even without understandable words it still has the power to strike an emotional chord in us. I know Ave Maria is about Mary but thoughts of Mary and how blessed she was didn't enter my mind at all.

Anyway, if you love music I think you will enjoy. Crying or not.

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