.: What’s Bruin :.

I just got back from the new Superman movie.

Note to self: don’t drink Starbucks coffee and some water without going to the bathroom first before the movie begins.

Apparently though I did not miss much since I thought the movie was kinda b-o-r-i-n-g. YAWN. More of a romance movie like Spiderman 2. It continued the story line from Superman 2, which I kind of expected since that was the best Superman movie ever.

The biggest symbol of disappointment was the total lack of character development, not to mention the plot was kinda weak. But honestly, the Lex Luthor character could have been so much more sinister. Instead the creators of this movie continued the asinine jokes and stupid idiot girlfriend from the old Superman movies.

Personally, I find Smallville to be a way better take on the Superman mythology and legend. The only semi-cool thing about this new movie is that the kid is Superman’s son. If they decide to make any more Super movies, there should definitely be more action and get rid of the stupid girlfriend of Lex Luthor; make Lex really evil and powerful.

Tags: Life, Movies, Smallville, Superman, Superman-Returns

Several months ago we (as in our Growth Group bible study at church) prayed that I would receive a good performance evaluation with an accompanying salary increase. My company has a standard average increase rate of 3%, IF it’s deemed by the evaluation process that you merit an increase.

I’m so thankful to God today. I’ve worked so hard this year. And God has blessed me with such a great work environment with satisfying and challenging work. I have a manager whom I would consider to be a blessing. I’m happy and motivated to excel at what I do.

And it showed up in my performance appraisal. I had a superior rating in almost all the categories. My manager requested approval for a merit salary increase of 8% and it was approved! It’s so nice to be recognized for the work that I always knew I could do and to be rewarded both in praise and salary for it.

Thank you God.

Tags: Career, gratitude, Life, merit, reward, salary, thanks, work

One of the worship teams @ North Coast Church in Vista, California

Tags: church, CoolPix , North-Coast-Church, Photography, Spiritual, Worship

A son is someone I deeply love, someone very important in my life.
I have his best interests at heart and he is constantly in my thoughts.

Tags: CoolPix , Life, Photography, Pourpa, Reflection

For some odd reason, I thought about and remembered Todd Kennemer this weekend. And out of curiosity went to his memorial web site. There I found a recent journal entry written by Todd’s dad, and within the entry, a link to a streaming video of the memorial service held last December 2005.

From that service were some beautiful songs, especially Requiem for Todd (which starts at about 1:05:23 - that’s one hour, 25 minutes, and 23 seconds into the video). The configuration of Windows Media Player from that link does not allow for rewinding and fastforwarding. So I viewed the source of the link and was able to access the parent folders where the media files are stored. From there I downloaded the various media files and watched the service from my own player and had full control of the rewind and fast forward.

Parent folder URL: http://64.182.45.92
Subfolders: /media/stream/todd

I don’t know how long this type of access will be available, so if you are at all interested in celebrating Todd’s life, great worship, and the most inspirational memorial service ever, then download the file.

Requiem for Todd:

Did the pain go away?
Did the voices in your head
Go from danger and darkness
To hope and light instead?

Do you finally see
How beautiful you are?
Is there music where you are?

Well, I’ll bet there’s music where you are
And I’ll bet you’re bangin’ out a rhythm on your own guitar
And I’ll bet the angels rushed to take you in their arms
I bet there’s music where you are

Do you know you’re loved
Are you surrounded by
Peace and love and laughter
And no more asking why?
Is the great, big heaven
Filled with bright, shining stars?
Is there music where you are?

Well, I’ll bet there’s music where you are
And I’ll bet you’re bangin’ out a rhythm on your own guitar
And I’ll bet the angels rushed to take you in their arms
I’ll bet there’s music where you are

And when the world around you seemed a mess
You never lost your humor
And for that we were blessed
Oh I bet you’re entertaining up among the stars
Oh I bet there’s music where you are

And I’ll bet there’s music where you are
I can hear you bangin’ out a rhythm on your own guitar
And I’ll bet the angels, oh they have you in their arms
I bet there’s music where you are
Oh I bet there’s laughter where you are
I know there’s peace where you are

Heather Cornwell

Tags: Life, Reflection, Spiritual, Todd-Kennemer, Worship

As I move towards the end of my second year of blogging, I have again moved my files to a new web host, A Small Orange, which I hope will be much faster than my previous host.

So bear with me for a little bit as things around here may need some fixing.

Tags: quick_links, site_announcements

Speak out for truth?

Insects are ruling the office. Stupid, annoying fruit flies swarming, especially since a few of us like to eat bananas.

We converse about how pesky they are. Someone comments on a documentary they saw on the Discovery channel about how “insects rule the earth”. Another co-worker says: “Isn’t it amazing how they have evolved to become so specialized?”

I stayed silent.

In my head, I thought: “No, isn’t God amazing for how He created them?”

But I did not speak my mind.

Tags: Career, creation, evolution, flies, God, insects, Reflection, Spiritual, work

The box that housed my new Canon EOS 5D

Tags: camera, Canon, DSLR, geek_stuff, Photography

JoeBruin and Son

Thank you so much for listening, caring, loving, and doing all the things a great dad does. I love you so much and wish you the best Father’s Day ever!

Tags: Life, Pourpa

It’s coming from Costco.com. I can’t wait. Goodbye 20D. Thank you full refund from Costco. Hello 5D! It’s supposed to arrive on Monday, the 19th of June.

Tags: Announcements, Canon, Photography, quick_links

At church last night our collge pastor, Jesse Bradley, preached the weekend message because Pastor Larry was sick. Jesse shared how he came to know Christ at the beginning of his message. I really related to the metaphor of how Christ came into his life. He said:

Jesus reached into my life through all “my stuff” to show me that he loves me.

It’s good to reflect on the “stuff” of your life and to know that the love of God can look past all of it to accept us and adopt us as his children.

Tags: Sermons, Spiritual

Yesterday Josephine and I rode the Coaster to Old Town for a sightseeing photographical adventure.

Josephine on the Coaster

We had a great time looking around the artifacts, museums, and shops, learning about early California and San Diego history. I think the pictures that I took with my new lens turned out great. I can tell the difference in the quality of this new glass and I am very satisfied with my purchase. View the slideshow.

Colors of Old Town

Guitarras

Dolls

One of the big highlights of our day was eating lunch at the Old Town Mexican Café. We tried an interesting appetizer, new to us, called ceviche, which is fish cooked in lime juice. It was delicious. Thanks for the recommendation, Kacy (a co-worker).

Ceviche

After more looking around, we sipped on a huge mango margarita listening to some mariachi players before heading back to Carlsbad on the Coaster.

Mango Margarita

Mariachi

Tags: Josephine_Bruin, Life, Old-Town, Photography, San-Diego, Travels

First public photo with new lens
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

Tags: Bible, Canon, CoolPix , lens, Photography

My new lens arrived today. I picked it up at Will Call from UPS tonight. I can’t shoot pictures tonight, but I will definitely be bringing it with me on Saturday for our adventure to Old Town.

Tags: Announcements, Photography, quick_links

Thia kae Thio

Tags: CoolPix , family, Greece, Photography, Travels