Free Software - why would you pay?

I've always been a fan of free software. Since the inception of the internet, downloading shareware, and better yet, freeware has been hugely popular. However, replacing Microsoft Office with one of it's free rivals did not seem practical... until now. The latest release candidate of OpenOffice rocks! I quickly tested out all of the programs, and except for the database (Base), the other programs are just as good or better than their Microsoft counterparts. Impress (Powerpoint), Writer (Word), and Calc (Excel) meet all of my needs so far. I have have imported MS files into them with no problems at all (and done the opposite). By the way, Writer can save documents as Adobe PDF files, something Word doesn't do. So here are your options: buy Microsoft Office 2003 for $500 or download OpenOffice for FREE. Hmm. http://www.openoffice.org.

On the subject of free software. How about a free Adobe Photoshop ($600)? The GIMP is a high learning curve program that can almost replace Photoshop. In fact, there is a hacker who has hacked the GIMP interface to very closely resemble Adobe Photoshop. It's called GIMPshop. The windows version is not quite ready yet, but get ready, because it's gonna rock, and oh yeah, it's FREE. http://www.plasticbugs.com/

We Love Japan!

We had a fantastic time in Japan, and now we're back in the good ole US of A. Let me try and name the people in the picture from left to right. Hiro (Hiroshi - Hosanna Music), ZeeDub (Zach Wilson), Robeen (Robin Brannon), Sharon Lancaster, Keef RanderCaster (Keith Lancaster), JHouse (Jordan House), Naoya ("Now" - Hosanna Music Big Kahuna), Carlos (Kyoshi - Hosanna Music), Lobetsan (Robert Orr), Me, ZG (Zac George). Hosanna music was great to work with, and they fed us some of the best food Japan had to offer. They treated us like kings! Quick story about how the trip went. At one concert, a lady came who was a Buddhist – not uncommon. She had been studying with Christians for 5 years, but still had some reservations. She said the concert touched her so much that she had decided it was time to become a Christian. That one thing alone made the trip to Japan worth it.Praise God! There are 125 million people in Japan, and less than 1% of them claim to be Christians. It is estimated that less than 0.3% attend worship services. Wow! We hope things will begin to change there, and we know God used Acappella to share the gospel in Japan. Thank you Nao, Carlos, Hiro, Miwa, Paster Naito, and Ai. We love you guys!

And for dinner we had Sushi. Jordan says, "It was more tingly than hot." You're looking at what I ate. The other guys had similar meals, except for the few who wimped out and ate pork. 

Last nights concert, in Chigasaki was great. As usual, the lights and lighting people were awesome! We had dry ice on the opening song and Well On My Way (shown in the picture). And as usual, Sharon was very encouraging from the front row. We love you Sharon 

We saw this deadly Japanese Ninja killer spider on the way to sing for some Jr. High kids. It's huge, but we don't really think it was poisonous. 

For dinner, we ate Shakey�s Pizza (yes, I think it�s the same one in Abilene, TX) with a HUGE dessert. This picture is actually us at lunch just doing what we do best!
 

Thursday, Oct 5th - Sightseeing day 2. We got on the subway / train system for the first time this year and headed for Akihabara (Electric Town). Naoya (pronounced Now) and Miwa accompanied us. We oohed and aahed at the cool Japanese cameras and phones and computers. Then we went to the 100 Yin store (about $1 US). They had some neat things, especially for suveniers� and it was all only $1!  

We topped off the night with an expensive Japanese BBQ meal (thank you Pastor Naito)! It�s really, really good steak that you cook yourself on a small round grill built in to the table. It�s the best! Notice the Green Fanta Melon Soda in the pic (no, it's not alcoholic!).

Then that evening we went up in the TV station, which is a mega expensive, futuristic looking building. It was nice.  

We also went to the Japanese temple. In the temple, we sang �There Is No Other Name�. It was great!  

Wednesday, Oct 4th - Sightseeing day 1. Pastor Naito and Carlos (Kioshi) took us to see where the Sumo Wrestling Championship is held.  

Of course, Keith is teaching us new songs and showing us fun vocal exercises. 

Japan knows about some lighting, by the way! 

Saturday - Tuesday, Oct 1-3rd.
Concert days consist of eating, setting up, �concerting�, eating, and sleeping. These guys are coming along FAST. The concert looks and sounds great! It doesn�t hurt to have some Keith Lancaster singing lead on He Gave Her Water and Well On My Way!! The Japanese seem to love the concerts. God is Good!
 

Friday, Sept. 30th
After a lovely 12 hour airplane ride to Japan, we made it. All of us were in an exceptionally good mood, even though Zee Dub (Zach Wilson) stared at the seat in front of him and listened to his iPod all 12 hours�ouch, sorry ZW. Keith and Sharon sat a few rows in front of us, and I think Keith slept almost the entire trip (with the little eye cover thing over his eyes). A few rows back was Robin, and I don�t know why he was back there (maybe a racist airlines�;-), but he just finished a monster-thick book! Zac G. laughed a lot, talked a lot, slept a lot, and watched movies a lot. You can do a lot of things in 12 hours. JHouse�what can you say, but �JHouse�. He entertains himself - and us - with hilarious comments and facial expressions. Me? I slept and read and laughed.

*Robert Orr was not on our flight. He met us in Japan, but he came in on the Northwest airlines plane that has TV�s in the back of every seat with PVRs. Which means you can watch anything at anytime on your own TV screen. Hello!
 

Friday, Sep. 30th we made it in to the country of Japan! This was after an exhausting 12 hour flight to Tokyo.