sustaining word » music http://sustainingword.com inside andrew mercer's head Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:40:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 listen to the herald http://sustainingword.com/listen-to-the-herald/ http://sustainingword.com/listen-to-the-herald/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:29:31 +0000 jazzmetalman http://sustainingword.com/?p=371 Tis nearly Christmas!

I love Christmas – the celebration amongst families and friends; the exchange of gifts; a short break from work; but most of all, it is the time where we remember the birth of Jesus. May it be sunny and fine if you live in the southern hemisphere, and may it be a [...]]]> Tis nearly Christmas!

I love Christmas – the celebration amongst families and friends; the exchange of gifts; a short break from work; but most of all, it is the time where we remember the birth of Jesus. May it be sunny and fine if you live in the southern hemisphere, and may it be a white christmas in the northern hemisphere.

Without Christmas, there is no salvation, so this season always brings into the focus the gift that God gave to this world – His son, Jesus.

Enjoy this carol by The Blenders, and have a fantastic and a blessed Christmas!

]]> http://sustainingword.com/listen-to-the-herald/feed/ 0 a new confession http://sustainingword.com/a-new-confession/ http://sustainingword.com/a-new-confession/#comments Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:06:28 +0000 jazzmetalman http://sustainingword.com/?p=356 Dashboard Confessional is one of my favourite bands – interesting lyrics, good melodies and passion in the vocals from Chris Carrabba. Alter the Ending has been out for about five weeks and I’ve been listening to it pretty regularly for about, five weeks. The music, due to the lyrical content, could be considered Emo, but [...]]]> Dashboard Confessional is one of my favourite bands – interesting lyrics, good melodies and passion in the vocals from Chris Carrabba. Alter the Ending has been out for about five weeks and I’ve been listening to it pretty regularly for about, five weeks. The music, due to the lyrical content, could be considered Emo, but I’m not that into labels – music is meant to invoke an emotional response, and if music moves me, then I like it, regardless of genre.

Here’s a live version of the album’s first song Get Me Right - a sentiment that I have related to over the years.

Here is the first single of the album, Belle of the Boulevard.

Hey, if you like what you hear and see in these songs, check out the album, and previous albums on iTunes.

]]> http://sustainingword.com/a-new-confession/feed/ 0 make an audio book from any text source http://sustainingword.com/make-an-audio-book-from-any-text-source/ http://sustainingword.com/make-an-audio-book-from-any-text-source/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:49:00 +0000 jazzmetalman http://sustainingword.com/?p=17

I was reading a blog that I regularly visit yesterday and stumbled upon instructions for creating audio books from any type of text file. It was so awesome that I put it out on Twitter early today and have been requested to “fill in the blanks”.

First and foremost, credit goes to [...]]]>

logo-audiobookI was reading a blog that I regularly visit yesterday and stumbled upon instructions for creating audio books from any type of text file. It was so awesome that I put it out on Twitter early today and have been requested to “fill in the blanks”.

First and foremost, credit goes to Rick Mansfield and his blog This Lamp. Unfortunately for you users of PC’s and the multiple variants of Windows, this will not help you, but if your a Mac user you will find all the instructions here.

The example that Rick describes is converting a christian resource book into an audio book. Yet this method works for anything that contains text – I have created audio books from pdf files, Word docs and Pages docs, the list is endless.

One last thing that Rick doesn’t mention is that when you have your new “Text to Speech” file in iTunes, you can then convert it into iTunes audio book format by running a script called Make Bookmarkable by Doug Adams and you can download the Apple Script here.

Rick in his post mentions how little time it takes to create an audio book from scratch. One of the ones that I created was The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. The final product was an audio book that would take 10 hours and 54 minutes to listen through – total time to prepare and convert on my MacPro was about 8 minutes.

It’s an absolutely awesome way to get audio books onto your iPod or iPhone. The possibilities are endless – I can see myself converting some of my daughter’s Uni text books next year so she can listen to them as she commutes to Uni, rather than having to carry them with her.

I hope you enjoy exploring these unlimited possibilities. If you’re a Windows user and you know of a way to do it on that platform, I’d love for you to share the secrets.

Happy audio book listening!

]]> http://sustainingword.com/make-an-audio-book-from-any-text-source/feed/ 0 everybody wants to go to heaven http://sustainingword.com/everybody-wants-to-go-to-heaven/ http://sustainingword.com/everybody-wants-to-go-to-heaven/#comments Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:17:00 +0000 jazzmetalman http://sustainingword.com/?p=8 This is not what you think it is. A great book by David Crowder – dealing with bluegrass, spirituality and death not being the ultimate bummer.

]]> CrowderThis is not what you think it is. A great book by David Crowder – dealing with bluegrass, spirituality and death not being the ultimate bummer.

]]> http://sustainingword.com/everybody-wants-to-go-to-heaven/feed/ 0 iPhone – is it the best phone? http://sustainingword.com/iphone-is-it-the-best-phone/ http://sustainingword.com/iphone-is-it-the-best-phone/#comments Fri, 12 Sep 2008 03:30:00 +0000 jazzmetalman http://sustainingword.com/?p=7

Well, I have had my iPhone for just on two months now, and I can honestly say that’s it is he best phone I have ever had. The Apps store gives access to a huge range of applications from games, utilities and, for importantly for me, great Bible software. The ability [...]]]>

iphone

Well, I have had my iPhone for just on two months now, and I can honestly say that’s it is he best phone I have ever had. The Apps store gives access to a huge range of applications from games, utilities and, for importantly for me, great Bible software. The ability to have all types of programs at your disposal, with typical Apple use of use, is so good.

The only downside of such a great phone, and fantastic iPod, is that both my kids now want one! Teenagers!

Let them save up their own money.

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