If it was just dumb, I don’t think I would mention it. If it were crass or boring, I wouldn’t be writing about it. This crosses the line, past stupid, almost to criminal.

I just saw it again, and immediately said to myself – that’s it, I’m writing about this.

The commercial is for FinallyFast.com. It begins with a guy complaining that his new computer is really slow. Then…well, watch this two-minute version, then we’ll talk…

Did you hear the announcer? “Make any computer fast.” Of course, he says that while the text on-screen tells you that FinallyFast is for PC computers only. That means, not Macs.

But, wait…what was it the first guy, the one complaining about his slow computer, was using? An old iMac. And the second person in the commercial was using…a MacBook.

On further inspection, Ascentive, the company touted as having been featured in BusinessWeek and Forbes, WAS indeed featured in Forbes…in 2002…for its program that lets users spy on supposedly private instant messages. That’s right…they were featured for…spyware.

Nice. And evil. And a site and company to avoid.

It’s a great follow-up to my previous post about the President. What a wonderful tribute by two who know him best.

It is also thought-provoking for any dad, but especially any dad with a public title. I’m in the ministry, on staff at a church, so I have one of those titles. Pastor. Different than a president, but with some of the same pitfalls. You can forget who you are. You can forget what – and who – are really important. And you can forget that while you try to change the world and try to bring change into your sphere of influence, the greatest purposes are found under your own roof.

That’s as introspective as I intend on being for the next couple of days. happy birthday to me. tomorrow.

And – just to save you a minute, if you’ve been trained like my children to wait to the end of the credits before you leave the theater – the last minute of this video is all credits, nothing else. Feel free to leave.

No, not Happy Turkey Day. The only happy turkeys are…well, you can’t be a happy turkey. Either you’re dead or you’re still a turkey. Not a great choice. The point of the day is not to celebrate turkeys, it’s to celebrate thanksgiving…you know, the giving of thanks.

And it’s not just the giving of thanks, but giving thanks to our Creator, our Maker, the One who provides life and all the good things we enjoy.

Like turkey (and dressing and mashed potatoes and football and the Gators and – you get the idea).

To repeat myself, we don’t celebrate turkeys, we kill them.

That would also make this a good day to kill the Turkey Spirit. That would be the attitude that doesn’t give thanks, that takes things for granted, that complains at everything, that is awed by nothing.

That’s the intro to this clip, which is perfect for Thanksgiving, and which I may use the next time I preach about complaining.

(Honestly, this has to be one of my favorite clips ever.)

Which is better – to live in this life while cut off from God, or to leave this life while having full connection to God? Sort of sounds like “gain the whole world or lose your soul”, doesn’t it?