New Toy Originally uploaded by mattyturner. Less than a week after it opened (see previous post) I was back at the Apple store. There I saw a little MacBook Pro and fell it love with it, I took it home and named it Brahms. It joins Beethoven (PowerBook G4) and Bach (mobile phone).

A more accurate story is that having good enough Internet Explorer testing facilities using BrowserCam or nipping downstairs to use my Dad’s PC I gave away my computer at Christmas glad that I wouldn’t be needing it again.

Now I’m working on a project that requires checking lots of pages. Pages only accessible with Cisco VPN software… drat! I’m on a tight deadline, I can’t use someone else’s PC all day, so a MacBook Pro with Parallels is facilitating the testing in IE6 and IE7.

First Impressions: Fit and finish, like new ipods over old ones, is marginally deteriorating. It’s not bad, still a nice product, but the edges around the Apple logo in the back, for example aren’t as smooth.

The screen brightness and resolution is a big improvement. It now matches the brightness of the Cinema Display which is nice.

The speed seems very good, Windows runs more smoothly under Parallels than it did on my Athlon XP3200 with 1gb DDR and 10,000 RPM SATA Hard Disk. I only got the 2.16Ghz Core 2 Duo and upgraded the ram to 2gb.

Temperature and noise are excellent. It’s more quiet than my G4 (which has 2 year old fans remember).

All in all I’m pleased, even though I could have happily survived on my G4 if it wasn’t for Internet Explorer testing. So Bill, yaboo shucks, your web browser take the joy out of my work life!

And for those that like the geeky aspects, what are the specs and how is integrated into my setup. The photo on flickr illuminates. I have my G4, Beethoven, closed and hooked up to my cinema display which I work on. That is then networked to Brahms with a FireWire 800 cable and Synergy means that I can use one keyboard and mouse and seamlessly go between the two. It’s a good thing it’s seamless over WiFi too, because Cisco VPN software on OS X won’t let you connect when a FireWire (or maybe must more than one) connection is open.

Queue 1 Originally uploaded by Aidy Spender. That’s right – long lines. Apple opened it’s West Quay store today. I got there at 8.45 and didn’t get in until 9.45. Shortly before 9 the Apple Staff ran down the line (which stretched out as far as the entrance to West Quay, barely visible in this photo) giving ‘High Fives’. Very American! When I left around 10 I’m guessing the people at the back of the queue still had at least an hours wait to get in.

Unfortunately for me I had two, kinda simple, guys behind me for the hour I was waiting that rehearsed just about every apple rumor. The amount of times I heard ‘so they say’, whoever they are. I can’t say the crummy ‘Apple West Quay’ T-shirt made it worth while either. Still, it is pretty exciting that Southampton has it’s own Apple store now. It’s typical that it’s opened when I’m leaving to live in Apple land (California).

For Megan.

Glimpsing an American park in the 90’s
    June’s sun illuminates all things green.
All that’s alive grows with laughter
    On the soft grass families picnic
    On the fresh grass couples laze
Soaking up the chromatic rays.

Down on the coast, English cliffs rise,
    Dividing ancient nature from the algae flecked sea.
Framing sky blue with it’s clouds like islands,
    Islands filled with luminosity.

As night approaches America
    Those pioneer skies burn purple and pink.
Like a flame above the dark expanse we call the pond
    The Phoenix rises one last time - to sink.

Out of this dark world red letters shine,
    Mirroring the words of Immanuel, setting forth a crimson flood.
Oh, that some might accept His love
    and come for cleansing through His blood.

The amber sunrise warms my day in a quiet way
    Perhaps only Van Gough would understand.
Lengthening waves of California remind me,
    I’m where my love is.

Now, the sweet-yellow consummation
    These pale reflections already taste like Glory.
And while we kiss in a shower of mercy
    Somewhere a rainbow stands.

Bass seems to be where it’s at. I remember my sony walkman and then cd player having a Mega Bass switch which could be cranked to 2 (sadly no 11) in order to keep that base line thumping. There seems to be a fixation with low resonance. Some people’s setups could probably serve as backup pace makers with the right music. The thing is, when you play a lot of music through a bass enhancing setup, sometimes the dominance of the bass range partially obscures the other ranges. In emphasizing bass one may miss the tune!

The word that’s been on my mind today is proportion. Proportion, along with symmetry is a good part of beauty. I think this is a reason I have grown to love the music of J.S. Bach so much over the last year, in everything – range, tempo, volume there is always proportion, nothing gets neglected. And being contrapuntal music it usually exhibits beautiful symmetry too.

But proportion is important to so much more than just music, it applies to everything. In appearance, proportion is important, and it doesn’t matter so much if someone is big or small, tall or short, if their features are in proportion then they may look good. Beyond appearance though, when you consider the attractiveness of someone as a whole, proportion is important.

Some people have amazing physical beauty but can’t hold an interesting conversation. Some people can be smart and interesting but not particularly good looking. Someone might have a beautiful physical appearance, be intelligent and smart, but suffer some character flaw such as self-centredness. Of course it’s not that all types of people can’t be beautiful, but those who are well proportioned are going to be the most attractive over all. This is important to those that maybe don’t have the figure of a super-model because beauty is also in those other things, above all else i’d say in ones demeanor and character. It’s important to everyone as we can all improve ourselves to be better proportioned.

In case you don’t agree with my assertion, that proportion is a good and beautiful thing, consider the opposite – disproportion. When a media company gives disproportionate weight to one aspect of a news story it’s called sensationalism or distortion. When ones gives disproportionate importance to a particular truth, it’s called perversion. When one devotes a disproportionate amount of attention to a person in a group of peers, it’s called favouritism.

Above all, proportion is essential in studying the Word of God, the Bible. Allow me to quote from the introduction to The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink:

Almost all doctrinal error is, really, Truth perverted, Truth wrongly divided, Truth disproportionately held and taught. The fairest face on earth, with the most comely features, would soon become ugly and unsightly, if one member continued growing while the others remained undeveloped. Beauty is, primarily, a matter of proportion. Thus it is with the Word of God: its beauty and blessedness are best perceived when its manifold wisdom is exhibited in its true proportions.

And so it is. So, please allow me to ask you, and myself – where are we emphasizing things in our lives at the expense of other good and proper things? Are we disproportionate in how we spend our time, what we read, the aspects of Christianity we explore further, the graces we seek to improve? The answer is of course ‘yes’. As we seek to set the equalizer of our life to a neutral response, I hope we all see more beauty and become more beautiful to those around us.

It struck me today whilst reading The Case for Inerrancy, by R.C. Sproul that my beliefs, my world view, my salvation, almost everything about me is bound up in history.

Think about it, if the Bible wasn’t historically reliable, what would we know about Jesus? A bit, but not a whole lot. Some may have heard of or read The Quest of the Historical Jesus. Well, I put it to you that that would be about our best guess as to who Jesus was – if we didn’t have the Bible.

Apart from my beliefs then, it alters my world view because the Bible is a history of redemption and it is historical record that Jesus endorsed throughout his life. Indeed, unlike many theologians and Christians today, Jesus had a high view of scripture. The prefix ‘It is written’ wasn’t an invitation to debate but the end of the argument for Jesus. (Matthew 21 v13,16. Et al)

Finally, Jesus accomplished the redemption of His people, including mine, at a specific point in past history when he uttered the words ‘it is finished’. (John 19 v30)

It’s trendy to view being a Christian and believing the Bible as a leap of faith. A leap, because it’s so hard to take it in that we have to some how suspend reality and just believe to do it. Well, it is hard to take it in, it’s true, but the Bible is historical, rational and straightforward in what it says about Jesus. The work of the Holy Spirit isn’t to help us take a leap of faith to accept the unbelievable, but as Jesus said, to lead us into all truth (John 16 v13). Truth that is already rational and believable, but not accepted because of our own sinfulness, because it tells us what we don’t want to hear about ourselves.

Also worth noting, is that because our salvation was obtained once in history, it cannot be lost and doesn’t need to be repeated. Some people, such as staunch Armenians, believe that you can become saved, and also unsaved ‘fall from grace’. Others, such as Roman Catholics, believe that our sins are forgiven continually after they’ve been committed by the re-sacrificing of Jesus (That’s what the Mass is).

On the basis of an historic event, however, the writer to the Hebrews affirms that neither of these are a possibility. Pay special attention to the tense used.

“ …every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
But this Man [Jesus], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God…
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified”

(Hebrews 10, v12-14. Emphasis mine).

The future condition ‘perfected forever’ of Christians at the present time ‘those who are being sanctified’ is based on something that’s already happened ‘one sacrifice’.

And that is one reason the historical aspects of the Bible matters to me.