SUNDAY SETLIST 12/27/09

The Sunday after Christmas. Is there a weirder time to go to church?

Sunday was actually good...and good for me!

I got back into Tyler around 6:30 Saturday night. I had planned to go up and get church stuff ready, but opted instead for sleep. Yes...I went to bed instead of going to the church in the cold hours of early morning. Aren't you proud of me?

Our team was smaller this Sunday, but it worked.

We had drums, bass, 1 electric, piano, 1 co-leader and me on guitar and vocals. Here's what we played:

MEET WITH ME
The Bethel team can rock this one in their sleep! I love the melody of this tune and the lyrics make it a great opener. I could definitely "hear" the absent organ and 2nd electric that we're used to, but the band did a great job.

A THOUSAND GENERATIONS
If any song suffered from lack of musicians, it was this one. The song went fine, but it really requires a lot of instrumentation. Because it's light on riffs and fills, the song really lives or dies because of groove. Missing that electric, organ and percussion probably robbed the song of some energy. However, it's a great lyric and something we need to be singing. So we did!

JOYFUL, JOYFUL, WE ADORE THEE
This song is a mixed bag for me. Here's why: I really dig the Charlie Hall version (minus the chorus he wrote,) so it was fun to try his chord progression. However, losing the chorus forces a whole new arrangement and shortens the song. I would have liked to stretch the song some, but short of adding new lyrics, there wasn't a lot we could do. I think folks enjoyed singing it, but it fell a little flat for me personally. The band did a fantastic job on the arrangement we had. Charles specifically did some great electric work on it. It didn't require much, but he played it just right.

YOU ALONE CAN SATISFY
This one went like it always does...awesome. This is a song folks love to sing. It's easy to play and wide-open to dynamic creativity.

I AM YOURS
This is actually "Take My Life and Let It Be" as arranged by the very talented Michael Neale. It has a great piano intro but it's a very long song and I wasn't sure how much we'd do. I told our pianist, Andrew, not to sweat it. We started with acoustic and gradually built in. We shorted it by cutting the last double-chorus and tags. In the end, that was a good cool. From my vantage point, the song ended just right.

Mark Kuykendall, our youth pastor, preached he did a fantastic job. I am so humbled by the preaching/teaching talent in our church.

I'm looking forward to doing it all again next week!

SongWrighting (a preview)

Some of you will remember that I do a thing called "SongWrighting" on YouTube. This is usually where I'll play a new song (or even just part of a new song) to get some initial feedback.

I'm excited because next week, I'll be revealing a brand new worship tune called Maker of My Days. This is the first thing I've written in the last few months that I didn't end up hating.

I'll throw the video up after Christmas, but here's the interesting thing about this song. I started writing this song with a strong thematic focus. Since I write things for the place I serve, I was thinking a lot about Bethel as I went into the process. Lately, I've been very convicted to write songs about "choice." I'm not talking free-will versus elect here. I'm actually endeavoring to write songs that remind us that a life of faith is always going to involve faith. In a "feeling" centered church culture, worship songs tend to be very temperamental. I've been wanting to write songs that can acknowledge difficulty and struggle and yet still remind us that we don't survive on feeling...that many, many times we have to look at God's character and history and we have to choose to focus on those things rather than buying an all-day pass on the emotional roller-coaster of our lives.

I'm sure this has happened, but never so strongly as this time. Within one week of finishing a song about choosing joy and being content with where God has us - all things I wrote for 'the church' - I found that I was the one who needed that song the most. Trust me: it's a weird thing to be struggling and doubting and sad and then realize that you've already a song of encouragement about that very issue. (Maybe the song isn't for Bethel, after all!)

I'm excited to share the song next week or so, but I'm even more excited to have this little personal song that is one more evidence of God's constant care and kindness to me.

Thoughts On A Lounge Singer...

Monday night, my family and I went to Mario's, an Italian place here in Tyler. Kristen had been a few times, but for the rest of the Wrights, it was a first time.

I'll say this - Mario's gets it right. At night, it looks like something pulled straight out of a movie. The restaurant itself is designed to give you a sense of closeness and smallness with lots of little alcoves and hallways. The wall is covered with old black and white pictures of famous folks. The food is good and occasionally an Italian man in a pinstripe will walk through and yell out "mamma-mia!"

I made that last part up.

But on Monday night, they had a guy singing in this little stage/dance floor area. At first, I thought it was kinda' silly, but once I listened to this guy for the meal, I had some realizations.

PROPS

• This guy has the best gig in the world. He wasn't even standing. He just sat on a stool beside his little mixer and sang his stuff, very chilled out and relaxed. He wasn't "working the room" or trying to simultaneously sell the songs and yet make fun of lounge singing in general. (What lots of nightclub-style singers try to do...)
  
  
• This guy had a great voice. One of my first thoughts was that this guy had found a good tone for this particular crowd - pretty "wet" vocal (reverb,) thin vocal tone, lots of vibrato. Exactly what you want from an Italian restaurant lounge singer, right? But when he hit Mary, Did You Know, he jumped a whole 'nother level. He was able to flawlessly drop to the lower octave to hold the song back where it normally explodes. It was a clinic in dynamics...this guy had it figured out. He knew what sort of volume to sing (and mix) and he was content just to exist as background music.
  
  
• This guy mixed it up. There was Christmas music, old crooner favorites, doo-wop and even some Billy Joel love-song stuff. In doing that, he grabbed my interest. Suddenly, he moved from just a low buzz of noise to something that would periodically surprise me.
  
  
• The guy played trumpet. That's like the super hero of lounge singing, right? Just to grab up a trumpet and rock a few solos now and again? Smooth.

NON-PROPS.

• He seemed pretty bored. I guess that's to be expected when you're slated to sing for four hours at a time, but I think a little I-actually-care-about-what-you-think-of-this-music might have been nice.
  
  
• He didn't manage the reverb well. The echo stuff worked for the music, but when he talked, it was impossible to hear him in all the simulated slapback. He probably could have worked the effect master level and bit to be heard a bit more clearly. I honestly don't have any idea what he was saying. Maybe that's okay - maybe that's what he wants. Maybe he's saying something like, "Yeah, I know I just butchered that Billy Joel song, but you big dummies are too busy sucking down garlic bread and drinking wine." I hope not, but I don't know.

I was pretty entertained by this guy. He had the job down cold and I was enjoyed listening to him. He didn't distract and he paced his music very well. Thanks so much, fella!

SUNDAY SETLIST 12/20/09

Last Sunday service before Christmas! We made it! Yay!

Today's worship set went pretty well. It was pretty diverse, but necessity pretty much demanded that. From a set planning standpoint, I wanted to hit three specific "characteristics" in worship.

The first aspect I wanted to maintain was IDENTITY. The easier way to say that is that I wanted today's worship to look and sound and feel like Bethel. That meant songs that balance passion and energy with honesty. I felt like the set needed to reflect where we are as a people

The second aspect was TRADITION. I wanted us to have some good "carols" in the set. I may get blasted for this, but one reason worship leaders tend to dislike Christmas carols is that they accomplish tradition but often aren't given the same sort of passion/volume/focus as other songs of worship. I don't think it's a problem with the carols - I think it's a problem of how we think about carols. (Or any familiar tunes, for that matter.) Personally, I have to make sure that I don't just numbly sing through Christmas songs - I have to work hard at thinking about lyrics and the themes I'm singing about. I wanted us to have songs that honored Christmas traditions but that also kept the music fresh so as not to bore people.

The third aspect was NOVELTY. I wanted us to do something a bit "different." I wanted worship to look and sound just a little bit different.

Here's how we tried to accomplish these three goals...

• JOY TO THE WORLD (Tomlin) - I'm not always a fan of adding new choruses to old songs, but I do think this one is really good. Lyrically, it's not saying anything groundbreaking, but it's poetic and the melody is very good. This was definitely an IDENTITY song. The band did great on this one...I actually like having a female vocalist take all those choruses. Sarah did a great job on this and it really gave the tune some power.
  
  
• GLORY TO GOD (Brewster) - Another IDENTITY tune. I'm digging this song for it's broad spectrum. It absolutely can rock, but it can also go a bit mellow if need be. I also love the lyrical content. I think it expresses great theology in a modern song framework and that's not near common enough these days. I think our team does a great job on this song. In practice, we specifically talked about letting Elizabeth do a little piano jamming on verse 2. There's not a piano part on the song, but Elizabeth worked up something really cool.
  
  
• HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING (High Street Hymns) - I'm fast becoming a High Street Hymns fanboy. Their country-shuffle version of this familiar tune was just what we needed. I liked that this one came off as a TRADITION element that still allowed us to have some fun with it. I would have liked more time in rehearsal to hash out a bigger drum part. The CD version is very spare in percussion arrangement, and I wish we would have more time to try a few different things in rehearsal. All told, the song went well and our 3-part harmony gave it a little something extra! In an effort to add some NOVELTY to our set, we opened this tune with a scripture reading from Isaiah. We do scripture readings from time-to-time, but we wanted to concentrate on readings today to give the set some uniqueness.
  
  
• WHAT CHILD IS THIS (Red Mountain Church) - I love this swirling, ambient take on the carol. Couple of cool things about this song today...the CD version has a very strange intro. Essentially, you've got an electric guitar and synth chording through the verse normally - although thick with delay - but with a piano part that's actually changing chords a few beats early each time. It makes for a lot of dissonance. We didn't do that, but my guitar player, Ray, did put in a good bit of time to make sure the guitar timing was good. I read another scripture over this intro. One of our high school students played violin on the song and the bass and drum parts were very good. We had planned a "reading" before the last song, but this morning, we opted to place that reading over the extended outro of this song. Sarah sang the song beautifully and Elizabeth's piano gave this creative arrangement some familiarity. Sarah did the reading over the outro and then prayed after the song as most of the band stepped down.
  
  
• WINTER SNOW (Assad) - We don't do a lot of "special music" at Bethel, but we've done more this Christmas for some of that NOVELTY. Elizabeth sang lead and played piano along with Arlie on bass and Dale on drums. Sarah did BGVs. This song came off very very well. I'm fairly certain that Elizabeth nailed the exact piano parts from the CD. Audrey Assad's song is definitely the church Christmas hit single this year, but I don't think enough credit is being given to the cool jazz-tinge in this tune. The overall groove is very loose and pretty unique to a lot of church worship teams. Elizabeth and her crew did a great job on this one.

It was a good day. The past few weeks have pretty hard for me from a planning/leading perspective. I'm thankful to my fellow staff members and my wife for keeping sane in what is almost always a very stressful time for pastors. That being said, I'm glad to be done with the carols for another year. I'll ask all my liturgical friends to go on a rant about continuing singing Christmas songs over the next few weeks. (Looking at you, Simmons.)

If you're the praying kind...and many of you are...I'd ask that you pray for our Christmas Eve service at Bethel this week. I think it's one of the bravest things I've ever seen a church do. It's not without some controversy, and that's okay. Debate and discussion are good for us. But I do honestly believe that we are endeavoring to obey God in a way that's sacrificial and courageous. I'd ask you to pray that those folks who are a part of this event will be blessed for their sacrifice. Pray that we'll come away from this event broken for those in need. Pray that we'll be reminded of God's good grace and provision in our lives and that we'll be grateful and humble for all He's done.

Thanks.

Why I Feel Bad For Nickelback...

I've been thinking about Nickelback lately.

I'm not a huge fan...in fact, short of a few hits on pop radio, I know very little of the band's music. Regardless, it's been pretty hard to hide from all the Nickelback "hate" that's happened over the past couple of years.

Maybe it's well deserved...I don't know. But I keep thinking what that must be like for an artist. Imagine it...you're this band, plugging away, trying to be successful and after a lot of hard work and maybe a little luck, you get a shot. You get signed. You make a record. And then songs start getting radio play. Two or three singles make a ton of money. You're on TV, you're touring, heck...you get to sing on the Spiderman soundtrack!

And you keep plugging away. You make other albums, you tour more, you keep at it and yet, somehow you end up be the source of ridicule. Somehow...suddenly, it seems...you're not cool anymore. You're a punch line. You're a smirk. You're a cliche.

I've wondering lately if Nickelback knows how they're painted these days. Maybe they deserve to be ridiculed. Maybe they've abused relationships or tried to coast on previous success. Maybe they've tried too hard to fit inside a cookie-cutter. I'm not sure.

I just know that, as an artist, this scares me. It concerns me that you can work hard and consistently...you produce the best product you can...and you still can end up a laughing stock.

It's good for me to remember that culture is fickle. It's good for those of us who make music to realize that trying to achieve massive material success will always be a gamble. It may never come, and if it does, nobody knows how long it will last. Nickelback reminds me that my job is not to impress. In fact, I'd say my job isn't even to inspire. (Although that does happen sometimes.)

My job is to be obedient. To write and sing and arrange and share what God gives.

So, the next time I hear Nickelback, I'm going to think about that. I'm going to remind myself that success or failure is a matter of pleasing the Father. And He'll take care of the rest.

REVIEW: Every Card I Have

Figured I'd keep the same approach as the last review...you can check out the video review at the YouTube page and you can get a song by song rundown here at this site. Media cross-over, anyone?

This is a review of Jon Meyer's brand new, very cool project called Every Card I Have. If you watch the vlog review, you'll see how my circle of folks has overlapped with Jon's - I don't know him that well, but I do know that he's a phenomenal talent and I'm more than happy to promote his music.

Every Card I Have is a strong collection of tunes precisely produced and delivered. I've enjoyed listening through the project and it's been a very thought-provoking record with regard to songwriting and producing.

LEAD
Track #1 ought to clue you in. The cool programming and nice electric piano let you know that this isn't just some acoustic player jam. The confessional nature of the song also makes it pretty clear that you're going to hear a writer who's prepared to reveal some stuff that he knows he needs to work on. Jon's music has a 'cinematic' quality to me - this tune sounds like the absolute perfect soundtrack for stage or screen.

I'LL BE AROUND
As I mentioned in the vlog, I think this tune is the perfect 'single.' It's a great song of faithfulness. Christ followers are going to resonate with these concepts...songs celebrating this sort of unconditional, no-holds barred faithfulness can't help but remind us of the Creator.

YOU MOVE ME
This folk tune shines with a great chorus - "You move me like the words of my favorite song / You bruise me like a hit from a wrecking ball / You confuse me, is there anything at all that I could say to make you stay?" Acoustic, piano and banjo along with some nice reverb vocals give this one a haunting tint.

I SHOULD BE IN BED
For me, this is the coolest song on the record. Maybe because he's singing about staying up late and writing songs? Again, strong percussion looping and the catchiest hook on the project (Jon's whoa-oh is pretty inspired here.)

GIVE MY HEART A BREAK
This one goes about as country as the record can go...more confessional, broken-hearted pining here. This is one the guitar players will dig...dobro is pretty slick on this one. As we progress through the record, this tune marks an interesting point where we peel back the veil and get an honest view of a man making hard decisions to improve his life. Pretty important song for a person to sing.

IF YOU'RE GONNA' LEAVE THEN LEAVE
Meyer shows his chops here. He comes at a pretty basic song idea - missing that special someone - but writes it so creatively. Tackling how much old memories linger, Jon enlists a female vocalist to take on verse 2. Don't know if Jon's got any desire to publish country songs, but this one could work.

THE MORNING WILL COME
This one surprised me...I expected a straight-forward "hold on" song, but this one turns into so much more. As the song builds, Meyer used the strife that we all face to paint a picture of our great need for redemption. This song may start small, but ends up as a huge statement of Jesus' redemption.

HOLY CALLING
Even if this song was horrible (which is isn't,) I'd still love it because of the steel guitar. This one doesn't build as dynamically as the other songs, although the choir part at the end is a nice touch.

SHOW ME THE WAY
As the record draws to a close, Jon starts bringing the two themes of this record - confession and redemption - together. Whereas we've heard songs about his brokeness and other songs about the Father's faithfulness, the writer melds the two into this musical prayer. I'd love to hear this one on Christian radio - I think it's catchy enough and still has some depth that is often missing in CCM stuff.

THE WATER FINDS THE ROOTS
My other favorite tune ends the record. I dig this from start to finish, the slow groove, the tasty slightly blues tinged guitar fills, the rhodes piano...so smooth! As I mentioned in the vlog, I really dig when a writer can take a simple idea and still make it fresh and valuable. From a songwriting point-of-view, this may be the most skillfull work on the project.

______________

What Works:
There's a lot here that's good. Certainly production is a strong point. In fact, this is one of the more musically cohesive records I've hard in awhile. Seems as if Jon had a very clear picture of what this record needed to sound like upon starting out. Songwriting is, of course, another highlight. Jon's got poetic sense of lyrics that allows these very personal lyrics to still remain universal.

What Doesn't:
If there's anything that works against this record it's the various thematic approaches. There are quite obviously "girl songs" on this record. These heartbreak songs are very good, but on the whole, those sit a bit strange with more "Christian" song ideas. Personally, I'm not a fan strict labels for records, but I do think those distinctions can often help records sell or get attention they deserve.

I'd encourage you to head over to Jon's site and grab the record. Most of us know some of the best music these days is coming from the guys and gals who are out there doing music on their own. Here's a chance to support an independent artist who deserves the limelight.

Too Many Greats...Too Little Time

Most of you are "readers." So here's my question...

Name five great books you haven't read.

Here's what I mean: name five famous books - books that are renowned for fantastic literary or spiritual value - that you haven't read. In fact, tell us a bit more and let us know whether or not you have any desire to actually read them.

I'll go first.

• Catcher In The Rye - have no desire to read it.
• The Great Gatsby - faked it in high school with CliffNotes. Seems like the most boring book ever.
• A Christmas Carol - Krist keeps telling me I need to read this one to get into the Christmas spirit.
• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - lots of folks have told me Eggers' book is destined to be a classic.
• Twilight - I have no desire to read it, but feel like I ought to anyway.
  

Things That Might Surprise You...about me.

• I don't have an iPhone. (Contrary to popular belief, owning an iPhone is not a prerequisite for being a worship leader. I actually use a Blackberry that was given to me by a friend.)
  
  
• I don't drink coffee. What's more surprising? I don't even like the smell of coffee. (What's not surprising? I aggressively attack anyone who does enjoy coffee.)
  
  
• I do not run marathons. Wait...that doesn't surprise you? WHAT?
  
  
• It bothers me that I don't have many YouTube subscribers.
  
  
• The music of Bob Fitts, Stephen Curtis Chapman and Paul Baloche inspired me to pursue music, and eventually, worship.
  
  
• I love writing songs but put way too much pressure on myself.
  
  
• There are very few songs by Hillsong that I enjoy.
  
  
• I would love to write a hit country song.

Your turn...what would surprise ME about YOU?

REVIEW: Words That Rhyme With Orange

As promised on Monday's Todd Vlog, here's a song by song breakdown of Ross King's fantastic new kid's record, Words That Rhyme With Orange.

I'm honored to call this guy my friend - his talent, creativity and encouragement have won him friends and fans all over the country and I think this new record will only make him more of a success!

If you're interested in purchasing the new CD, you can check out Ross' blog (which is hilarious) as well as his mySpace.

I hope you'll check out the record...I think you'll love it.

HAPPY TO BE ME
The record kicks off with this fantastic sing-song silliness. There's no mistaking it...song 1 lets you know that you're about to hear a record that is witty and contagious. It's also a great place for this track as it still holds some stylistic similarities from Ross' other music.

JUICEBOX
At the Wright house, this is the current favorite track. What's more fun than a song about juice boxes? I'll tell you - a HIP HOP song about juice boxes. Ross even enlists the very soulful Jimmy Needham for this fun joint. Don't miss the "kids choir" on this one. Super great!

IF I WASN'T SO CUTE
Track 3 is the perfect "dad song." One verse in and you see straight-a-way that Ross is one astute father. Balancing a healthy respect for driving-mom-crazy and the wildness of pre-school boys, this track has one of the most memorable choruses of the record.

LIONMONKEYBACONDONKEY
If this song doesn't end up on Disney, I'm gonna' be ticked. To my mind, there is no major point to this song. But that doesn't matter. The strength of this song isn't an over-the-top frivolity but rather a clever twisting of words for the pure sake of creating a smile on the face of the listener.

MORE
Personally, this song is my favorite. From a songwriting perspective, it's perfect. It's got a good balance of nice safe rhymes along with some very clever wording twists that really shows off Ross' considerable songcraft. I also dig the more sparse arrangement. I have a feeling this one is destined to be sung acapella in lots of minivans over the past few months.

LEARNING MY ALPHABET
This percussive, doo-wop tune is really good. Comes off natural and clear and sticks to the basics...the ABCs. Who knows? Maybe some preschool's will add this one to their letter center time! This song does come off a bit differently than the others. While the previous tracks have sounded very produced, this one come across a bit more natural. Ross' vocal doesn't sound quite as processed, which is surprising at first considering the other tracks. It sits a bit different in the overall mix, but is still one that stay in your head all day.

THE TRYING FOOD SONG
This song is hard for me to review. Because I, typically, do not enjoying trying new foods. Oh well...I guess I can appreciate the delivery on this one. This one has a strong lyrical presence that adds a bit of reason to the standard childhood freak out about new foods. This song actually includes more kids talking over the music admitting what they do and don't like. I had a hard time hearing a few of the kid parts. I'm guessing it's pretty difficult to track numerous children and try to mix them in with a fully produced song. This one is destined to be a kitchen favorite!

AFRIKIDDO ROMP
Afrikiddo Romp was one of the first tracks I heard early on. It's an instrumental piece that showcases Ross' production skill. There aren't many things my kids like better than random dancing and this tune provides a great soundtrack!

THE SOUND OF WHINING
That's right, parents. King wrote a whining song. This one is perfect. It speaks the truth but it doesn't punish kids. I especially like the little vocal ad-libs in each chorus. As far as character growth goes, this one has to be one of the best songs on the record. My kids need to hear this. (Heck...so do I!)

I LIKE TO PLAY OUTSIDE
This song is everything an "outside" song should be. Easy-going, fun, laid-back and simple to do. Great melding of song arrangement and lyrical content here. Ross even offers help for those rainy days!

DON'T DO IT
When I heard this son, I couldn't believe it. It's good. But it's out there. I won't tell you what it's about. You gotta' go buy it yourself.

SLEEPYHEAD
As I understand it, this is the song that started it all. Ross wrote this one early on for his two boys and it sparked something in him as a writer. The chorus is easy to remember, but the verse is where it really shines. I think the melody is great and the backing vocal is really cool.

NAOMI'S LULLABYE
The King family's most recent addition, Naomi, is quite the cutie. As the baby, she's the most prone to need a lullabye, I guess, so Ross wrote her one. I was impressed that this song came off as a good lullabye but also had a very mature, almost "Album Leaf" feel to it.

This is a smart, infectious record that you and your kids will love to listen to. Go check it out and buy it today!

Christmas Is For Conversation...

We're doing this Redeeming the Season thing with the kids this year for Christmas. It's going great so far. We're trying two things..first off is the "Prophecy Box" which is pretty great. I think the kids like it because there's typically something delicious inside, but I've been more encouraged by it more than I imagined.

The other aspect is Christmas Conversations. Long-time friends of mine know that I love random conversation starters, so I tend to think this little pack of questions is the coolest thing I've ever seen. A few of the questions have spurred some interesting discussion around our dinner table, so I thought it might be fun to pass them on and see what you think:

1. What do you look forward to each year at Christmas time?
   
   
2. Who are you looking forward to seeing this Christmas?
   
   
3. What's the best present you ever gave?
   
   
4. What's your favorite taste at Christmas?
   
   
5. One Christmas that was particularly spiritually significant in your life?

Take a minute or two and comment!

PROMISES...

Micah 5:2
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Juda, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is form old, from ancient days.

Matthew 2:1
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.

7 Things That Mac People Do That Drive PC People Crazy

I feel fortunate that I have friends in both the Mac and PC camps.
There are benefits to both forms of computing and I tend to think we can all get along.
But Mac people tend to be...
How shall we say it...
Um...
JERKS.

So, for all you Mac folks out there, I'd like to offer this list of things you might be doing that cause your PC friends to hate your guts. If you're doing these, try, you know...stopping.

1. Always argue when someone says that Macs have problems, too. Use a lot of stories about when you used PCs and all the horrible things that happened. Be prepared for an argument anytime the issue of computers is brought up.
   
   
2. Retweet, share, re-post and talk about every single Apple "unveil" that happens. (Seems like unveil some new product every two months.) Use every means necessary to make sure all your friends know that you're in the know about new Apple products. Constantly.
   
   
3. Play down how expensive Macs are. Don't acknowledge that they are ridiculously priced and that the Mac demographic is pretty predictable.
   
   
4. Use that Mac sticker. As much as possible.
   
   
5. Ignore good, clever, expertly done PC marketing.
   
   
6. Act like folks should just give up if they're trying to do music or video on a PC. (You're wrong, by the way. Some of the best things you've seen and heard in your life were made on a PC.)
   
   
7. Hide the fact that you still use PC elements. (Parallels, etc.) Behave as if Macs are perfect.