I have two Adamas (Ovation) guitars, a 6 and a 12 string. They are awesome. To me the sound and projection of these guitars is unrivaled. As others, I would recommend starting off with a very good used guitar. Yamahas are nice, and so are Takamines, but I wouldn't spend less than $400, even on a used one. If you get a decent one, not only will playing be easier, not only will it sound better, but you shouldn't have much trouble selling it if it doesn't work out or you're ready to graduate to an Adamas, Taylor or Martin.
LennyinBluemont
JoinedPosts by LennyinBluemont
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Learning Guitar - What is a good beginner guitar - (sell me yours?)
by confusedjw ini've been learning to play for the last 3 weeks and would like to buy myself an acoustical guitar.
i've borrowed two, one is a wonderful yamaha and the other is a fender made in china, plywood and it sounds not so good.
those of you who have gone through this - what would you recommend to me if i were your favorite poster?.
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What the hell are they thinking?
by JeffT ina couple of threads about recent watchtower articles as made me wonder what they're thinking when they are writing them for a magazine that is supposed to be for preaching purposes.
i tried to put myself in the mind of somebody that didn't know much about jehovah's witnesses.
the stuff on weddings would have been weird at best, and the recent articles aimed at parents whose children leave the wt must strike normal people as down right creepy.
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LennyinBluemont
Talk about Awake! cover articles without any general public appeal, one of the funniest moments I had in field service was back in the 70's, I was a young publisher working with an elder I liked a lot. Walking between doors, he pulled out his current Awake! and read from the cover headline, "To Be or Not to Be - A Nuclear Physicist" and then immediately commented, "A question on the minds of many people today." It really cracked me up.
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APOSTA - DOCU - TOUR USA 2007!
by LennyinBluemont inok, folks, this is just in the dream stage right now and may not materialize for any number of reasons.
but right now im treating it as a distinct possibility.
heres the deal.
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LennyinBluemont
Hey, thanks, Dave! The dream moves closer to reality. To update everybody, last Wednesday I took possession of a 2002 BMW R1150RT with 13,500 miles. After not having been on a bike for 35 years (my last bike was a Honda CB350), the size and weight of this bike is a little intimidating. I took it out for the first time yesterday and put a grand total of six miles on it! Well, I've got a ways to go to get really comfortable with it, but since we're not planning on leaving until May 1, I should get plenty of riding time in. Starting to map out a course, connecting the dots of those of you who have responded. Still got a lot of long lonely days of riding with no visits. Anybody interested in being added to the tour? Looking for stops in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania. As long as you're not too far (30 minutes is OK) from the interstate.
Uncle Lenny
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APOSTA - DOCU - TOUR USA 2007!
by LennyinBluemont inok, folks, this is just in the dream stage right now and may not materialize for any number of reasons.
but right now im treating it as a distinct possibility.
heres the deal.
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LennyinBluemont
Anyone else interested in getting together? To provide you a measure of assurance that I'm not a total freako, I will email anyone with copies of two IDs, before you give me your contact info. These are special IDs. One is from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. As I work in the security industry, I must be certified with a criminal background check and my fingerprint cards are on file with the Virginia State Police and the F.B.I. The other ID shows that I am a volunteer firefighter with Loudoun County, Virginia. This also required a criminal background check. I will also provide all of my personal contact info before you send yours. All I'm asking for at this time is your city and state, so I can begin to look at how I can route myself. Hey, and you don't have to agree to be videotaped to be a stop on the tour. I'd just love to meet you! My personal email is [email protected].
DocBob, Jimbo and Asheron, can you tell me what city you're in or near? All I've got so far is Maine, Idaho and NJ. You can PM me if you want.
Thanks all!
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Email responses from "Ed"
by LennyinBluemont insome time back we shared some replies we had received from jw friends to our "farewell" letter.. (see http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/121203/1.ashx ).
one among them, "ed" seems to want to continue the dialogue.
however, i fear the dialogue is not really legitimate.
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LennyinBluemont
Some time back we shared some replies we had received from JW friends to our "farewell" letter.
(See http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/121203/1.ashx )
One among them, "Ed" seems to want to continue the dialogue. However, I fear the dialogue is not really legitimate. Herewith, the latest exchange. What do you think?
Lenny,
Sorry about the delayed response to your response. I've been much too busy, too many things to do.
I would say that mistakes do take on more significance if they have had serious consequences that have been ignored. Yes, I believe there should be apologies made because there are a significant number of people out there similar to you, or ones that have been more seriously directly effected by something in the past. Will apologies be made? Maybe, maybe not. If they are made it will likely be within an article and slightly veiled so not everyone will even catch it. Large scale, open, transparent admissions will probably not happen as there would be too much negative fallout. But who knows what the future may bring?
It's obvious that the society, organization, governing body (whatever you want to call it) wants to keep everyone believing the end is just around the corner and their messages are tailored as such. It helps swell the ranks, but they would really be remiss if they weren't putting out that general message and the end IS just around the corner. We do need to stay awake, as we know the scriptures tell us that the end will come as a thief. It may be an exaggeration, but I'd rather think the end is very close than think it is quite far away yet. I keep going because it does keep me inclined in that direction. When you look at the world situation taken together with the destructive potential of rapidly "advancing" technology, you realize that it can only go on so long until it has to be brought to an end to prevent mankind from destroying too much and too many.
Sometimes I feel like I'm acting selfishly, using the organization for what I get from it (I guess I'm just a harlot), but I don't have my head in the sand. I think you went for quite a while with your head in the sand, as I can remember some things that you said a long time ago that I never did believe and still don't. People were being "judged" when we went to their door and they didn't respond favorably. Everyone everywhere will have gotten the message and had ample time to respond by the time the end comes. If you were a witness you were on the "for" side and everyone else everywhere is on the "against" side.
Anyway, enough for now.
You probably spend a lot of time now thinking or saying, "How about those crazy witnesses, huh"! Well, "how about those crazy Muslims, huh"! I don't know if you've ever seen it but check out jihadwatch.org sometime. The average person (especially younger ones) in "civilized" or "developed" nations thinks most about entertainment, food, sports, etc. and hasn't a clue about what the jihadists are urgently trying to do.
Ed
Hi again, Ed.
I don’t find in your last email any substantive response to the reasoning I presented regarding the harm the Society has knowingly done in the loss or ruination of so many lives. You continue to refer to "mistakes". I understand why you must attempt in some way to mitigate the effect of this reasoning. To do otherwise would place you on the horns of a dilemma. I didn’t understand your statement,
"Sometimes I feel like I'm acting selfishly, using the organization for what I get from it (I guess I'm just a harlot), but I don't have my head in the sand. I think you went for quite a while with your head in the sand, as I can remember some things that you said a long time ago that I never did believe and still don't."
What seems odd to me about this is that I was an absolute loyalist to the Society, supporting and promoting what they taught, since I accepted their representation that they were a "genuine prophet of Jehovah." Are you now saying, as an active witness, to me, an inactive witness, that it was wrong for me to do that? That to follow the direction of the "Faithful and Discreet Slave" was having my head in the sand? You’re making my head hurt. Either you believe it or you don’t, Ed.
"People were being "judged" when we went to their door and they didn't respond favorably."
This was taught by the Society for many years. As such, I supported and promoted it. Surely you don’t need the references.
"Everyone everywhere will have gotten the message and had ample time to respond by the time the end comes."
I don’t recall ever believing this or saying this to anyone. I have always realized that was a mathematical impossibility, and assumed Jehovah would judge the hearts of those not reached with the good news. That’s the way I’ve always explained it.
"If you were a witness you were on the "for" side and everyone else everywhere is on the "against" side."
Again, this is straight from the teaching of the Watchtower, not any idea I came up with. And as "God’s true prophet" I trusted them.
All the evidence I have seen and experienced for over 30 years, which is also supported by the substance of your responses to the questions I have raised, has led me to a painful, but inescapable conclusion.
Consider the evidence.
1.) Five hours of "meetings" every week, which are all carefully pre-scripted, with no free expression allowed. Add to this more hours at larger "meetings" every year.
2.) Forbidding to openly question the legitimacy or authority of the leadership. Any who do so being hailed before a star chamber hearing and threatened with expulsion if they continue. Expulsion meaning being cut off for all time from any and all friends and relatives who remain within the organization. Many thousands are grief-stricken, having lost their relationships with parents, children and grandchildren for simply speaking out about hypocrisy, double standards and lies on the part of the leadership of the organization.
3.) Forbidding to even speak with any former member who has anything negative to say about the organization, no matter how truthful or factual (having suffered the punishment of #2.)
4.) Constant pressure and use of "guilt trips" to get members so involved in activities supporting the organization, that little time is left for much else. I can’t begin to count how many witnesses that have said to me over the years, "I never feel like I’m doing enough," because the Society is always suggesting we could be doing more. Sometimes it’s overt, sometimes it’s in the subtext. And this, we are taught, is a good thing. "To be busy in Jehovah’s service."
5.) A steady stream of printed information that all members are expected to "keep up with" to assure not only that their time is saturated with this information, as well as aforementioned "activities", but that their minds will continue in "lock step" with whatever the current teaching is. And so, this information is presented in a very repetitive, dry fashion, over and over, which has the effect of dulling the senses, especially the sense of reason. Do you remember your comment to Karen in your email of October 24, 2003?
"We have a circuit assembly coming up (in Montgomery, Alabama!) nov. 22, 23. Sorry to say, but we couldn't wait for the Isaiah book to end. Even our p.o. said that. How many times and ways can you say the same thing?"
I’m not going to go on any further with more examples, because I’m sure your response will be similar to your last one. You have to write all this off as "imperfection" and "mistakes". Otherwise the only conclusion that remains is so distasteful that you can’t even consider it.
Ed, Karen and I love you and Cheryl very much. But at some point you should really ask yourself, What are the five points above typical of? Do you know? All of those factors are common to mind control cults. (See Steve Hassan’s "Combatting Cult Mind Control".) Again, it was a painful conclusion for us to come to, but all the evidence is there.
Your choice is to remain within, for the "good" that you see. I certainly understand that. It’s the same way I felt for so many years. I would overlook anything negative that came to my attention, and quickly dismiss it, concentrating on what was "good" about the organization. But I have finally exercised the due diligence I should have back in 1973. I was a young man of 22, and I mistakenly trusted the well-meaning witnesses I first came in contact with. My family and friends tried to warn me, but the witnesses had conditioned me to expect just that. They told me Jesus said my friends and family would become my enemies. And so I rejected the good counsel of those I had known all my life, in preference for that of those I had known only a few months. In retrospect, not very wise.
But that’s life, isn’t it? We each live with our choices and decisions. Karen and I truly regret the 30 years we spent supporting the Watchtower Society, and we cannot express how happy we are to be free. We are finally living our own lives again. We don’t miss it at all. We will always wonder how we were so easily conned into throwing away so much of our lives. And we wish there were something we could say to our dear friends to at least cause them to consider the possibility that what we tried to share might in fact be true. But alas, the indoctrination of decades forms a heavy callus over ability to reason freely. I thank you for your reply to my email. But I would have really appreciated a response.
Lenny
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APOSTA - DOCU - TOUR USA 2007!
by LennyinBluemont inok, folks, this is just in the dream stage right now and may not materialize for any number of reasons.
but right now im treating it as a distinct possibility.
heres the deal.
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LennyinBluemont
Hey, you guys are getting me psyched! Some great ideas! And photo ops! My friend whose idea this was originally, is talking about maybe next May. I don't know if my project will work out with what he wants to do or not. But I told him we could ride parts of the trip together and parts solo if that works out better. Right now I'm looking at a Triumph America (835cc) and Honda Shadow (750cc). Anybody know if Harley makes something in the 900cc range that's not too pricey? The Triumph and Honda are in the $6-7K range. I don't want a big 1200. Any other suggestions on bikes or luggage? I think the bikers on this board are coming out of the woodwork! Definitely gotta do the pyramid! Pay homage to the idiot that got this whole mess started. I have a few ideas of how to do that.
Lenny
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APOSTA - DOCU - TOUR USA 2007!
by LennyinBluemont inok, folks, this is just in the dream stage right now and may not materialize for any number of reasons.
but right now im treating it as a distinct possibility.
heres the deal.
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LennyinBluemont
Wow! Three invites already! At the very least, if this happens, I'll burn a compilation DVD as a courtesy to all those who participated. OK, that's Washington, California and Missouri. There's 45 states left! Hey Brant (uninformed), you oughta get in on this! DocBob, too!
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APOSTA - DOCU - TOUR USA 2007!
by LennyinBluemont inok, folks, this is just in the dream stage right now and may not materialize for any number of reasons.
but right now im treating it as a distinct possibility.
heres the deal.
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LennyinBluemont
APOSTA-DOCU-TOUR U.S.A. 2007!!
OK, folks, this is just in the dream stage right now and may not materialize for any number of reasons. But right now I’m treating it as a distinct possibility. Here’s the deal. I have felt inclined for some time now to do a documentary/expose on the WT. I have no experience in this vein, although I did recently take a short (very short) course at a local university on digital film-making. I’ve spent many hours pounding out outlines and some script, as well as verbalizing video shots. But so far, it’s not going anywhere.
Then I recently (about 2 months ago) was able to make contact with an old JW friend I haven’t seen in maybe 15 years. We contacted them with the hope that they either had left the Borg or were at least willing to examine some evidence. Well, it turns out they have been out for nine years now! They were both raised as JWs and he was at WT Farms for some time. The other night he calls me and tells me he’s planning on taking a cross country motorcycle trip. He just bought a Triumph Bonneville about a year ago, and he’s a professional photographer. He wants to spend 4 to 6 weeks and do a kind of photo documentary of people in small towns.
It’s been over 30 years since I’ve been on a motorcycle (I’m 55 now) but the idea has been slowly germinating in my brain to join him, as touring cross-country on a motorcycle has always been a dream of mine. He has agreed to have me come along. What I’d like to do is bring a video camera with me and record as many of you as would be willing to give an on-camera interview. Maybe just 15 or 30 minutes each. This would give me some raw footage that I could either use as the basis for the documentary, or could be footage that I weave in and out of the basic story I tell to give it flavor. If there are 30 or 40 of you who think you might be willing to do that, it would be good if you could tell me your general location. Just city and state would be fine for now. That way, I could put everyone on the map and then "connect the dots" to optimize my travel route westward and then eastward (I’m in Virginia.) I'm not looking for meals or accomodations. I'll have a tent and sleeping bag and won't be a burden on anyone. I'm paying my own way if I do this.
What would you say? Maybe you could just put together what you would say to your best friend, or relative who’s still an active JW. Or what you would say to active JWs in general. The tone and language should be kind and loving (since this may be for general consumption) but the content can be whatever you feel you want to make a statement about, no holds barred.
Again, it’s just in the dream stage, but please give me some feedback! I’m already looking at bikes!
Uncle Lenny
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Roll call time - What KH's have you attended.............
by Check_Your_Premises innaperville, dekalb, joliet......... il.
i tried to bump an old thread on this topic, but i couldn't find it.. anyone?
beuller?.
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LennyinBluemont
Rosemont (Alexandria, VA)
Southwest Washington, D.C.
South Alexandria, VA
Fairfax, VA
Centreville, VA
and, a big welcome!!!!!
to Sarah! (Skunkie)
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I need some quick info
by JimWood ini need some quick info, i really dont have the time to do it all by my lonesome self.. i need examples, in the bible and in the wt publication, where lesser ones are glorified for ratting out their leader or such.
i hope im making this clear enough, when posed with the un thing our family is hell bent on who are you to question.
so i think i will only get one more e-mail to give some (hope a lot) of examples to where we are all required by god to keep each other on the straight and narrow, regardless of position.. thanks all,.
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LennyinBluemont
Nathan called David to account for his sin. And David was king, Jehovah's "annointed one".