Exciting week for Nice Finds! Some shameless plugs too:

1) Nicest free photo contest on the internet! Click here

2) Nicest way to literally change someone’s life with $20: 30/30/30K

3) Nicest Video that makes you think about the value of Earthly things (my friend Matt sent me this, said it reminded him of Mark 13:1-2. As you know, I love all things in pop culture that point to God’s truth).

4) Nicest photo of baby alligators Morgan and I took (seriously, we saw these in the Forest Preserve in Hilton Head. Mom had her eye on us but we were on a boardwalk)

5) Nicest Picture From LUG:

6) Nicest New Website for student ministry resources: Grace Student Ministries

1) Nicest website for people like me who are incompetent with color matching: Kuler. Seriously, this thing is amazing.

2) Nicest use of a slide:

3) Nicest quote on today’s man: “The marketing sweet spot for many companies is young men ages eighteen to thirty-four. These guys don’t know what it means to be a man, and so marketers fill the void with products that define manhood by what you consume rather than what you produce.” From an article by Mark Driscoll found here.

1) Nicest new Worship Song. I love it. Forever Reign Click that link, listen to it, now. Seriously. And turn the bass up.

2) Nicest last second win of the day by the Braves (and 3rd out of last 5): Derreck Lee’s First Braves game

3) Nicest Conference you should come to: EMPOWER!
Learn about it HERE
Sign-Up HERE
Facebook event HERE

4) Nicest attempt to make a mini-van look cool:

1) Nicest way to pass the summer: Red Neck Water Skiing

2) Nicest way to send a message to the man: Phonebooks

3) Nicest hot air balloon in the galaxy:

Found this on WomansDay. Don't ask me how.

4) Nicest explanation of who the key grip, the gapher, and the rest of those weird people in movie credits are: Check it out

I think it is time that Nice Finds became a weekly column. Sure, I am ripping off other blogs. But this is a great way for people to see cool stuff! I am going to be “unique” by never having the same number of Nice Finds. I might even comment on some, although you probably don’t care about the comments.

1) Nicest fake trailer of my favorite game as a kid:

2) Nicest way to create a font based on your own handwriting:

3) Nicest example of how I would want to run my business:

4) Nicest song written by a friend (share this and help him win):

5) Nicest explanation of how the best soundtrack of the year was made:

I love original music. While I don’t usually get the chance to go to coffee places or concerts and hear people I do not know, someone came to me last night. We hosted a concert for our parents and volunteers last night and Jonathan Kingham was there and was one of the Nicest Finds ever.

Not sure who the other guy is, but just press play while you read this post

Jonathan is an incredible musician who’s lyrics are creative and even though they go deep quick, are really easy to listen to. He was an excellent performer and really funny. All he had was an acoustic and his voice, but that was more than enough. At one point he did a cover of Bobby Brown’s “Every Little Step I take” and in the middle of it broke into some freestyle and sang about random people in the audience. It was very impressive. I liked his performance so much that I bought not one, but two of his CDs on the spot.

Freestyling at 4:30 minutes

I also love his music because even though he is not under a Christian label and plays in secular places, he loves God and his lyrics often reflect that. I’ve said this several times, but the creative world needs more people who know Jesus and Jonathan Kingham gives me hope. This guy is going to make it big soon, and now you can say you knew about him before anyone else did. Check him out Here or buy/sample his music here or here

Here are a few videos I have come across that are worth watching:

1) The Muppets + Lost = Amazing

2) In light of recent celebrity exploits (Read previous post here) it is nice to see a young one who is at least a good guy:

Here’s an oldie that I will never grow tired of:

And from Tripp and Tyler, High Five Etiquette:

My friend Tyler Stanton is pretty funny. We sometimes do videos together for Grace Fellowship Church and he does most of the writing and acting and does a great job. Evidence? His video interview with Aaron Keyes is one we did together:

Now, there are probably hundreds of videos he did without me that are much better, and you may even recognize him from this youtube video that has over 3.7 million views:

Anyway, he just released a book about a month ago and it is really funny. It’s legit too, you can even buy it on amazon! The book is called Everyday Absurdities and you need it. Why? Because it will make you laugh, it will make the people in your life laugh, and it will give you some great ideas if you ever feel like being creative. Furthermore, I know you have always wanted a first edition book, and this is your chance to own one!

Am I doing a shameless plug for a friend? Yes. Would I be doing it if I didn’t think the book was great? No way. So go buy this book

Everyday Absurdities Book Promo from Tyler Stanton on Vimeo.

It’s time for another series of blog posts. I’m excited.

There is a world out there full of creative things. Some of them are good, and some are not so good. I get to see a lot of these creative things because it is part of my job. So each week, I will have a “Nice Find” for you. I may even have two, or three. The nice find could be anything creative: A book, a blog, a video, a movie, an online video, a song, or a combination of all!

Well, I am not sure if there is a book that has a song in it that is written for people older than 4, but whatever.

This week’s nice find is a music video I have really been enjoying on youtube. It is a song by Phil Wickham called “You’re Beautiful” and it is so good! The lyrics and the music are both incredible. Our student band (led by Alex Maeland) actually played this last week and did a great job.

I also like the video. Someone created using a program that I wish I was better at (either Motion or After Effects I am guessing). But the imagery goes along with the music really well and makes for a cool viewing experience.
But don’t take my word for it!

Do you have any nice finds you would like to share with the world?