dave culbreath

as you guys know, i actively participate in, and lead others on, mission teams to Jamaica. in fact, i just returned from one of these trips sunday morning at 3am.

i’ve been responsible for planning, funding and leading 11 teams to Jamaica – taking full responsibility for the well being of more than 250 lives in a foreign land. in no way am i seeking to shine a light on what i’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to do for any personal glory, i tell you this to ask for your thoughts and prayers on behalf of a team of folks that do similar work in the Dominican Republic.

last week, this team had to deal with the death of one of their team members abroad - Shane Ruiz. He was swept out into the sea by extremely violent surf and drowned. they have yet to find his body.

i’ve driven countless hours all over Jamaica, been threatened by ganja-stoned Rastas, been pulled over by the cops, been tear gassed, had a member of my team literally stand between two Jamaicans who were fighting, and countless other situations that have been – in many eyes – dangerous. i can’t empathize with what that team is going through and pray that i never can. but, i can ask the Lord - the only true source of undying comfort and hope - to help them… which is what I’m asking you to do on their behalf.

The Official Press Release:
http://web.fhu.edu/News/2008+Press+Release+text.htm#Ruiz

hope everyone has a wonderful christmas eve and day, surrounded by family, friends and loved ones, as am I.

one of my favorite parts about this time of year are all the “best of” and “worst of” lists.

yesterday, i discovered PC World’s “15 Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007“. microsoft’s vista topped the list (which is ironic since this is a list by pc world - also interesting is the fact that the fastest vista notebook they tested was an apple) and it’s worth the minute to kick through the others.

also worth of your time is yahoo!’s “People of the Web - The Most Memorable Web Videos of 2007“. i’ve dropped a few of my favorites in below for your viewing pleasure…*

will ferrell is hilarious:

this one will bring a tear to your eye:

if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all… but this one is pretty cool:

i personally believe that all u.s. americans should see this:

more reason to avoid prison in the philippines:

crazy stuff:

Free Runners - Watch more free videos

not arguing this is real of fake, it’s pretty cool regardless:

this hilarious… every time i watch it it’s funnier:

*click / watch at your own risk, some videos contain language and links to questionable material.

i couldn’t be more thankful for my amazing family and friends. i know i’m very blessed and am very mindful of this. today, i’m really proud of my brother - who received an invitation to visit the White House. This is an honor anytime, but is especially wonderful given that it’s happening this time of the year…

thanks to my new imac, i was able to pull our videos off the dvd and get them on the web. i’m a newbie to imovie, but i got it done. too bad this can’t capture the adrenaline.

** update: the xbox sold yesterday (11/20/07), so go buy a nintendo wii : ) **

one of my good friends is selling his xbox and is looking for a buyer. it’s not a 360, but it comes with a LOT of goodies. (i would’ve already bought it, but we have one already)

The Package:
Xbox - in excellent condition
Four controllers - in great condition
Monster optical cable
Monster component cable

* the monster cables provide the best quality audio and video you can get.

if you’re interested, shoot me an email…

i have a blast talking to people, because it’s my nature. i do it everywhere i go because i like talking to folks.

if you know me, you know this… and you know that i view every day as a mission trip. regardless of what i’m doing, i always hope that in some small way i can shine the Light to someone that might need to see it through my joy, randomness, stupidity or whatever else.

the other day at the grocery, lindsay and i wheeled into line to start unloading our goods onto the conveyor belt. as soon as we start, i hear from the end of the isle, “dude, that’s the coolest customer i’ve ever had.” after looking around to see who he was talking about, i looked up and saw a dude i had seen a few weeks prior at the same grocery store. he was talking about me. last time he checked us out, this time, he was bagging our groceries.

humbled, i started talking with him again. by the grace of the good Lord, details of our brief prior conversation came top of mind and i started where we left off last time…. which revolved around awesome classic rock (tom petty, bob dylan, et al) and playing music.

i say all this to say every day is a mission trip and every opportunity (big or small) is an opportunity to shine the Light. i know i said that in paragraph one, but it’s worth repeating. that’s not to say walk up to some stranger in the grocery and start preaching the Word to him - that’s not gonna work. before you sow the seed, prepare the soil. pray for wisdom and take it one step at a time. let people read the Word by your attitude and actions.

i’m just some random dude that strives to honor God in all my actions and if i can make even the smallest imprint on anyone, then i count it a blessing. there’s no reason why we all can’t do the same. pray for opportunities (and the wisdom to not overlook them) and see what happens…

i updated my to-do list today… it could use some better organization i know, but that’s not necessarily a strong point of mine. : )

what’s on your list?

in my career as a web dude, i’ve used nearly a dozen web hosting providers. none of them were as good as the one i’ve always preferred and use to this day… dreamhost. if you’re a freelance or full time web dude/dudette needing an awesome virtual hosting provider, if you have a free blogger website and are looking for more (like my bride was), or if your current hosting provider sucks, you should definitely make the move to dreamhost.

one cool feature is that i can create promo codes for use by anyone i refer to them… so email me if you’re interested.

lindsay and i jumped out of a perfectly good airplane (if there is such a thing) from flt110 in tullahoma today. yes, we’re perfectly sain. yes, we were well aware of what we were doing. and yes, it was one of the most incredible things i’ve ever done in my life.

for the record, i didn’t have to convince lindsay. she was all about it.

off to tullahoma, where we arrived… paid…. got less than 15 minutes of ground training, which can be summarized: hold your harness, exit the aircraft, enter the “box man position” when your instructor taps your shoulder, enjoy the ride.

we waited for our turn then crammed (all 6 of us - not including the pilot) into a cessna 195. it’s one of 3 in the u.s. they say… but it was cool. first ride in a taildragger. first time i took off in a plane that i didn’t land in…

at 8,000, we started getting strapped onto our instructors. there are 4 points where you’re connected to the instructor / tandem skydiver (hips and shoulders) and each is capable of holding several thousand pounds. i had been sitting by the “door” for the flight up to 11,000, so we were the first out.

it was a bit weird hanging out of the plane attached only to my instructor, looking down at the ground below. i can honestly say i wasn’t scared - it was intense, it was nerve racking (i was about to jump out of a plane!) but it was peaceful at the same time (if that makes any sense). they don’t give you much time to think, then your out…

your stomach doesn’t drop, like on a rollercoaster. there’s just a ton of wind hitting you really fast. it really was sensory overload. my mind was all over the place, but mostly on remembering to breathe and thinking about how awesome it was to be free fallin’ at 120mph.

when the canopy opened, that’s the only time you realize how fast your falling… cause the cameraman just disappeared in an instant. i watched him below us until i couldn’t see him anymore, which took an instant.

it doesn’t snap you or jerk when the canopy opens, you just slow down. the wind noise is gone and you are sitting in silence… flying like a bird. it’s a surreal few moments gliding back in… for me it was cool to have that vantage point on a runway - coming (literally) straight in from the top.

my instructor had me stand on his feet and push up, so he could loosen a few of the connections to make the ride down more comfortable. we talked a bit, but i was mostly giggling like a little kid on xmas.

highly recommend doing this and i look forward to doing it again (and learning how to jump by myself, which will come in 2008).

click here to see more photos.