Allahabad is a city in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Allahabad is one of the largest cities of the State of Uttar Pradesh in India. It has a large area and is an inland peninsula surrounded by the rivers Ganga and Yamuna from three sides with only one side connected to the mainland.

The nearest airports are Varanasi, Kanpur and Lucknow. The city has direct rail connections with important cities like Delhi, Calcutta, Patna, Gwalior, Meerut, Chennai, Mumbai, Varanasi and Guwahati. Allahabad, on National Highway 2 and 27, is connected to the rest of the country by good, motor able all weather roads.

Allahabad built on a very ancient site, was known in Aryan times as Prayag, and Brahma himself is said to have performed a sacrifice here. The Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang described visiting the city in 634 AD, and it acquired its present name in 1584, under Akbar. Later on Allahabad was taken by the Marathas, sacked by the Pathans and finally ceded to the British in 1801 by the Nawab of Avadh.

This gigantic Ashoka pillar, of polished sandstone stands 11 meters high, dating back to 232 BC. The Pillar has several edicts and a Persian inscription of Emperor Jahangir inscribed on it, commemorating his accession to the throne.
Akshayavat

An ancient holy city sacred to Hindu pilgrims, it is the site of the Pillar of Ashoka. The Mughal emperor Akbar founded the present day city in 1583. It was ceded to the British in 1801. Allahabad was the scene of a serious outbreak in the 1857 Indian Mutiny. The home of the Nehru family, it was later a centre of the Indian independence movement.

The Sangam is the most sacred spot in Allahabad at the confluence of three rivers, Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. Devout Hindus from all over come to this sacred pilgrimage point to offer prayers and take a dip in the holy waters. It is believed that a holy dip taken at the Sangam washes away all sins.

Hanuman Mandir temple has an idol of Lord Hanumana in a reclining posture. It is situated close to the Sangam and is considered unusual because of the supine image. When the Ganga is in spate, the temple often gets submerged.

The temperature in summer goes up to 46 degrees centigrade. The best season to visit is October to March. However come any time of year if the weather is not a problem.

Cold weather is fun for halo hunting, but when you are loaded down with a camera, a netbook and your lunch – half eaten, getting a photo was just out of my reach! But, on the bright side, at least I seen one. It formed as the sun passed behind some clouds,  about 20 minutes before sunset. It was a pretty sight. This ranks up there with yesterday when I missed a seriously bright sundog, once again, by perhaps 2 minutes. Another sundog today, before the sun pillar today, I took note of yet another sundog. As I noted before, when you start seeing parhelion, start looking for other stuff around the sun.

Root Timberline Scented 4″X9″ Pillar, Sampaquita Fragrance Review

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Root Timberline Scented 4″X9″ Pillar, Sampaquita Fragrance Feature

• Sampaquita Scent
• Burns approximately 22 hours per inch
• Self extinguishing
• Beautiful craft box
• Raw Beeswax color

Root Timberline Scented 4″X9″ Pillar, Sampaquita Fragrance Overview

Capture the essence of deep-woods Maine in this earthy collection celebrating Root’s contribution to environmental design. These rough-textured scented candles provide a natural, yet elegant, interpretation while still preserving the richness of our deisgner colors. Hewn to size, each candle’s top is highlighted by an array of treelike branches, while its sides echo the primitive simplicity of weathered rock. We’ve developed a special safety feature for each pillar that self extinguishes to safe-guard against a forgotten candle. Sampaquita scent is a distinctive blend of jasmine from the Phillipines with honeysuckle and rose. Each candle burns approximately 22 hours per inch. Individually packaged in a beautiful kraft box with stylized gothic tapestry design.

Root Timberline Scented 4″X9″ Pillar, Sampaquita Fragrance Specifications

Root

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Nov 29, 2009 19:45:04

32inch lcd hdtv

Friday night’s forecast caused a hurried change of plans. A quick stop in Gosforth for supplies saw us at the Wasdale Head at 9am. The route is covered as Walk 15 in Mark Richards’ Great Mountain Days in the Lake District. The book gives an estimated time of 8.5 hours and describes the route as arduous. We had 7.5 hours until darkness and Penny was very keen to be off the fells before dark.

A local on the walk up to Black Sail Pass

The walk into Mosedale was atmospheric, the snow line was at about 400m and the sun was rising over Scafell. The ascent was not too steep and the ridge between Black Sail Pass and Pillar gave good views into Ennerdale. Note to self – Ennerdale is a dark, cold place in Winter. It is a possible winter climbing venue but not somewhere to go looking for sunshine.

Pillar had a sneaky surprise, the map had a summit of 853m marked next to the word Pillar, however hidden slightly is the real summit at 892.  Those 40m came as a surprise but the summit was clear and afforded us great views in all directions.

The ridge between Pillar and Scoat Fell was in the cloud, we got a brief brockenspectre on the approach to Black Crag. We also met the first walker going the other way, up until this point we had been making fresh tracks in the six-inch deep powder. Whilst on the ridge we tested out Penny’s crampons, they fitted well but will need their straps trimming before being used in anger. We lingered on the ridge, taking photos, enjoying the view and eating lunch.  It was very warm in the sun and we were very glad that we had our sunglasses.

Us on Scoat Fell

Penny on Red Pike

Rainbows over Wastwater, Lake District National Park

This was the first time I’d ever been to the Lake District National Park nevermind photograph any of its iconic scenes. I’d seen photographs of Wastwater and read how it was the most remote of all the Lakes and I was not disappointed. Having conducted a recce of the shoreline in almost complete darkness I noticed the sun was about to peer from below the cloud layer and light up the entire scene. This it did obligingly but for no more than 90 seconds in which time I made several images including one where a double rainbow appeared and disappeared in less the 15 seconds.

Wastwater

Wastwater and impending storm looking towards Great Gable and Pillar

Castlerigg Stone Circle

I managed to squeeze in a visit to Castlerigg Stone Circle, near Keswick on my drive back from Wastwater. One of the best preserved stone circles in Britain, Castlerigg is surrounded by several mountains including, Blencatha, Helvellyn, High Seat and Shiddaw. Castlerigg Stone Circle is thought to have been built some 5,000 years ago during the Neolithic period, comprises of 38 stones in a circle approximately 30 metres in diameter. It is thought to be important in terms of megalithic astronomy as the circles construction is believed to contain astronomical alighments.

this monumental pillar from the insides of the british museum represents the high sense of sophistication, intellect, and power of a succesful collection of knowledge; which in different ways, it is what we as individuals are all trying to achieve. it is within the reflection of different experiences and historical happenings in which we learn to share the joys and tragedies in life. i just briefly wanted to show my reason to be: to experience and to share.

this is post #200.

Pillar
Låt: Frontline

Betyg: AAA
Kan kanske få högre betyg så småningom…
Har bara lyssnat på den i 5 min. NICE!

Finns på Spotify: JA

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

WEBB: http://www.pillartour.com/

MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/pillar

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

Depois de “For The Love Of The Game”, álbum de 2008, que marcou também a saída do baterista Lester e do baixista Kalel, o Pillar continua na ativa e já está com disco novo!

“Confessions” foi lançado em Setembro de 2009 e traz os novos integrantes da banda: o baixista Rich Gilliland (que já tocou com KJ-52 e Brandon Heath) e o baterista Taylor Carroll (Ex-After Edmund).

Sobre o novo disco, Rob Beckley (líder da banda) disse:

“Eu nunca tinha me arrepiado ao ouvir nossa própria música antes, mas este álbum está em um nível completamente diferente. Estamos gratos a todos aqueles que desempenharam o papel de nos tirar das nossas zonas de conforto. Eu não poderia estar mais orgulhoso da nossa banda.”

Mas as novidades não param por aí. A banda tá com um visual novo. Saca só a franjinha do Rob.

Assista o vídeo de “Call To Action” do mais novo álbum “Confessions”.

I was working in the State Bank, as Accountant, when my father phoned me, insisting that I come home immediately. He refused to give any reasons, as is his nature, being something of a Hitler. He still treats me as a child. I must confess that I am slender, weak minded and lack the will power of my father. It was his suggestion that I must join the Bank. My preference was for literature. Only fools read poetry, he would say.
Mother died early in my life, and father wanted me to marry early, so that there will be a woman in the house, which was quite big and the estate a few acres in size. I hated it, as he would tell me to count the coconuts, before taking to the mill, for extracting oil. I always made mistake in counting, as my mind will wander here and there.
When I reached home, he told me to see a girl, whom I knew from childhood. I cursed my fate. She was one among half a dozen brats, black, dirty with a running nose and always babling about whatever came to her mind.
Their house was in a village which can be reached by a local train, starting early morning. The next train is in the evening. I was to go alone, as they had been informed in advance. Of course, father was too busy to come wth me.
I was thinking about Sushma, of our office,who had a liking for me. I too felt happy in her presence. I missed the station, where I was to get down. So I got down at the next station.
To my surprise and relief, my class fellow was the Station Master there !
As soon as the train left, he took me to his room. When I explained my plight, he burst out: let him go to hell. You are earning a salary. You can live with your income. One day, the old man will surely die. Don’t marry now. Wait for some years. You are only twenty two!
At lunch time, we went to his quarter, a few  steps from the station. He had infrmed his mother and  they were expecting me. He had a sister, extremely beautiful, but unhealthy. She went on talking to me, as to an old friend, though it was our first meeting. I liked her.
When I returned home, by the noon train, my father did not say anything. When I told him about my missing the place, to get down from the train,
the only comment was: what else can be expected from a dreamer?

The station master, my friend, and I belong to the same caste, Tamil Brahmins settled in Keralam. He lost no time in contacting my father and before I could think of it, my marriage with his sister was fixed. I was not unhappy.
I hired a better house and we started our life on a good note. The mobile phone enabled us to be together, even when we were separated, and I enjoyed her sweet voice almost always. Sushma, though a Nair girl, used to come to our house off and on. My wife knew how to make vada, dosa, muruku and a  host of other dishes, available only in Tamilnadu. She would teach the technique to Sushma, and sometimes, my wife would sing. She had a pleasing voice.
Every month, my wife had fever, with high temperature. I think, the doctors did not understand her problem. They went on prescribing new medicines, which were of no avail. When she became pregnant, they cautioned about her inebility to survive a delivery, but my wife was bent on having the baby.
Sushma too tried to avert the calamity, advising a D and C.
 I tried to believe in His powers. We went to all temples and offered prayers. When the time came, we went to Calicut medical college hospital, where I had friends. Sushma too came to give moral support.
Even when I recollect those times, I feel the utter helplessness of we human beings, our prayers and aspirations. I was mentally prepared to hear the worst, but was spared of the necessity. She delivered a boy and survived.

But the joy was short lived. She died of a very severe fever, becoming delirious and then uncoscious.
Sushma remained with me to look after the baby.
I was transferred to Calcutta.
When I joined the branch there, my boss was a Miss Swamy. She came and I wished her. Seeing the new comer, a flick of recognition passed through her eyes, just a momentary ray of light. She motioned me to come into her cabin.
On being seated, her smile burst into peals of lauhter. I could not understand it. How can this fashionable lady, though jet black in colour, know me, living in far away Keralam ? Yet her eyes, so magnetic and fiery, reminded me of the past. But how?
Are you not from Vallapuzha ? she asked. I was dumbfounded.
Yes.
You have a big estate there.
Yes, Madam.
OH! Forget the madam. I am simply Geeta. Once you were coming to see me, but you didn’t turn up. My father was very upset then.
I kept mum.
Several customers came in and she dismissed me.
I could not believe it. How that dirty girl has metamorphosed into this vivacious, bright, fashonably dressed, Senior Manager of a Nationalised Bank, where I am still an unknown accountant, was beyond my comprehension.
During lunch break, she called me in and we had tea and biscuits. She asked me to stay on, till she took me out to have dinner. As I was new, I didn’t have much to do. She called me in, at about four.
I must thank God you have come. I came here only one week back. I have not settled yet. Have you brought your family?
 I told her what happened.
I am so sorry man. Any way, we will stay together. I have plenty of friends here. They will fix me up.
Then she took me in her car and drove to a posh restaurant. She behaved, as though we are friends for a long time. She even ordered non-veg. items. I chose dosa which was avalilable luckily.
Why did you not try for officer’s post.
I am happy as it is.
My father pressed me hard to marry. All others are married. Now he is no more. What about you?
Mine is still alive. Very weak. Can’t hear or see.
In the night, she persuaded me to stay in her hotel room. There is plenty of room for two. We are not teenagers. I had enough sex. Now I a not interested, unless you want to.
Can I speak to my people at home?
She asked the hotel to connect the number I gave her.
Who is this Sushma? Is she attached to you?
Yes and no. See, she is looking after my son. She is very much devoted to my late wife and our son.
Well, good night! Have proper rest. Talk afterwards.
In the office, she asked my advice, even for small matters. There was a case, involving a loan of some twenty crores. She wanted me to study it thoroughly, especially the risk factor. Some minister is interested.

We shifted to a house, in a posh locality. Why not some cheap one, I asked.
Life is to enjoy. Whom shall I save money for? Will they not forget it afterwrds, when we need their help? – I had no reply.
Every one was happy, it seemd. Not some people in the office, though.
What is the relation between the two? People were curious. In our society two individuals may not live together, if they happen to be of different sex. Some anonymous letters reached H.Q. They forwarded it to our lady. She showed it to me. WHAT DOES HER ADVISOR SAY?
On the one hand, I undrestood her philosophy. But we are living in a society. We have to respect their sentiments.
Sushma wanted to come to Calcutta. I was eager to see my son. In the photo he seemed very handsome. He is now two years old. I never went home, during these two years.
That evening we went to a park. The full moon was rising in the East, spreading its milky sprays in the whole world. Geeta sat very near, encircling me with her arms, warm and soft, loving and tender. Her lips were nibbling my cheek. A celestial fragrance emanated from her body. We lay down, curling against each other. She removed the buttons of her jacket and I brought my mouth very closed to those soft buttery heaps, when we heard footsteps coming towards us…….
She bought some fine whisky and we went back home. The maid brought our food and she dismissed her. Sipping the drink and tasting the chicken, no more objectionable to me, we spent a pleasant evening.
I slept soon. In the dead of night, something was creeping over my body. When I switched on the light, I saw Geeta  licking my body, every inch of it, herself stark naked, her breasts full and the nipples erect. My body began to get hotter and hotter. She was lying over my body and almost bit my lips off.
My stuff stood up like a pillar and went into the tunnel in the valley, as easily, as a sharp knife into the soft cake……
Nex day, Sushma came with the kid. I had taken leave and went to the railway station to receive them. The boy was looking healthy and smart. Sushma looked even more bright. No one will say, it is not her child. On the way she asked me a number of questions, some very difficult to answer. Why am I staying with Geeta?
We used to go sight seeing. She was in a metropolitan city for the first time. The child too enjoyed the atmosphere in the children’s park etc. But she was very critical of Geeta. She is capable of doing anything, she said.

I told Geeta that Sushma is willing for a transfer to Calcutta. Will Madam help?
The day for their departure came. The boy was crying, but no response from Sushma. When  we went into her room, she was lying dead. Blood was coming from her mouth.
Geeta: I always kept a bottle of cyanide for emergency. She must have taken it inadvertently.
I took the baby and Sushma’s baggage. I went to the railway station, without saying a word.

Hoy vamos a explicar el significado de la expresión “cazar a…” o “pillar a…” con un ejemplo gráfico muy práctico, y con el cual esperamos que quede bien claro.

AMP is aiming to join the big four banks and become a fifth pillar of the financial services industry with an audacious $11.7 billion bid for rival Axa in one of the biggest takeovers in Australian history…. From The Australian. Full story

This site may contain information about: recession news. The blog is also related to: recession data.

Written By: Ben Millikan

Label: Essential/Sony – Rating:

Usually, a band’s lineup is indicative of their longevity and overall success. A Band that is able to stick together through thick and thin with its original members is usually one that will go a long way in the music industry; whereas bands that consistently have to go through lineup changes inevitably end up faltering. But there is an exception to every rule, and in this case the exception is Christian alternative/metal band Pillar.

Led by founder/frontman Rob Beckley, Pillar has endured five different lineup changes over their successful twelve-year career. But despite this, Pillar has managed to forge ahead with nearly one million albums sold to date. Now, with five studio albums under their belt and two more new faces, Pillar has put together what they believe to be their best album to date with Confessions. Despite having a new bass player (Rich Gilliland) and drummer (Taylor Carroll), Beckley believes that the current lineup is the best that Pillar has ever had: “We’re still a guitar-driven band, but now, for the first time, we have a tight rhythm section with a serious groove. Musicianwise, this is the strongest lineup we’ve ever had.”

Although fans will have to get acclimated with the new faces, the deeply personal and thought provoking lyrics of Beckley are still the focal point of the band. Whether it be confronting the destructive cycle of hiding secret sins (“Secrets and Regrets”) or discussing how God’s plan in his life rescued him from his partying days in college (“Better Off Now”), Beckley’s thoughts expressed on Confessions have no shortage of emotional appeal or deep-rooted empathy. Just as Beckley has done so in the past, his faith-inspired lyrics on Confessions will continue leave an indelible mark on listeners.

Musically, Pillar has taken a more direct, mainstream approach with Confessions, while still following the formula that got them to where they are: heavy, over-driven guitars mixed with catchy, melodic vocals. The epitome of this description can easily be heard on the album’s opener, “Fire On The Inside.” Loaded with plenty of punch and bottom end, the track really sets the tone for the record with a heavy, old-school metal guitar riff that is full of thrash and aggression. But Pillar has expanded their sound to include a more anthematic and symphonic feel with tracks like “Will You Be There” and “Better Off Now.” It should also be noted that they put together an amazing cover of Collective Soul’s “Shine.”

Once again, Pillar has proven why they are the pioneers of the Christian hard-rock scene with their work on Confessions.

Rating: 4/4 Gunz

Like Pillar? Check out: Skillet, Disturbed

Once again its time for some sexy stuff or so the people who’ve come up with this shit say. The romance novel phrase of the weekend is pillar of manhood. Not quite sure what idiot thought of this phrase, but it’s definately clever if nothing else.

Anyway, use it during your sexy time this weekend! I double dog dare ya!

>Heather<

Went on a lil trip down to Lockport (lots of places to shoot at) with Tim, Jeff, Norbet and Tom. And we went to this abandoned lumber mill around Lockport. Fascinating place!

Pity we were losing light quite a bit quicker than expected. Did manage to get a couple of frames out, still working on a fisheye shot which i planned for HDR but we’ll see what my mac can churn out.

How cruel can be the thoughtless tongue,
the justified put down,
and the defended dirty spew,
spraying sewage all around–
all launched in blindness,
hurtful impact unseen,
a blame game round and round

Without a daily cleaning,
without a centre in the house,
i would be lost in filthy maelstrom,
and spun in whirlwind turmoil,
triggered reactive here and there,
i would a menace participate–
no solution to the problem,
a hassle to myself.

A centre is my key,
the key to humbling pride,
pride the lord self-righteous justifier,
and love my central pillar,
my beloved pivot calm heart-sink–
from inside out i seek sanitary kind expression,
love the universal solvent.

Nulla è peggiore nella vita di un uomo che perdere ciò che egli non ha mai realmente posseduto. (R.C.)

Pillar of Autumn

Originally uploaded by stonewall072

The accompanying photo was taken while playing around with the camera today after the homecoming meal at Cleveland Community Chapel. I shot in manual and didn’t realize until later that I had left the ISO jacked all the way up to the highest setting after taking some twilight Halloween shots last night; which means the pictures turned out a bit grainy.  I think this was the best of the lot.

Today was CCC’s annual homecoming dinner. Homecoming…I think it’s one of the few places I don’t feel at home. It’s a different situation than going someplace completely new. After being away for so long the people I used to know so well and consider extended family have become almost strangers.

With a few of them I can fall back into comfortable conversation with after just a few moments, and I guess that’s why I keep putting myself through it each time I go back down there.

They always welcome me back with open arms, but I’ve changed so much since I left them a handful of years ago.  I suspect they expect me to be the same person as when I left.  That’s not going to happen I’m afraid.

(as originally posted on my facebook)

Alright. So it’s become a tradition to for me and a bunch of cousins and friends to head up to Lewisberry, PA for Purple Door Festival on the second weekend of August. This is the 3rd year I’ve gone. And it was by far the best.

The lineup was incredible. The shows were all awesome. But more than that, it was the people that I met that really made the weekend memorable.

Me and Abigail packed up the car and left Friday at 11:30am. We ended up at the same rest stop on the never ending PA turnpike as Chrissy, Dan and Gary. And at the same exact time. We arrived at the lovely home of Jenn, in Mechanicsburg. She let’s us all trudge into her house, take over her floor with our sleeping bags and air mattresses and lineup outside her bathroom for showers. That woman is amazing.

I was stoked to see bands and friends I hadn’t seen in a while. Timothy Bolton, who’d I met at Soulfest, was going to be there. He called me saying him and his friend Angela Plake (who is such an awesome girl) needed a place to stow their sleeping bags and clothes. So we headed up the hill with their friend who talked to me in French, and dumped all their stuff in my trunk for the night.

Then I walked by Texas in July. I hadn’t seen them in a long time. The one guy said Hi to me. I said hey back and kept walking. I totally didn’t recognize him till I opened my PD program and saw his face staring put at me. Ha I felt retarted and rude. So I texted Alex from TIJ and eventually met up with them for real.

Then as I walked up from the HM stage I ran into Taylor Carrol from Pillar, who I had met at Kingdom Bound. Surprisingly, he remembered me and we hung out for a while. Kim Flanders and I then interviewed Taylor and the rest of the band later on in the tour bus. That thing was legit ..and air conditioned. it was lovely. You can read that interview here, and on this blog as well.

Met up with Brandon from I Am Terrified later on, talked to those guys, did a short interview, which you can read here (and on this wordpress blog as well). Oh and I almost ran into Chapstique from FF5 while in the artist lounge. And his friend held the door open for me. I was pretty excited….

Oh and I saw Nevertheless again. I owe those guys big time and they don‘t even know it. Got to talk to Josh Pearson for a little afterwards.

Hung out with Tim and Angela lot…..and doing so I met two guys who Tim and Angela camp with them on Friday. They were really cool guys too..had fun talking to them.

I finally got to see Abel. Those guys are legit. Their lyrics are so awesome. I hadnt seen them since they played in Salem as The Comeback Tour. So glad they were there! they are really really nice people. Also had an interview (which, you guessed it, is linked right here and also posted on this blog) with Deas Vail . I’ve waited so many years to see them live. It was lovely. Im always in awe of Wes’ voice.

Alright who else was there? Oh. There were these 4 guys that I’d seen together all weekend and they looked like they were most definitely in a band. I just couldn’t figure out which one. So as Tim and I walked past them he looked at me sand said “Hey do you know what band they’re in?” I was like “Nope but I’ve been wondering all day!” So of course, Tim just walks right up to them and asks. And ironically, they aren’t even in a band. But the one guy plays guitar and wants to play purple door next year. I expect to see him and tim both up on that gallery stage at pd 2010. It’s gonna happen.
Those guys were really cool, really encouraging. We prayed with them afterwards. Thats something i dont really do. just walk up to someone and ask to pray with them. But the common bond we had was so strong that it didnt even seem odd at all. it was so natural. oh and come to find out that they’re from central jersey .and will be at revelation generation. While we prayed, bradley hathaway was singing his poems right behind us. after that i left for my deas vail interview, but ive been told that during his set he helped a guy propose to his girlfriend. And she said yes.

Got to see kim d i love that lady. Just giving her a hug was enough. Her and mike are some of the nicest, most generous people i have ever met.

I saw B-Reith’s set for the first time. My interview with him was pretty cool too. You can check it out here and on this blog. He’s friends with toby mac. That just makes him really awesome automatically.

Alright what else should i say?
i talked with Marc from Farewell Flight for a rather long time. We had a great discussion about today’s music, record labels, etc. Really down to earth guy.

When I was on my way to talk with Marc, I ran into Alex Good from Texas in July again. And as we talked another guy came up to tell him how much he liked his set. That guy just so happened to know a bunch of my friends AND live right by me. Craziness. So after briefly chatting with him, I talked with Marc.

I had a lovely stargazing hour while laying on Jenn’s driveway at 3am..with Chrissy, Chad and Shamir.

(as posted on my facebook)

So back in June, I decided to travel with Rock for Life for a 10 day trip to NH and NY. The trip was scheduled for July 27 – August 6th. It was going to be a blast. I waited more than half the summer for the time to come around. About a week before I left I heard from Erik, director of RFL, that most of the volunteers had backed out for various reasons and they needed some more help. So I sent out a ton of texts. I sent one to someone I hardly knew at the time… I wasn’t even sure why I was sending it to him..I doubted he’d come or even reply.

But he did – and he came. So me, Nicholas Moore from MD, and Erik Whittington from VA left my house on a Tuesday afternoon to go pick up Erika Schmidt in Mass. Then we went to Soulfest to run a booth for Rock For Life. RFL is a pro-life organization aimed at teenagers/students and providing awareness through education and music.

Soulfest was incredible. We sold t-shirts, hoodies, bags, pins, stickers..the usual merch. But more than selling things, we were able to provide literature to curious concert attenders. We had a book on the table that said “Write What’s On Your Mind.” In there, people wrote about the mud that plagued the festival, or how much they missed their significant others, what kind of tshirts they want us to make – but more importantly are the stories of mothers who sat in an abortion clinic and were bold enough to walk out as their name was called. Paragraphs written by mothers who now hold children in their arms due to an adoption that almost ended up as an abortion.

We also had a binder that contained pictures of aborted babies, of dumpsters full of tiny bodies. Of their limbs strewn about on doctor’s tables. It’s horrifying. I gagged the first time I glanced at a page. I almost vomited when people would come up and look at the pictures. At Kingdom Bound, one lady looked through the whole book, looked up at me, and then burst into tears.

Nick and Erika and I had awesome conversations, and I loved spending time with the both of them.
I finally met “my band”…aka..We As Human. They are some of the nicest guys. They’re signing with INO Records, I’m so incredibly happy for them!

I finally met All Ships At Sea in person, after corresponding with them on MySpace a few years back. I heard an inspiring and encouraging story about their friend, Tim, who came with them to soulfest. Ironically, Tim walked by our booth with his Relevant Magazine name tag on. Nick shouted his name out for me. I’m glad he did, ’cause I’ve been so blessed to hang out with him since then.

I met a lady named Maggie, from CT. She manages her kid’s band, Siloam. They’re insane . I had a great conversation, and the guy from All Ships At Sea prayed with us both. Later, she met a girl named Vanessa Leikvoll who is from Mass. She told Vanessa she should go talk to ‘Rebecca at the Rock For Life table.” She did, and I was able to talk to her for a little while. She’s really great.

I also talked to Jason Blades from To Write Love On Her Arms. I had bought a shirt from him at Warped Camden. Erika asked me to go with her as she expressed her appreciation for TWLOHA. He was running the soulfest booth. And I can’t stand not saying hello to someone I recognize haha. Im weird like that

Erika and I stood out in the worst rain storm I’ve ever seen just to listen to FF5. Right up next to the stage with our fancy press passes. Too bad I didn’t have my camera.

It’s such a crazy small world too. There was a booth called Teen Challenge down the row from ours. I walked by it a few times a day. Eventually on the last day I talked to the guy running it. His names is Neil Hooley. Turns out his hometown is about a half an hour from me. and he surfs. how cool is that?

I also hung out with Article A for a while – they’re really awesome – from North Jersey. And Among The Thirsty, a band from FL I hadn’t seen in years.
——–
On Saturday night we drove 8 hours through the night..well Erik drove..to arrive in NY at 10am the next morning for Kingdom Bound. After setting up and being so sick due to lack of sleep we took a nap at the hotel and then Nick and I headed back to the festival. Erika had gone home after Soulfest, but Shawn and Ricky, from NY, volunteered to help us for the next few days.

I had been spoiled at soulfest. I could go on any stage, walk through the load-in area for the bands, use their porta-a-pottys (which were much cleaner than everyone else’s) by flashing my media/press pass. But I wasn’t so fortunate at Kingdom Bound. I was unable to secure a pass for this festival.

However, God provided, and every day besides Sunday, one of the bands gave me a pass. On Monday, Francy from Hello Kelly from Canada gave me 3 official Hello Kelly passes, meal tickets to catering, and even a parking pass. We were so blessed. Definitely look those guys up.

During this year’s Purple Door festival, inReview caught up with Pillar for a few minutes aboard their air-conditioned tour bus. (A much appreciated break from the weekend’s heat). As we heard the female-fronted band, The Pledge, take the stage behind us, we were able to delve into the minds of the four band members and pick their brains about the past tour, new members, and an upcoming CD release.

Later that night we witnessed the crowd intensify as Pillar began their set. With such a great live show and dedicated fans, only greater things could possibly be in store for this hard rock act. Listen in on what they had to share, and be sure to pick up their new album when it drops on September 22nd, 2009.

inReview: What gave you the idea for the Confessions Tour and cards?
Rob: There was a series that my church went through a couple years ago called “My Secret” and they did a similar type thing. They also had an online confessions area. I talked to somebody at our church about bringing it on the road. We set up a confessions booth on the tour and took that philosophy out on the road with us.

inReview: How is Confessions different or similar to your previous records?
Noah: Well, musically it’s still reminiscent of old school Pillar but it has a lot of new, modernistic tones.
Rich: Yeah, a lot of new words like ‘modernistic!’
Noah: It’s definitely a lot more modernized. Its definitely more big rock and a little less riffy. The drums are huge, the bass sounds phenomenal, Rob’s vocals are amazing, exquisite, superior.
Rob: The writing process was different on this record. But overall, the ultimate similarity is that I’m still singing. If you put the Confessions record with our very first record it wouldn’t even sound like the same band. Every record has changed, evolved. Rob Gray produced this record so just having a new producer brought it to a whole different level and perspective.

inReview: What would be your favorite song on the record?
Rich: “Whatever It Takes To Get To You”
Taylor: “You Are Not The End”
Noah: “Not Without a Fight”, but I also like “Will You Be There”, and “You Are Not The End”. But I think the whole record is a step up.
Taylor: Yeah you can’t pick your favorite song really. It’s like picking your favorite episode of Full House!

inReview: The majority of songs on this album have already been dubbed ‘radio friendly’ – were you striving for that when you began the songwriting process?
Rob: It wasn’t necessarily an intentional process. We started off with like 36 ideas and we picked the ten songs that are the best, the catchiest ones. If radio friendly is what they want to call it, then we’re fine with that.
Noah: We’ll see you on the charts!
Rob: We’ve always been a rock band, and we still are. There are still heavy songs on there, and we’ve always had ballads. There’s a lot of bands in the world where they have a radio hit, but the rest of the record doesn’t sound a thing like it. Hey, shame on radio for not letting them play more of our songs.
Taylor : It’s the beginning of a new era, too.

inReview: What led to the new lineup, and picking Rich for bass and Taylor for drums?
Rob: Well actually, I was on craigslist.
Noah: We looked for bass players and he [Rich] worked for the cheapest. And then under the free drummers and that’s where Taylor was.  [Laughing.]
Rich: Nah really, it wasn’t an ad. I went to the same church for a while and then Noah and Rob showed up and started going there so I got to know them through that. I’ve played with a lot of Christian artists – been doing it since ’99. Something happened that I couldn’t be with the person [band] I was with, and they couldn’t be with the person they were with anymore and it all just worked out. It couldn’t have been orchestrated any better.
Taylor: I drove all night to audition. And it was totally worth it. It’s weird. I never knew, when I was standing on the side of the stage watching these guys play a few years ago when I was in a pop/punk band, that I’d be in Pillar a few years later.
Noah: What’s cool is that the formula [lineup] has changed numerous times and it just gets better every time. Each equation is equal to a big step forward. Some bands get a new drummer, singer or bass player and all of a sudden they just fall off.  But musically we’ve really grown in the past twelve years.
Taylor: I think now it’s Pillar!

inReview: What’s a question that you haven’t been asked, that you’d want to be asked? Cause you know, people always have to ask that question.
Noah: Well I’ve never been asked that before!
Rich: What’s your workout regiment, Taylor?
Taylor: Oh man. Well, I always get Myoplex 17 gram protein shakes. In case EAS is interested in giving me an endorsement…
Noah: Unfortunately, they won’t hear this interview.
Taylor: Well let’s see, Rich – I wake up, I lift a shake out of the fridge and I drink it like this.
Rich: Do you curl it?
Noah: How many sips do you get out of that?

inReview: How has the way you connect with fans changed over the years?
Rob: We used to be the band that record labels talked about and said, ‘Do it like Pillar.” There literally were meetings about modeling after Pillar’s street team. What happened was a surge of online communities that took away the focus of what we were doing. We’ve had to rethink about how to re-engage the fans. While taking about this new record a key point was re-engaging those core Pillar fans. The label wanted to change our logo and they gave us one option. We have a staple logo that people just know. So we put it [the new logo] out there and people were saying “oh that’s awful.”
Rich: “We’re not buying the new record…”
Rob: Yeah, so we went into the label and said “this is what people are saying.” We put up a poll over a weekend and at the end of the weekend there were over 3,000 votes. Over 90% of fans said to keep the old logo. So the label said “Okay, we will.” The fans are just jacked up right now. There’s some people that are so excited that I thought they were going to like drive down, find our houses and give us hugs…What we’ve done in the past is one thing, and this is a new opportunity. We’ll see how it goes!

** special thanks to Kim for help with this interview!**

There is ONLY ONE PILLAR in Gur Sikhee and that is Gurmat i.e. Guru jees divine teachings as recorded in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee.

Its like “hukamnama” (divine order or decree), the whole of Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee  is our hukamnama.

The whole of  Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee is the pillar (support) for humanity.

Published on: Oct 20, 2009 bumped 21 0ct 09

SIMPLEST!

yes like the TV Meerkat advert.

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Andrew catches up with the delightful duo BeBe & CeCe Winans on their reunion and long-awaited new record and talks to the always-articulate David Crowder*Band’s front man about the art of recording “church” music, as well as receiving a rundown on Skillet’s latest with John and Korey Cooper, time on the road with Pillar’s Rob Beckley and a informative spar with Derek Webb. Andrew also chatted with Cincinnati Bengals’ NFL SuperBowl Champ Ben Utecht about his dual professions as part-time musician and full-time jock.

Plus, check out reviews of new releases by Fred Hammond, Diamond Rio, Leeland, Mindy Smith, Phil Stacey and more, and interviews with Mark Schultz, Avalon, Flyleaf’s Lacey Mosley and the irascible former Blind Boys of Alabama lead singer, Clarence Fountain.

Read all of Andrew’s recent articles by visiting Andrew’s “Words” page here.

Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid | Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 17 | Size: 1 MB
Let us look at one example of something that we are neglecting and have shortcomings towards… let us address the issue of prayer – the most important practical pillar of Islaam. Slaves of Allaah! There are many people amongst those who do actually pray who fail to realise the importance of prayer, its benefits and its true value; therefore, it has become a burden on them and not the delight of their eyes, tranquillity for their souls or a light for their hearts. Many people pray hurriedly, without any calmness or tranquillity.

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While many of us go on with our day as if no war is happening over sees, other than to be reminded about this peril when it’s mentioned in the news, military families have to deal with it day in and day out.  Their families are fighting for our freedom and put their lives at risk each and every day.  These families need hope, faith and reassurance that their loved ones are safe and pray that they never get word that their loved one has fallen.  I am working on stained glass mosaic candleholders that these strong families can use to light a candle for the holidays, birthdays or any occasion they feel the need to pray.

Each candleholder is unique and one-of-a-kind.  The base is black and measures 12″ x 4″ with a ledge around the edges.  Each piece of stained glass has been hand cut, the sides ground down to prevent sharp edges, words placed under clear glass saying “faith”, “prayer”, “save our troops”, etc.  Each one can be custom designed to convey the needs of the family such as colors, sayings, the name of their loved one, etc.  A 6″ pillar candle is included with each order.  The cost for the candleholder and the pillar is $35.00.

These candleholders can be used for not only those fighting there currently, but also for those who have already fallen.  It can be used as a memorial to their fighting spirit and for their dedication; a place to connect to their spirit and to show them they are still in your heart.

While these candleholders are primarily made for those in the military, they can also be made for those who have family that have gone astray to pray for their safety.  Each candleholder is made with each families needs in mind and something they will cherish for years to come.  I also make picture frames with military embellishments as well.

Please your custom order today and begin lighting a candle for those you love.  All orders can be placed at sales@definingdesignsbycms.com.  We look forward to talking to and wish your families the best of luck.