100 things

1. I don't normally do these long list things
2. You probably will laugh at a few of these
3. Others will just make you shake your head and wonder a little more about me
4. I am a Christian
5. I once waited in a blizzard for front row tickets to see the Bangles (Craig & I had a slight infatuation with Susanna Hoffs)
6. I was born in Missouri
7. I play the piano at church every Sunday on a totally cool electric grand piano
8. I once saw The Fixx, the Moody Blues & The Beach Boys all at the same concert at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. Talk about a diverse crowd for that one.
9. I once passed out after sticking my arm in a ceiling fan at the beach
10. I once passed out at a free chiropractic exam
11. I passed out at Red Cross blood drives all 4 years of high school (3 years I donated and passed out - my senior year they had me volunteering carrying the little bags of blood - also not a good idea for me at that time)
12. I passed out giving blood for my marriage license and once at the dentist and once at an insurance screening. I dream what feels like 8 hour dreams in the few seconds that I am unconcious. (no...I am not a faint goat)
13. I have written two screenplays
14. I have secret dreams of writing and directing an Oscar winning short film
15. I worry too much about other people's opinions
16. I have five siblings in five different states
17. I saw Journey in concert once and a guy named Randy Jackson was playing bass (having never heard of him, I was indignant that Journey had dropped Ross Valory and not told me)
18. I have done voice over work for Sprint, New York Telephone, Ameritech, Bell Atlantic & an internet radio station based in Sacramento, CA)
19. I took piano lessons for nine years as a kid
20. My high school mascot was a green wave
21. My school colors were green and gold
22. My schools big rivalry was with the trojans
23. I wound up marrying a trojan
24. She's not particularly fond of the green/gold color combination to this day
25. I miss my Mom
26. She passed away in January of 2001
27. She was the kindest person I have ever met
28. I make really good french toast
29. Bad customer service is a pet peeve
30. Teenagers driving while texting is another one
31. I have worked on the radio on 12 different AM & FM frequencies (89.9FM, 92.1FM, 94.1FM, 96.9FM, 101.3FM, 104.3FM, 106.3FM, 106.9FM, - 1170AM, 1270AM, 1310AM, 1450AM,)
32. In three states (Town to town, up and down the dial)
33. In a variety of formats
34. Beautiful Music, Country, Classic Rock, Oldies, Easy Listening, News-Talk
35. I once sold Fuji film door to door
36. My first job was at McDonalds
37. I knew after about a week that food service would not be my life's work
38. My first non-food-related job was as a soda jerk/drug store delivery boy
39. I once mixed up a drug store delivery on a Friday afternoon giving birth control to an elderly couple and giving an adult diaper type product to a young married couple. The packages were sealed and my pharmacist boss didn't know the mistake until Monday.
40. He laughed about it instead of firing me.
41. He was a really great guy to work for
42. My wife and I installed a new garbage disposal yesterday
43. It's much quieter than the old one
44. We built our house three years ago
45. She designed the house on a piece of notebook paper
46. I had trouble picturing the design right up until the framing was done
47. She also let me put a 600 square foot putting/chipping green in the backyard
48. And two tee boxes
49. I'm pretty lucky (blessed is a better word)
50. I'm half way done with this list and running out of things in my brain
51. I have been influenced by many great people
52. I can spin a basketball on my finger for a really long time
53. I have ministered to homeless people all over the United States
54. I helped lead 50 teenagers to the Blackfoot reservation in Montana two years in a row.
55. I don't know the names of the people who live directly across the street from me
56. This kind of honesty risks making me look bad
57. I miss my family
58. My nearest relative is over 500 miles away
59. God has given us great friends here
60. I am a sucker for a tall french vanilla frappucinno at Starbucks (with an extra vanilla shot)
61. I dread going into Wal-Mart
62. I made an electric guitar from a block of poplar wood
62. It took a few months to shape the body and cut out the cavities for the electronics
63. I bought the neck on ebay
64. It looks cool and stays in tune
65. I call it my "Pauliecaster" since I traced my son's Stratocaster for the body shape
66. Goodness...is this not over yet?
67. I am normally a happy and upbeat person. I try to keep other people up too.
68. I want to leave a legacy of faith and good works to my children's children
69. I want to help my kids purchase their first house (guilt free)
70. Our caribbean cruise was my all time favorite vacation
71. Robin swam with dolphins in Cozumel
72. I want to go back someday soon
73. Like right now
74. Please
75. You're probably tired of reading this now
76. They should just do my top 76 things
77. I have questioned my faith in the last year
78. I have questioned God's providence in the last year
79. I went through a significant spiritual slump in the last year
80. All of that is okay
81. It's going to rain tomorrow
82. The sun will come back out by the weekend
83. This is metaphorical and meteorological
84. It didn't snow in South Carolina this year (again)
85. This made me sad and my wife happy and euphoric
86. She is a beach baby
87. She likes to hunt for shark's teeth
88. She is good at finding them
89. Our favorite spot to hunt is Amelia Island in Florida
90. Did I mention that we were due a vacation?
91. It's past midnight now and I am fading fast
92. I never knew 100 things would take this much thought
93. I recommend this exercise to my other blogging buddies
94. When I lay down tonight, I will think of things I should have added to this list
95. When I lay down tonight, I will think of things I should have left off this list
96. Ugh. Five more to go
97. We watched the movie - Dan in Real Life this past weekend
98. I watched it twice. It was very good. You should rent it if you haven't seen it
99. I am going to bed now
100. God bless you and good night

Best photos on the web for a Monday

Beware the eavesdropping statue.


I believe this tree tunnel is in northern California. Cool huh?


A properly folded $5 bill makes a nice hip-hop Abe.



Cool shoes or creative photoshop?


Pre-meditated bird bomb.

Look out for that....nevermind.

Please meet this year's early candidate for husband of the year.

Amazing Clarity

I found this on the blog known as "Girl in the green dress"

It's one of the many amazing blogs linked on Blog Catalog.

I would like to meet the person who wrote that.

Another gem from Dave Walker

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

The power of...

I used Krispy Kreme donuts as an object lesson as I shared the message this morning at New Covenant. Pastor David was out of town and asked me to speak. I read from John Chapter 6 where Jesus had fed the 5000 (men) and then went to Caperneum and spoke strong words saying "I am the bread of life" - "Eat my flesh, drink my blood or you shall have no part of me". My point was illustrating that when we get our bellies full, we'll follow those that fill them. These people who were fed by the fish and loaves thought Jesus was the new Moses....their new manna provider. Jesus wasn't worried about drawing a big crowd. He was more concerned about the commitment of those that followed him. It was a day of testing.

To illustrate my point, I showed a powerpoint with the pictures above and described my first encounter with Krispy Kreme on a Meals From Heaven trip to Nashville feeding homeless people. Living in Kentucky, we had never been to a K.K. The leader of the ministry informed us that we would be providing donuts for the people on the streets and he new the perfect place to get them. Once inside, I was in awe at the magical conveyor belt sending the donuts down the line. My first bite of a warm Krispy Kreme glazed donut....well...I heard angels singing (ahhh).

After telling the story, I pulled out a box of a dozen Krispy Kremes that I had picked up on the way to church. You should have seen the look in the eyes of our congregation! It was priceless. I offered them to the first 12 who wanted a donut and what followed was a stampede (I have witnesses) to the front of the sanctuary. I believe the donuts were gone in under 5 seconds. One of our teenagers (Nelson - you know who you are) ran all the way from the back soundbooth to get one. It was hilarious!

I hope it proved the point I was trying to make and if nothing else, it provided some laughter for the entire congregation.

Those words from Christ were too strong for most of the crowd that day. The Bible says that many, including his disciples, turned and walked away. He asked his twelve closest friends (who were still there with him), "Will you also go away?" Simon answered him with the words that should be on our lips today, "To whom shall we go; you have the words of life".

I hope you all have a great week!

We're celebrating today at the P.W.O.F.S. corporate offices because....

This is our 400th post! I feel a celebration is in order for all the big numbers. Woohoo!

(Take the rest of the day off. Tell them I said it was okay)

My Most Embarrassing Moments - Part 2

Anchorman


In the summer of 1989 I was encouraged by a good friend to tryout for the anchor position at WEIU - TV, the student run television station at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. My friend, Larry Smith, who is now a famous sports reporter and anchor for CNN Headline News, said that I would be as good as most of the other people there and that I should give it a shot. I had no prior television experience, although I had been working in broadcasting at the 50,000 watt WLBH AM & FM in Mattoon, Illinois since I had turned sixteen.
Larry gave me a few pointers (he was the current sports anchor and reporter) and told me to watch the movie Broadcast News and do what they told William Hurt to do. I showed up to the studio and met a guy named Kevin who would be my producer and an intimidating woman named Sue who was the news director. They both led me into the brightly lit studio, showed me where to sit, put an IFB in my ear where Kevin would be able to communicate with me and then gave me a script to read. As I looked at the camera, the words on my script came scrolling up the teleprompter and I read the news story.

I got the anchor job.

So far, no embarrassment whatsoever.

This is where things get interesting. It was on the day of our first live newscast. There was a buzz in the newsroom and in the studio. The local paper was there snapping photos of my co-anchor, Jodi Lyon and myself. EIU's President stopped in to wish us well. Other dignitaries were on hand. This was to be the first live newscast in the station's history. Kevin pulled me aside in a cooridor leading from the newsroom to the studio and said that is was time to go put on my makeup. Fine with me. I'd always imagined sitting in one of those fancy director chairs having some young pretty intern fixing my locks and dabbing powder on my nose. How cool!

Uh uh. Nope. There was no budget at a college station for hair and makeup. Everything here was do it yourself. It was at that moment the reality of the situation hit me.

I WOULD BE PUTTING ON MY OWN MAKEUP!

What?

"You've got to be kidding me?"

It was no joke. The bright lights made you look like a ghost without makeup so it was a required necessity. Sure enough, in fifteen minutes, I was sitting in a chair looking at a mirror like you would see backstage at a Broadway show. Before me sat a large Kaboodle case with all kinds of compartments, compacts, lipsticks and brushes that I didn't recognize. Foundations, base, powder, varying shades of rouge. When I asked for assistance, the female anchors and reporters just laughed at me.

Time was ticking.

I put on the base and it looked okay to me other than being smeared all over my white collar. I was told to do my eyes. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? I went with my best instinct and put on the rest of the makeup and headed to the anchor desk. I wish I had a video of that first night because the final outcome of my self-makeup-job made me look like a FRENCH HOOKER! (not that I had ever seen a french hooker. I am just assuming that I was what one looked like) I had on waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too much rouge making giant red splotches on my cheeks and my eyes looked a little like the original Joker from the Batman series. It was scary and embarrassing to say the least.

After that night, I asked Jodi for some guidance and she told me what would work best for my skin tone and hair color.. Things settled down after a week or two and I got fairly decent at putting on my own makeup in a short amount of time. Ultimately that period of television reporting and anchoring was both challenging and great fun.

By the way, if any of you men need advice on makeup. Send me an email to paul@paulsfunkystuff.com and I will try and steer you in the right direction.

David Cook does Michael Jackson

I normally shy away from all the American Idol buzz, especially here on P.W.O.F.S.

BUT

This is 2 minutes of musical genius. Great arrangement. Great vocal. Nice.

My most embarassing moments - Part 1

It's time for some blogging honesty. I've wanted to do this series of posts for some time but hesitated (you'll see why) knowing that some of you will smirk, laugh, shake your head, and ultimately think I'm a bigger idiot than you already do. It's worth the risk. What follows is some of my most embarrassing life moments for you to share and enjoy.

1. "I've got that Tupper feeling"


This first moment takes place around 1990. My wife and I were young and naive and Robin was contacted by someone in our church about a way to make some extra money. We were struggling to make ends meet at that time so I encouraged her to go to the meeting and find out more information. It turns out that the meeting was a gathering of ladies at one of her friend's house looking at Tupperware, the plastic dish conglomerate.

Sure enough, she came back from the meeting with several samples of free product and informed me that she was considering becoming a sales representative for the company. Move forward a few weeks on a Saturday when the phone was ringing once again with her "sponsor" who had become a littly pushy, wanting to know sales numbers, appointments, possible appointments, people who she thought might become appointments, etc. Ugh. Her sponsor was also pressuring me, her husband, to sell Tupperware. "Men have better luck than you would think", she told my wife. "Have Paul come to the big meeting next weekend and check it out".

Jump ahead one more week. It's another Saturday afternoon and we are pulling up in the parking lot of the local Tupperware headquarters. I was nervous and uncomfortable. Robin was not much better than I was as this was her first time to one of the "big" meetings. I don't like these kinds of group rah rah events. The stories are ugly and this one didn't seem much better on the surface. Besides, IT'S ALL WOMEN THERE...except me. We stepped inside to a world of much too perky people all very happy to have us in the joint. A man! Thank God...another man is here! He steps to the podium and opens the meeting. He recognizes a couple of people and then does something so amazing...so unbelievable...the point of this whole story...he....he....

The man turned to a small phonograph player on the wooden table beside him. He lifted the needle and placed it on a little 45 rpm record and then said to all of us (with huge gusto),

"LET'S ALL STAND TO OUR FEET AND SING OUR FAVORITE SONG TOGETHER -

I'VE GOT THAT TUPPER FEELING"

Really. It happened just like that. For the next three minutes, Robin and I watched in horror as all of these plastic dish salespeople sung the rousing rendition of "I've got that tupper feeling". We were trying to restrain our combined laughter and shock that a song like this even existed. It was like something from a Seinfeld episode. It was bizarre. It was the end of our association with Tupperware.

I didn't have that Tupper feeling.

I won't ever have that Tupper feeling.

Sorry.

To this day, I get a "Tupper Twitch" when people mention a great new network marketing opportunity to me. I know there are some really good products out there that are designed with downlines and whatnot. I know the concept works, especially for those who get in early. I just don't think I'm cut out for that kind of business. It never seems to be all that is promised.

One last note. Our kitchen is full of tupperware bowls, plates and cups - all of them great products. I just don't want to sing to them.

37 Steps

The last remnant of the World Trade Center was moved earlier this month and I wanted to post some photos and the attached story just to pay tribute to the importance of this short section of steps.

"Without that staircase, I don't see myself getting out of that plaza before the north tower comes down and kills me," said Tom Canavan

Here is an account of "moving day" from the Associated Press

NEW YORK - In those horrifying hours after two planes slammed into the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, a staircase served as an escape route for thousands on a desperate dash to save their lives.

Six and half years later, the staircase -- known as the Vesey Street Stair -- was the last remaining structure not reduced to rubble by the attacks or the Ground Zero rebuilding.Until yesterday.And although it will no longer sit where it stood before the attacks -- 37 steps that once connected the outdoor plaza outside the Twin Towers to the street below -- it will most certainly survive.

Yesterday, a 500-ton hydraulic crane hoisted the "Survivors' Stairway" and a flatbed moved it 200 feet to its temporary new home near the northwest corner of the trade center site. The stairway will be placed permanently in the National September 11 Memorial and Museum when it opens at Ground Zero in 2011.

"The privilege we have to accommodate the last remnant of the World Trade Center is incredible," said Alice M. Greenwald, executive vice president of the museum's foundation.

"The stairway is a metaphor -- everyone is a survivor.

"The staircase move followed a controversial 2006 plan that included demolishing the structure to make way for new construction. State officials had announced that they would demolish all but one or two slabs of the staircase to make way for a new office tower, undeterred by a preservation group that named the steps one of the nation's most endangered historic places.

The site's owner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said at the time that the 22-foot staircase could not be taken off the trade center site because it was too tall for traffic lights and overhead poles and possibly too heavy for bridges.

Leaders in (now former) Gov. Eliot Spitzer's administration worked out a compromise last year to separate the stairs from their concrete base and install them at the Sept. 11 memorial.

"You can honor memory, you can honor the day, and you can honor survival yet respect and understand the need for rebuilding to go forward," said Avi Schick, chairman of the lower Manhattan Development Corp. "Instead of bulldozing the Survivors' Stairway, it will be installed and stand along the main stairway of descent at the Memorial Museum.

"Schick said when the staircase is unveiled at its new location on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, it will serve as "a symbol of survival for the city and the country."Tom Canavan survived the attacks and used the stairs to get out after tunneling out of debris that buried him when the World Trade Center's south tower collapsed. He watched workers slowly move the staircase yesterday, and said memories of the events of Sept. 11 remain fresh.Canavan said he wanted the stairway to remain where it was but he realized that was not possible. "They have to do what they have to do to preserve it," Canavan said. "Even though the day was a tragedy, part of the original trade center and the people survived."

Here is a story showing an artists rendering of how the "survivor's staircase" would be incorporated at the WTC museum. Very cool.

Paul's Funkycast Number 6 is locked and loaded

Nine out of 10 dentists recommend this as our best podcast to date. You will hear excellent tunes from The Pretenders, Jennifer Knapp and Lyle Lovett and his funky hair. Our audio trivia contest is back and more difficult to stump those of you who watched way too much television as kids. The winner will receive a $10.00 gift certficate to Amazon.com

Here is a link to the odeo mp3 file if you want to download this straight to your Ipod. Give it some time to load since it's a 23 minute broadcast. You can also open the funkycast in I-tunes and load it from there. Look for the prompt on the odeo site.

There's much more but you'll just have to clicky clicky to listen.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy it!

In the studio

I have the pre-production done and will be in the studio this afternoon recording the sixth edition of Paul's Funkycast which will include a MUCH TOUGHER AUDIO TRIVIA this time. Again, you can win fabulous prizes. Look for it to post sometime this evening.

This is just hilariously unbelievable

Simple question. How many decades would your husband say his mother has lived? Watch the answers in awe just as I did. The other clips are funny too...but they can't touch the decades question.

Sony Rolly

Have you seen the new music player from Sony called the Rolly?

It's cool. It seems to come alive and the neon is just fabulous. The Rolly was introduced in September of last year. Here are the specs (if you can read Japanese).

While it may be completely impractical, it does look like it would be fun!

Our Best Week Ever!

It's been just a fantastic week here at Paul's World of Funk Stuff.

Visitors to the website from Sunday (3/16) through today broke the record for all previous weeks. Here's the numbers (for all you analytical people) straight from Google Analytics.

12,176 Site Visits

14,363 Page Views

These visits came from 64 countries, all 50 U.S. States and 2,935 cities .

1.United States
12,447
85.07%

2.Canada
1,151
7.87%

3.United Kingdom
299
2.04%

4.Australia
124
0.85%

5.Germany
53
0.36%

6.Spain
45
0.31%

7.Netherlands
42
0.29%

8.Italy
39
0.27%

9.New Zealand
35
0.24%

10.Japan
33
0.23%

The Wally Wallington video was viewed 8,251 times becoming the most frequented post in P.W.O.F.S. history. This surpasses the 300 mbytes for under $8,000 post that was my previous leader with 6,610 views.

All I can say is thank you to all those who have become regular visitors to our funky site.

Please visit my sponsors if you get a chance and have a great week!

Follow the bouncing puck

I am sure this goalie is embarrassed to give up a goal from 197 feet away. But, to his credit, it was bouncing and flouncing like a square rubber ball. Still...he won't hear the end of this for a good while.

Saturday Night

It's 6:46pm.

We had a workday at the church and I am home now collapsed onto our leather loveseat. We are going to grill some burgers and are now debating going shopping later this evening (since I own nothing "easter-y" to wear to church tomorrow). I am not big on pastels. We'll see what happens.

Hope you are having a fine weekend.

UPDATE

(This is my daughter choking my son. She loves this picture for some reason)

It's 9:50pm and I am back from shopping now collapsed on the leather couch. Ash and I braved the crowds and tried to find something for her, myself and Dylan that matched a bracelet that Robin had. Don't ask me the algorythym that tied all this together but I was willing to go with my girl to find whatever...if it all works out...we are to go and get a family picture done (it's been a long long time) after church tomorrow.

I enjoyed spending the time with my 16 year old daughter despite the fact that we hit Goodys, and Old Navy before finally finding a store that had what we were looking for. She's good company and has a tendency to talk my ears off which is okay by me. I am sure there are plenty of teenage daughters that don't have the time of day for their parents so I count myself blessed. I heard a song on the radio today by Steven Curtis Chapman that talks about dancing with his Cinderella (his daughter when she was young playing dress up) and then teaching her to dance again for her prom and then one more lesson for her wedding. The line that MADE ME CRY IN MY MANLY TRUCK today was this "I know something that the prince doesn't know - by midnight she won't be my little girl anymore". Cough. Choke. Sputter.

Let's not talk about that anymore.

What would you do if a mugger jumped in your car? 92-year old Pauline Jacoby prayed with him.

Thanks to Matt D for pointing me to this video. What a great story (especially for this weekend).

The Real Homer Simpson

Tornado Sweeps Through Downtown Atlanta

(Clicky clicky for the large version. It's worth it)

Standing roughly a mile from downtown Atlanta, photographer Shane Durrance caught this image Friday night as the tornado struck (It's the bushy looking cloud mass just to the right of the tower with the illuminated top). He had been shooting lightning strikes from his sixth-floor balcony at the 1016 Lofts when he captured the image. Durrance, who grow up in Phenix City, Ala., has lived in Atlanta since 2000. He specializes in advertising, fashion, celebrity and wedding photography.

Source - http://www.ajc.com/search/content/news/open/tornadopic.html

I almost wet myself watching this video. YIKES!

Nice

You really need to check out the Twenty bucks and a can of gas post from my friend The Swell Guy.

"A while back I told Easy Go and the boys about the summer when I was 12 years old. Mark Lowe, the kid that lived across the street, and I scraped together $20.00 (mine was lawn cutting money) and purchased an old Studebaker that still ran. It had a three speed lever on the steering column and was built like a tank which limited the damage we could do to ourselves. The original bench seat was up front, but the rear seat was missing so we scrounged a few lawn chairs for our ride-along buddies. They tended to tip when we turned the car which added to the fun."

Check his site out for the rest of the story. It will give you a warm fuzzy feeling which you need on a Friday.

My kind of sign

Funky Review

It occurs to me after looking at the Google analytics report from the last few days that many of you are here for the very first time. Hopefully you will make the funky site part of your daily habit. It's nice to have you here!

Just to bring you up to speed on what we're all about here, I present to you

PAUL'S TOP TEN POSTS IN THE HISTORY OF TIME


(or since he started this silly blog)

1. Testing One, Two, Three - July 1 2004 - The first post. Paul's Funky Stuff was formerly known as Central Illinois Radio Memories. I started the blog to reminisce about working at WLBH AM & FM in Mattoon, Illinois. I spent three of my formative teenage years working there and it was nice to hear from some of the people that I had shared that experience with. It was strange writing the first post knowing that I would be the only person reading it. It was like yelling in an empty cave and hearing the echo echo echo.

2. Top Ten White Man Afros - December 18, 2007 - There is really no explanation needed for the coolness factor of this post. Sorry I left Richard Simmons out. I just didn't want to see his picture on my funky site. This is another post that gets google searched almost every day.


3 Top 15 Iconic Guitars in Recorded Music History December 20 2007 - It's one of my favorite posts and ususally shows up in google searches for me everyday.


4. Yard Golf Anyone? December 25 2007 - I have a side business called "Golf at Home". I install synthetic turf chipping and putting greens and put our first model in my backyard. Well...one afternoon I set up my video camera as I was practicing my chipping and putting.

January 9, 2008 we switched to our new domain name - P.W.O.F.S.


5. Top Ten Toys From My Distant Childhood - January 10, 2008 - Again, this is one of my favorite posts. I've received more comments and feedback from this one post. It connected with all the kids at heart. I still haven't added the giant Barbie head to the list and don't plan on doing so. Sorry ladies.

6. Paul's Funkycast # 1 - January 12 2008 I am so glad to have the podcasts as part of the site. We will be recording a brand new one this weekend. It will have a new audio trivia contest (which will be much more difficult than last time). Stay tuned for your chance to win!

7. Wall Street Journal Reference - January 14 2008 - The Wall Street Journal ran a story about the crisis in Kenya and linked to two blogs "For More Information" at the bottom of the story. The first one listed was Paul's World of Funky Stuff. I had written a couple of pieces about the situation in Kenya based on reports I was getting from friends who live there. Someone sent me a note after seeing the WSJ link and said "it's official - you're a legitimate blogger now".

8. The Legacy of Our American President - January 28 2008 - I knew this would open the floodgates of ridicule from the popular "Bush is an idiot" parade but I still think it's an important post.

9. Creativity Well Traveled - My Interview with Louis Lesko - February 5, 2008 - Lou is a friend who lives in L.A. and travels the globe shooting amazing photographs. I was honored when he agreed to the interview. His new book is fabulous and is available on Amazon.com.

10. Fast Food - March 12 2008 - My spiritual walk is important to me and I want you to know that I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's a pleasure to serve at church and to be a part of something that's bigger than I am. Having a relationship with the Creator of the universe reminds me that I am not the big cheese that I sometimes think I am. It reminds me that I need to be a good husband and father and a good friend (even though I fall short many times in these areas). It's the baseline for everything else in my life.

30,000 Holy Moly!

We officially had our 30,000th visit to Paul's World of Funky Stuff today. We just celebrated 20,000 on March 11th so things are getting pretty interesting rather quickly.

The numbers this week are staggering to me (although it may be chump change to some of the bigger web players). I can thank Wally Wallington and fark.com a great deal for that.

Since Sunday....

10,615 page views from 59 countries and 2,513 cities including...(top ten)

1. New York City

2. Chicago

3. Austin

4. Greenwood

5. Minneapolis

6. Seattle

7. Houston

8. Calgary

9. Denver

10. Washinton D.C.

Honorable Mention - Anchorage, Hoboken, Beverly Hills, Vienna, Wembley, Wappinger Falls, Liverpool, Ypsilante,

Steven Wiltshire - The Human Camera

Steven is autistic. He is flown over the city of Rome via helicopter and then draws the city from memory in incredible detail. This guy is absolutely amazing!

Thanks to Stacker for the tip on this one.

How would you like a job as a fortune cookie writer?

It's not as easy as it might seem says Donald Lau who has now moved up to accounts payable at Wonton Food Inc in Long Island, New York.

At first, the writing came easily. Finding inspiration in sources ranging from the I Ching to the Post, Lau cranked out three or four maxims a day, between scrutinizing spreadsheets and monitoring the company’s inventory of chow mein. “I’d be on the subway and look up at the signs and think, Hey, that would make a great fortune,” he said. (One such adage: “Beware of odors from unfamiliar sources.”) “I’d keep a small notebook and jot down whatever came to me. I don’t think I ever sat in front of the computer and said, ‘I am going to write ten fortunes right now.’ It has to come naturally.”

The New Yorker profiles Donald in a great story simply called "Cookie Master".

I want a Glo Pillow!

The Glo Pillow is an alternative to the traditional alarm clock.

It was designed with teammate Eoin McNally in response to a brief to create a product which helps to combat the pressures of a "24 hour" lifestyle.The pillow uses an LED fabric substrate below the surface to wake the user using light. This substrate also functions as a display, showing the time on the pillows surface using the grid of LEDs below.40 minutes before the pre-set alarm time the pillow begins to glow and gently brings the user out of sleep. This natural waking process helps to set the circadian rhythm or "body clock" and results in more healthy sleep/wake patterns.

I think light would be much more pleasant than the rude audio that currently wakes me.

Tuesday Tidbits

This is our farty boxer Aruba. She's a fine young lady despite her gas issues. We got her from the animal shelter. They rescued Aruba after the police found her nearly starved to death on a chain with another dog who was already dead. We spoil her just a bit because of her almost tragic former existence. She likes to lick the dishes as you load them in the dishwasher. It's very clanky. She also likes to scoop up my putts on the green in the backyard as they are about to drop in the hole. She runs around with the golf ball in her mouth and then likes to drop them and watch them roll across the putting surface.

I catch her staring off in the distance sometimes and I wonder if she remembers the trauma of what happened to her and her dog friend. (I may give her an extra dog treat tonight)

Robin and I on a beautiful weekend at the battery in downtown Charleston, SC. If you've never been to Charleston, you need to get there someday. It's a great place to visit.


This picture almost killed me with cute-ness.

I think this is Printer's Alley in downtown Nashville. We used to feed homeless people very close to where this picture was taken from. Great color composition in this one!

That's all folks.

Hillarypaper

(YOU HAVE TO CLICK THIS ONE FOR PETE'S SAKE)

This is all the rage this year. It can be used for general wallpaper or to line your kitchen drawers. It's also great to keep your plants safe in the garden.

Famous Last Words

The American book review has put together a list of what it considers to be the greatest last lines from classic literature. Here is a sampling of their list.

95. From here on in I rag nobody. - Mark Harris, Bang the Drum Slowly (1956)
85. But that is the beginning of a new story - the story of the gradual renewal of the man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his passing from one world into another, of his initiation into a new unknown life. That might be the subject of a new story, but our present story has ended. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (1866)
77. "Tomorrow, I'll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day." Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind (1936)
72. The old man was dreaming about the lions. Earnest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea(1952)
60. One bird said to Billy Pilgrim, "Poo-tee-tweet?" Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five (1969)
26. The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off. Joseph Heller, Catch 22 (1961)
25. It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan. Herman Melville, Moby Dick (1851)
8. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known. Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
5. But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize (sp) me and I can't stand it. I been there before. Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)
3. So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)

I will make you click the link for number one.

Let me also add this one for good measure...

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. John the Apostle, Holy Bible (70 to 95 AD)

Chicago at Night

(clicky clicky for big version)

Chicago

Home of the Bears, Bulls, Cubs, Sox, and Blackhawks

I've walked down Wacker in the dead of winter, leaned my head against the glass at the top of the Sears Tower and eaten at Ditka's. I watched Walter Payton play in person, toured the German submarine at the Museum of Science and Industry and eaten some great deep dish pizza and ribs at Carsons (where they outfit you with a giant bib).

My Dad grew up here prior to moving down state. He and his brother played on the X support beams of the "el" train. He wrote in his memoirs of the neighborhood kids playing a game similar to chicken where you would climb the large iron beams, put your hands on two railroad tie timbers and pull your head up through the hot railroad tracks as the train approached. The last head to drop was the winner. One afternoon, my Grandma Ellen was washing dishes at her kitchen sink and, in the distance, saw the heads of her two little boys up amongst the tracks and the deadly "third rail". Dad was introduced to a device called the razor strap by my Grandfather later that evening receiving punishment that he can still recall quite vividly. This event was key in getting my Dad's family out of the city.

My oldest brother worked downtown for many years before later moving to Nebraska. He commuted in from Naperville on the train and would walk from the downtown station to his office building. I remember riding with him and getting off the train and feeling the wind coming in off Lake Michigan. It was sooooooo cold. Snot freezing cold. I guess I don't miss that part of it so much.

The sounds of Chicago shaped my childhood with television and radio airwaves. From Ray Rayner and his wacky children's show, Cubs baseball on WGN, Empire carpets and their familiar phone number jingle and the Grand Daddy of them all...the Rock of Chicago - WLS. Fred Winston, Larry Lujack, John "Records" Landecker, Animal Stories. Ahhh...great memories...all of them.

Chicago trivia - Chicago Avenue is 4 Blocks south of Division regardless of the fact that there are 9 Different streets between. Can someone explain the math of the city block layout?

It may be the second city, but it's first in my book.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

From your Irish sounding named candidate

Bathroom Signs

I had a strange encounter on Friday night as we were headed to Florence, SC for the NCAA basketball tournament. The fan bus stopped at the mall to let us eat prior to the game. Robin and I and the rest of the crew waited in line and then got our food. After eating, before loading back up on the bus, I headed to the restroom. This is when things got confusing.

Two restroom doors at the food court had the traditional men AND womens symbols on both doors. I stood there...contemplating...confused...another man approached the doors...he had the same look on his face that I did. We both shrugged our shoulders and I walked away, willing to "hold it" until we got to the arena rather than go into the "wrong" restroom. Robin mentioned that this type of setup is becoming more common. Unisex restrooms. I think this is a horrible idea for numerous reasons that I will not detail at this time. I need obvious signs like the (almost too graphic) ones pictured above. Yes...a bit disgusting but with amazing clarity.

Luckily there are sites like Will's Toilet Signs that help educate us on all the strange ways that people point you to the proper restroom. Study them carefully. Some are obvious and some will make you have that same "deer in the headlights" look that I had.

His name is Wally Wallington and he's on to something

A tough loss. A great season.

The Lander University Bearcats ended their season with an 82 - 73 loss to conference rival Clayton State in the 2nd round of the NCAA Division II basketball tournament.

Our regular radio broadcasting team was missing their color commentary man so I was asked to fill in last night to broadcast the game. It was an emotionally draining contest with our girls coming back from a double digit deficit to tie the game and then move in front momentarily. The Clayton State team is quick and athletic and after we lost senior Stephanie Ponds to foul trouble, the Lady Lakers regained the lead and never looked back.

It's been a huge h