The Writer's Poke

For Writers: In 1997 I decided it was time to eliminate about 20 hair metal bands from my CD collection; although I still liked the groups, I just felt like it was time to make a clean break. So one night I took all of my Styper and Warrant and Whitesnake, et al, to the factory where I worked, and I gave them all away. And then I immediately regretted it. Eventually, I would replace every single CD that I had tried to purge from my musical soul. I had to admit it to myself: I'm stuck with the groups I love. I will never forsake them again, and I will not feel embarrassed for liking what I like. On the other hand, just like the Ford Focus car commercial where a driver gets outed for liking Michael Bolton, we probably all have music on our iPods that embarrasses us. For me, I suppose a guilty pleasure still on my iPod would be the pseudo-lesbian Russian duo t.a.T.u. In fact, I have both of their albums, but in my defense, I do not have any Bolton, Celine Dion, Yanni, or Liberace. Act...

For Writers: In 2004, Frank Warren acted on a simple idea. Give folks postpaid postcards with his address on them, and invite them to send him their secrets. And believe or not, people did. Each week, Warren posts a new batch of secrets to his blog -- http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/ , and over the past few years, he's collected around 100,000 secrets. Some of these have also been published in book form. Critics of Warren's blog and books say that he is somehow "exploiting" the people that send him their secrets -- as if secrets were meant to remain, well, secret. And although his blog continues to be advertisement-free, they claim that he has no business profiting off of others with the sale of the Postsecret books. On the other hand, people visit his blog by the tens of thousands, and he has won quite a few awards and public acclaim for what started out as a pretty simple idea. Would you send Frank Warren, or any stranger, one of your secrets? If so, which one wo...

Note that Jesus hails from Salt Lake City. He he he

In respect of the music, I give you Mr. Rick Astley from 1988. (I like it 1:03 into the song when he realizes that singing with a tie on is never a good idea.)

Click on the ad for a bigger view. An ad from 1948, back in the "good old days" when life was simplier. First you could disinfect your countertops, and then you could use the same product to, well, you get the idea.

Do you like the Garfield comic strip, but just can't stand the cat in it? If so, check out the Garfield without Garfield version. It's just about the strangest thing ever. http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/

Click for bigger view. Comments?

Yes, there's something called the World Egg Throwing Federation, and I think Vince McMahon is behind it. My favorite event is called "Russian Egg Roulette." What is that, you ask? Well, five of the eggs are hard boiled, but one is straight from the chicken. If you feel lucky, you just smash the egg on your forward, and just hope and pray that the yolk's not on you! By the way, in 8th grade, me and Mark Agulair were the tag team champions of the egg throw and catch long distance competition. http://www.bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire/content/articles/2008/05/23/egg_throwing08_feature.shtml

Call me an 85 year old 2 nd grade teacher, but I like the idea that everyone should remain seated when attending a public event. I didn't pay $100 for my ticket, Bubba , just so I could see the back of your skull. I applaud the Kansas City Chiefs for providing "Rules of Conduct" for its fans. Others might think it's silly, unenforceable , and archaic. Not me. I love it. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Fans-are-asked-to-treat-Chiefs-games-like-bowlin?urn=nfl,91291

Exchange rate to the U.S. Dollar isn't too good right now. :)