Let's just put some happy little trees over here...

Today marks National What You Think Upon Grows Day. It makes me tempted to really try and think upon a time machine to see if one will just uproot itself from the ground. That'd be pretty sweet.

Actually, though, it reminded me of a little something I read in the book of Philippians:

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

So think some happy thoughts today. They just might sprout into full-blown joy.

Much luv,
Rob
_______________________________________
Song of the Day: "Viva Las Vegas" by ZZ Top (I like this version best, and welcome home, Steve.)

You might get to rock...

Oi, rough night for sleeping. For some reason, I just could not get to sleep last night. Maybe it was the heat, maybe I'm stressed out, maybe it's because things didn't go "just so" during the test run of the "outdoor theater" last night. One thing is for sure though...

It's not because I just got my Scrubs season five dvds!

Last night before cashing in I watched a couple of episodes of comedic brilliance, including "My Half-Acre," better known as the air-band episode.

So for your viewing pleasure, check out these clips, and just try not to smile.





Go ahead...rock out with no instrument in sight. You know you want to...

Much luv,
Rob
______________________________________________
Song of the Day: "Hey Hey" by Eric Clapton

A priest, a rabbi, and person with his foot in his mouth walk into a bar...

Tempus fugit - time flies (also a rockin' tune from Yes.)

A frenzy of activity here, a frenzy of activity there, a frenzy of activity everywhere. I've been very busy and just haven't found the time or desire to write lately. Seeing as last week was National Etitquette Week, it only seems appropriate that I wouldn't chime in here, anyway. What do I know? Still, so much has happened over the last two weeks, I'm not even sure where to begin now...

I think that I might be growing as a person...(no, not just getting fatter.)

Allow me to explain...

I was discussing "comedy" last night with a friend. We both tended to agree that all great comedy has to have some degree of tragedy or uncomfortableness associated with it. Sure, seeing someone fall down or get hit with something will always be funny. That's physical comedy and has immediate payoff. There's another, darker, type of comedy that I truly appreciate, though. It has a tendancy to make you uncomfortable at first, but the more you think about it the funnier it becomes. That's where the comedy goldmine really resides, for my money.

It's not for everybody, though. Some people really don't like that "uncomfortable" humor. Being able to tell when making an off-color joke is "ok" is a skill that I'm still developing. For instance, a little while back a perfect situation presented itself for me to make such a joke. It popped into my head and I thought, "Oh, this is a gimmee. If you're going to get set up like this you've got to swing, right? It's a sure-fire home run." But it wasn't. It would've been a little inappropriate and I managed to keep my mouth shut for once. For once...

See, though? That's growth, right? Don't get me wrong, I still put my foot in my mouth so much that I'm actually getting used to the taste of the soles of my shoes. (Not so good. I should probably layer them with some sort of sweetner.) With just a moment or two of thinking I can recall at least four occasions in the last day or two in which I did just that.

Still, though, like Dr. Leo Marvin said to Bob Wiley (I'M SAILING!!!), it's all about baby steps. Baby steps out the door. Baby steps on to the elevator. Baby steps to keeping my foot out of my mouth. Baby steps to personal growth.

Of course, Dr. Leo Marvin ended up flipping out and wound up in a mental hospital. Hmm...

So, with a "comedy" focus today, I think I'll offer you a good, clean joke:

A man sees a sign in front of a house: "Talking Dog for Sale." He rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog is in the backyard. He goes into the backyard and sees a black mutt just sitting there.

"You talk?" he asks.

"Yep," the mutt replies.

"So, what's your story?"

The mutt looks up and says, "Well, I discovered this gift pretty young and I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA about my gift, and in no time they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies eight years running. But, the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger and I wanted to settle down. So, I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security work, mostly wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings there and was awarded a batch of medals. Had a wife, a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired."

The man is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog. The owner says, "Ten dollars."

The guy says, "This dog is amazing. Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?"

The owner replies, "He's such a liar. He didn't do any of that stuff."

Hope y'all had a great Memorial Day!

Much luv,
Rob
__________________________________________________
Song of the Day: "Dosed" by Red Hot Chili Peppers

(cough) Ahem...

AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

...

Tension breaker.

Had to be done.

That is all.

Much luv,
Rob
__________________________________________
Song of the Day: "Breathe" by Disturbed

It's no Michigan J. Frog...

Sometimes there just aren't enough words...

Watch and be confused.



Although...I think I need some Skittles. Hmm, maybe they're on to something.

Much luv,
Rob
______________________________________________
Song of the Day: "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson

Here kitty, kitty, kitty...

Ok, so I know that I’ve been rather infrequent, at best, with my random little musings recently. A thousand apologies to anyone who actually cares. Lately, however, on this road of life I feel like I’ve been careening from one place to another. Maybe it’s the excessive workload I’ve been dealt. Maybe it’s the unbelievable collapse of the Bulls. Maybe it’s something that you, oh reader, have done. (Just kidding.) For some reason, lately, I just haven’t been my usual exuberant, whimsical self. I’m sure it’ll turn around.

I was thinking about “secrets” a bit today and the phrase came to mind how when a secret is found out how some refer to it as “letting the cat out of the bag.”

What does “letting the cat out of the bag” have to do with revealing a secret?

Letting the cat out of the bag…

Think about it for a bit. Are you having the same realization that I had? Apparently at some point in time people kept cats in bags for some reason, and it’s safe to assume that the cats were not too pleased with their captivity and became riled up. At some point, those cats had to be let out of the bag.

It’s pretty easy to imagine what happened when those cats when the realized their newfound freedom. I’m sure that they bit, scratched, and clawed at whatever they could find when they got out, wreaking much havoc.

And someone (a brilliant someone, no doubt) recognized this and turned “letting the cat out of the bag” into an allegory for the revelation of a secret, no doubt a secret that had some consequences at the time.

Of course, doing a little bit of research I find that the origin of the phrase is likely linked to older times at the market. Apparently, one trick that sellers in the market used was to put a cat into a bag and sell it off to buyers under the impression that they were getting a pig. Smart consumers would always open the bag to ensure that they were getting what they were paying for. It was all an attempt to defraud the buyer, as cats were not nearly as valuable as pigs. (Mmm…bacon.)

Personally, I like my explanation better.

All this to say, I love the English language. You should too. It’s really quite hilarious when you think about it, and that’s no secret.

Have a great weekend!

Much luv,
Rob
_________________________________________
Song of the Day: “With A Little Help From My Friends” by Joe Cocker (Wonder Years Theme)

Where's MJ when we need him...

I’d like to take a minute to talk about media bias. No, no, no…I’m not talking about anything political. I’m talking about the radio broadcast for the Chicago Bulls.

After youth group tonight, I quickly got out to my car to race home (observing all posted speed limits, of course). I turned on the radio and tuned in to 105.9 to hear how my beloved Bulls were faring against the top seed in the East. Neil Funk (awesome name, gotta love the Funk) and Bill Wennington (I once saw him at a Subway!) give a very spirited broadcast, but it can be a little misleading. Let me break it down how I was caught up to how the Bulls were doing…

One of the first things I heard as I tuned in was a monster block by Tyrus Thomas. The Bulls ran the other way with the ball and Thabo “Snuffleufflegus” Sefolosha got an open look in the corner. He missed the shot and it was described thusly:

“Oh, that could have been a dagger!”

The Pistons gained the rebound and were able to score at their end. The announcers announced that it was now a 15 point lead. I thought to myself, “Wow. The Bulls have a big lead. Great!”

The Bulls then got the ball back and scored again. It was said that they were on a little bit of a run and could take some momentum into game three and could be putting Detroit “on the ropes.”

Sounds like a Bulls’ lead, no? Needless to say, but I’m saying it anyway, when they finally announced the score I was very disappointed to hear that my Bulls were not doing well at all.

It seems that they were more than just a little bit biased in how they were reporting what was going on in the game. Their enthusiasm and excitement for their home team made what they were saying very misleading.

So what’s the point? I suppose there’s the obvious issue of being sure of your words and not let your emotions be more prevalent than the fact, but where’s the fun in that? As for me, I’ll take the blatant hyperbole everytime. Anyone can give the facts, but give me someone who can make even a Bulls big-time collapse sound fun.

That kind of hyperbole is better than a thousand Renaissances combined with a ninja-pirate raid on Hollywood.

With bumper cars.

Much luv,
Rob
____________________________________________________
Song of the Day: “Harlem’s Nocturne” by Alicia Keys

Don't do it, Spiderman! Don't...

Yawn…stretch…midnight showings of movies make me sleepy.

Last night I headed out to the theater and saw the latest Spiderman movie. It was pretty good. There was probably more crying and musical numbers in the movie than I would have preferred, but Bruce Campbell played the ultimate French waiter. I think the movie felt like a collection of good moments, some even great, but as a whole it just didn’t flow together too well. Not a bad movie, but probably the weakest of the series.

Still, there’s a sequence midway through the movie that is just bizarre. I imagine many people will hate it, but I think it was rather funny. It doesn’t really seem to “fit” with the style of the rest of the movie, but you can’t deny the funny of it.

I suppose I have to give it 3 stars, and it’s loads better than the latest installment of Superman.

Now, it’s naptime. Have a great weekend, and watch out for falling meteorites.

Much luv,
Rob
_______________________________________
Song of the Day: “Ordinary” by Train

Kilroy was here...

So as I was working the other day, a song came on my dPod, as it typically does. I continued working and rocking out just a bit as I really listened to the words of this song for, perhaps, the first time. The song? "Mr. Roboto" by Styx.

Ok…the part that caught my ear was when he sang, “Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto, for doing the jobs that nobody wants to.” I asked myself…

Is this a song written to robots that do menial tasks?

So today I looked into it. Here’s what I found:

“The song tells part of the fictitious story of Robert Orin Charles Kilroy (ROCK), in the rock opera Kilroy Was Here. The song is sung by Kilroy (as played by keyboardist Dennis DeYoung), a rock and roll performer who was placed in a futuristic prison for "rock and roll misfits" by the anti-rock-and-roll group the Majority for Musical Morality (MMM) and its founder Dr. Everett Righteous (played by guitarist James Young). He escapes the prison by overtaking a Roboto prison guard and hiding inside the emptied-out metal shell. The Roboto is a model robot which does menial jobs in the prison. The song may be understood as Kilroy's dedication to the robot that, through being sacrificed in such a way, allowed Kilroy to escape the prison.”

As Hurley would say, “Uh, dude?”

So once again, here’s to imagination! Even when it’s just weird…

No, especially when it’s just weird.

Much luv,
Rob
____________________________________
Song of the Day: “Remedy” by Black Crowes

Of course he can outrun Superman...

I often wish that life would imitate the movies more. I love the movies. I like good movies. I like bad movies. The only movies that I really can’t find a way to enjoy are the utterly forgettable movies...movies that offer nothing good, nothing bad…nothing worth remembering. It doesn’t take much. Just give me one good scene, one good location, one good hero, or one good villain.

So it is with a little bit of surprising sadness that I bring you this news (of which you’ve probably already heard):

Rosie O’Donnell has announced that she will be leaving “The View.”

Now, it may shock and disturb you that I said “with sadness” that I bring this news. You’re right to be shocked, disturbed, angry, and possibly a little hungry. Rosie and “The View” are two of my least favorite things in this world. Go ahead and look back over some of the things I’ve written and they surely make appearances in a negative fashion periodically. Maybe even as much as Dr. Cox rips on Hugh Jackman. (Doubtful.)

So anyway, why am I sad? Well, like I said about life imitating movies, “The View” with Rosie made for a powerful duo of villainy. Every time that Rosie opened her mouth and said something outrageous, she supplied heroes all over the world with something to combat. She regularly brought forth the drama. She’s going to have to find a new irritating platform from which she can be heard.

And what about “The View?” In Rosie’s absence, who will rise up and provide a common enemy for which the forces of good can unite? Some say it might be Whoopi Goldberg. Other rumors have Roseann Barr filling the ample sized seat.

I don’t know who it will be, but one thing is for certain…”The View” is still 100% pure evil.

Someone better call The Flash.

Much luv,
Rob
_______________________________________
Song of the Day: “Mississippi Queen” by Mountain

Einstein should have bought a fedora...

So I recently read a quote that got me thinking a little bit. (Just a little bit. Don't worry, I didn't hurt myself.) The quote went a little something like this:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited by what is...imagination is boundless."

That may not be an exact quote, but it's pretty close. (I can't find where I read it earlier...sue me.) Anyway, what makes that quote more interesting is knowing who said it...

Albert Einstein.

Yes, the man who brought us the theory of relativity and confused beginning physics students everywhere embraced the importance of the imagination.

That got me to thinking about another great thinker: Bill Watterson. Sure, he may not be as well known as "Big Al" but he has brought something into the world that has done a wonderful job displaying the wonders of the imagination: Calvin and Hobbes.

I've spent a lifetime enjoying that amazing cartoon so I thought I'd share the strip that inspired my email address. Take a look:

Beautiful stuff, no? It almost brings a tear to my eye...

So let your imagination run wild! Let it run as wild as good ol' Einstein's hair.

(Yeah, I decided to try playing around with pictures a bit...)

Much luv,
Rob
________________________________________________
Song of the Day: "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble" by Deleriou5