Recently at Christmas I overheard three of my nephews griping about the toilet paper in their college dorms. Their chief complaint was their school’s cheap tissue is too chafing. (This is not a subject you would normally bring up at Christmas or in mixed company, but they are, after all, boys in college. And to [...]
Forget all that stuff about trade deficits, unfair currency valuation, and cheap labor. The real reason the Chinese will take over the world is much more fundamental. In fact, it’s genetic. Several thousand years ago, while the rest of the world was still figuring out how to combine nuts and berries into a decent trail [...]
I have to let you know right up front, the idea for this tune comes from the lovely and talented Lisa Firestone. (More about her in a minute*) It’s one of those clever song ideas that made me laugh, then grabbed me by the brain and wouldn’t let go. It’s called How ‘Bout That Game, [...]
Recently I was driving through Florida, after a harrowing day of dodging semis all the way through Tennessee and Georgia.* ** * I once got sideswiped by a crazed, Type-A semi driver. He bounced me off the freeway and into a ditch at 70 mph. Fortunately my own personal human body was not injured, although [...]
It’s a well-kept secret that I have a small songbook (6 songs), but I’m getting ready to sheetify even more tunes. To do ‘em all would take forever and cost a fortune, so I’d like to know which ones you [music directors, piano players, guitar pickers, singers] might like to have. Below is a list [...]
10. You’ll be so inspired your brain cells will explode like happy confetti. 9. You’ll make great new friends the old-fashioned way: in person, not on Facebook. 8. You’ll hear amazing songs, maybe in genres you didn’t know existed. 7. You’ll have happy feet. 6. You’ll get a boatload of great ideas for your life, [...]
When we last encountered Charlie a few weeks ago, I told you that, at 105 years of age, he had slipped on the ice while shoveling his front walk, broken his ankle, and driven himself to the hospital. I heard that piece of the story from others, and like many good stories, it was slightly [...]
Yes, amazingly, there’s a correlation. Here’s a short list: 1. Influences Are Important Or at least count for a lot. For example, there are many great love songs in the world, but there are a lot of other songs — masquerading as love songs — that are really about taking hostages. They say things like: [...]
Since edible meals (and even snacks!) on flights are a distant, gut-rumbling memory, it’s critical for the health and well-being of your own personal, frequent-traveling self to know where to find decent food in an airport. And in the all-too-common-and-unhappy event that you’re stuck on the tarmac for three hours (the new limit – are [...]
Thanks again for your prolific, often hilarious entries in the How To Know When You Have An Analog Brain t-shirt contest. Here are some of the contenders: Hard Drive: A road trip with Dad Flash Drive: Operating a vehicle while naked Skype: Something Uncle Larry caught and brought home for dinner MegaHertz: What Wally threatened [...]
