Blogging Griner quotient doubles. Science textbooks pulled for emergency revisions.

Big congratulations to my wife, Karen, who has joined the exciting world of blogging. She even started off strong, with a post that's simultaneously thought-provoking, sad and uplifting.

Personally, my favorite part of her blog is that her "about me" section ends with, "That's all you need to know for now." It helps give everyone an insight into the unique challenges I faced in courting her.

Enjoy! Oh and yes, I'm still besieged by work, so the blog updates remain soundly on the back burner. Maybe Karen will pick up the slack.

Vader's comic genius.

Sorry for the very few posts lately, but work is eating me like Cookie Monster with a bag of ... um .... broccoli?

Anyway, here's a clip that gave me a much-needed laugh-until-I'm-openly-weeping moment today:



Via Mental Floss.

Debunk'd!

Has anyone else heard that the Cookie Monster was changed to the Veggie Monster on Sesame Street?

I was told that by someone very matter-of-factly a few weeks back, and I promptly started asking people whether that was true. I pictured a green version of CM, which would really just look like Oscar, sans trash can.

No one could tell me if it was true, probably because I am not yet at the point in life where my friends find themselves watching Sesame Street.

Strangely, Snopes.com rides to the rescue. Turns out, it is all just a myth/misunderstanding/paranoia. There was even an online petition, signed by thousands, aimed at boycotting Sesame Street until the Cookie Monster returned. Crazy.

Cookie Monster even denounced the media for the misunderstanding. Check out this exchange with Matt Lauer, quoted by the Snopes article:

Cookie Monster: Me like fruit.


Matt Lauer: And there you have it. Cookie Monster likes fruit, and not cookies.


Monster: No! You members of the media blow story way out of proportion! Me still like cookies!


Lauer: Then why fruit?


Monster: Why not fruit? It delicious! And healthy. Me still eat cookies, like me world-famous for doing, but now me eat other things, too.

Yeah, I realize it was probably staged, but that doesn't stop me from laughing about Cookie Monster saying "members of the media blow story way out of proportion."

So, um... there you go.

Carry on octopus sir

I'm a big fan of my friend Adam Stoves' art. But it wasn't until I was looking at his stuff online the other day that I noticed how great his rarely seen titles are.

So here are a few of my favorites. I didn't include the pictures, so that you could focus on the names. But just click on any one to see the art.

a man whose face was so priceless that it was preserved through obliteration

carry on sir. carry on octopus. carry on octopus sir.

a creature birthed from a collection of discarded boxes

man, deaf and bored by the nature of things, has again embellished this place.

the wedded couple, after much deliberation, makes a grandiose exit

how to tell who of them are the imposters

For more of Adam's work, check out his Flickr photo page or his MySpace page. Oh, and there is my crappy video of Adam's recent one-man show. Enjoy.

Bless his heart, he's a beautiful flower.

Poor Jonas. He couldn't resist biting off his bandage, so today the vet exiled him to coneville.

This is apparently the new kind of "soft" cone. He supposed to wear it at all times, but I don't think he deserves to be walked around the neighborhood in that.

More folk artists, comin' atcha.

We've posted some new videos from my interviews with Alabama artists.

These feature Woodie Long, who is a fascinating guy. He grew up picking strawberries and cotton for his sharecropper dad. Although you'd think he had it rough, he actually has tremendously fond memories of this time, and that's mostly what he paints.

Anyway, enjoy:



To see more of the interview clips, check out our YouTube channel.

Sad times at the agency.

Sadly, the founder of my company died yesterday. I know most of you haven't heard of Robert "Ace" Luckie, but he was still a frequent sight in our office and always remained interested in what we were up to. (His sons now run the company and are both great guys.)

I wish I could say a bit more about him, but I obviously didn't get much time to get to know him. However, I was honored that our president (one of Ace's sons) asked me to write the memorial announcement. I know it wasn't easy for him to work with me on something like that while his dad was so sick, but I think the end result was good, and my boss said he's gotten a lot of feedback on it.

For now, you can see the memorial on our agency site. It's going to act as our front page for a little while.

Now I'm Bill's biggest fan. Get it? Fan?

The enemy: This granny-panties ceiling fan in my living room.



The hero: Bill, who earnestly loves installing fans and lights. How can you thank a friend like that? By putting the least flattering photo of him on the Internet? Don't mind if I do!



Bill nears completion of Operation ... um ... Fandango!



The final result. Is classy, no?



So what was my role in this whole affair?



Props to Dawn for properly estimating my intelligence and warning me not to burn the old plastic-faux-wood fan blades in my fireplace. Next she's going to tell me to stop grilling indoors.