This is why I love the internet so much! It gives creative and talented artists/performers access to new audiences. All that is required is a little bit of “thinking outside the box.”

The above video demonstrates this. It’s a group called Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers. While in their van driving to their next show, they pass the time by singing covers of popular tunes and posting them on youtube. They record with an iPhone and then upload. Brilliant!

And these guys are good! I’m a big Patsy Cline fan and they do a great rendtion of “She’s got you.” While in a van! How cool is that?

And really how easy is it to identify with this? EVERYONE sings while driving their car. Only difference is, we’re not as good as Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers.

Their official website is at: http://www.nickibluhm.com/

Thanks to JoeChimp up on the PCLinuxOS forums for finding these guys and posting their video!

I won! My Kindle displays a recent Solitaire win.

I really love my Kindle.   I can take all my books with me quite easily. It’s light, portable, and the battery lasts at least a month!

When I’m not reading books, my Kindle does a good job as a calculator, stopwatch, and gaming device (through the use of installed programs).

When I’m at the drawing board and need to stir the creative juices, it sometimes helps to simply do some other kind of activity. The process is a lot like trying to remember something that’s on the tip of your tongue. When you stop struggling with trying to remember, the lost piece of info pops into your head.   It’s the same principle.    When I stuggle too much in trying to find a gag or idea for my comic strip George, I pick up my Kindle and start playing Solitaire, Blackjack or other game.   Sometimes, I’ll read a chapter of a book or a Sherlock Holmes short story.

Then Boom!  An idea comes to me out of the blue.

I highly recommend Kindle!  The games and other applications are reasonably priced.   Usually  99 cents.  Surprisingly, some games are free.

The best part is the selection of books.  Kindle books are very reasonably priced.  And there are tons of free books!  Pick up Twain or a Sherlock Holmes collection for free!  Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson,  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, etc.  Whjen you own a Kindle, all these classic books are available for free download at amazon.com.

Get a Kindle and get lost in a book (or game).  It might inspire you, too, when you’re trying to solve a problem or remember some piece of information..

Some years ago, just as the internet was really taking off, I heard a Paul Harvey “The Rest Of the Story” story.

If you’ve never heard one of Paul Harvey’s “Rest of the Story” broadcasts, you can catch one right here below:

Anyhow, after all these years, I decided to look up the information Mr. Harvey provided in that broadcast.  And, thanks to Google, I found a Jpeg  (provided by a gentleman named Zachary M. Seward) detailing the very thing Mr. Harvey had described.  ( I arrived there from this site: http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/03/back-to-the-future-medianews-revives-print-your-own-newspaper/)

Looks like everything old is new again!  Except, it’s digital and flying over the internet instead of arriving via FM radio waves.

Just in time for all you new iPad3 owners! It’s the hottest item since, well, the iPad3!  The iGlove!

Simply slip on these heavy-duty, heat resistant (to 5,000 degrees!) protective welding gloves and play with your new iPad3 without worrying about burning your hands due to overheating issues.

Only $209.99 a pair!

Protect your hands with the new iGlove!

(iPad3 touch sensitive screen may not work while wearing iGlove.)

Made in China.

Here’s another video (shot with the Asus Transformer Prime tablet in 1080 HD) showing just a bit more of the process involved in creating a George comic strip.

Many times, while searching for an idea or gag, I’ll make notes or thumbnail sketches on the margins of the template. It’s not unusual to see a finished George comic strip peppered with these non-photo blue “doodles.”

The George comic strip in this video will run in papers sometime this April.