The Strike is Over! Our Writers Return!

DALLAS (SwanSpeak Networks) - After weeks of stalemate between the Writers Of Blogs On Swans Association (WOBOSA) and the Producers of Swan Related Content (ProSwaReCo), the two sides finally reached an agreement just before midnight Monday, January 14. The parties' main disagreement was over the use of revenue from The Google Ad Block (TGAB), and other unconventional means of income. Before this agreement, writers did not receive any portion of this revenue, but were sent a new Squishy Ball every month the blog was profitable.

"I'm still using the same Squishy Ball I brought with me from home when I was hired," said one writer, "and at at this point, I'm not even sure I want their stinkin' new Squishy Ball anymore!"

The producers responded in kind. "Don't want a Squishy Ball? Fine. We're taking you off our Christmas Breath Mint Gift List from now on."

Obviously, there's still quite a bit of rancor (no, not that Rancor) between the two sides. Time will only tell if the blog's performance will suffer from this rift.

HOT Dr Pepper

Apparently I'm the last person to hear about this - has anyone else tried hot Dr Pepper?

Note the recipe: "...Then pour over thin slices of lemon.." - WHY??

Technorati Tags: drpepper, dr pepper, soft drink, soda, hot, winter, drink

QUICK HITS 033 - rolling double...threes

• Helping out the world with free rice - www.freerice.com/ #


• Checking my blog's readability - tinyurl.com/2ca3a4 #
• Digging Rands' article about now to understand nerds - tinyurl.com/2ckjs8 [via randsinrepose.com] #


• JAMMING to some sweet Brazilian rhythms in "Madalena" - tinyurl.com/yr7jv4(KTa%20Brasil%20rmx).mp3 #
• ...and to fix my borked link: tinyurl.com/3yhcea - listen and enjoy! #
• OhshootmeintheTINYURL! Ok, this one REALLY works - tinyurl.com/2pzy65 #
• Cracking up at a discussion about "Amish Chicken Casserole" - tinyurl.com/yq9x4h [via markelrod.net] #


• I burned the side of my lip on some hot tea out of my mug. Now I'm trying to hold a piece of ice in my mouth against the outside of my lip. #
• Reading a fascinating paper on the Harajuku culture - tinyurl.com/ywveoj #


• Laughing at the ten most stupid laws in Britain - tinyurl.com/2yhz2h [via markelrod.net] #
• Very interested in Nokia's tactile touchscreen - www.redferret.net/?p=9533 #
• @Diji: The Last Starfighter is an absolute classic - love it. #


• Amazed that even the government understands why teleworking works! tinyurl.com/2batf6 [via webworkerdaily.com] #
• I have NO idea why my "Techno Time" Pandora station brought up Lisa Loeb, but I can't say I don't like it - tinyurl.com/24vpjo #
• Very interested on what Web Worker Daily has to say about Cakemail - tinyurl.com/ysb5l7 #


• www.flickr.com/photos/digicolleen/ #
• Playing around with finetune - www.finetune.com/ #
• Disabling and uninstalling my AutoCopy Firefox add-on. Nifty gimmick, just too often executed when I didn't need it. #


• Wondering when I'll be able to gloat to @jabbott that I'm getting a Seeqpod t-shirt [seeqpod.com] #

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Morning Haiku: Donut

Sweet rush of sugar -
mental fog clears from the brain.
Thank you, free donut.

PREMIERE WEEK START DATES

If you're a bit of a TV addict like I am, you may find the info below useful...

(Via Programming Insider)



Dancing With the Stars - Monday, Sept. 24, 8 p.m.
The Bachelor - Monday, Sept. 24, 9:30 p.m. (90 minutes)
Boston Legal - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 9:30 p.m. (90 minutes)
Private Practice - Wednesday, Sept. 26, 9 p.m.
Dirty Sexy Money - Wednesday, Sept. 26, 10 p.m.
Ugly Betty - Thursday, Sept. 27, 8 p.m.
Grey's Anatomy - Thursday, Sept. 27, 9 p.m.
Big Shots - Thursday, Sept. 27, 10 p.m.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Sunday, Sept. 30, 7 p.m. (two hours)
Desperate Housewives - Sunday, Sept. 30, 9 p.m.
Brothers & Sisters - Sunday, Sept. 30, 10 p.m.





How I Met Your Mother - Monday, Sept. 24, 8 p.m.
The Big Bang Theory - Monday, Sept. 24, 8:30 p.m.
Two and a Half Men - Monday, Sept. 24, 9 p.m.
Rules of Engagement - Monday, Sept. 24, 9:30 p.m.
CSI: Miami - Monday, Sept. 24, 10 p.m.
NCIS - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 8 p.m.
The Unit - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 9 p.m.
Cane - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 10 p.m.
Criminal Minds - Wednesday, Sept. 26, 9 p.m.
CSI: NY - Wednesday, Sept. 26, 10 p.m.
CSI - Thursday, Sept. 27, 9 p.m.
Without a Trace - Thursday, Sept. 27, 10 p.m.
Ghost Whisperer - Friday, Sept. 28, 8 p.m.
Moonlight - Friday, Sept. 28, 9 p.m.
Numb3rs - Friday, Sept. 28, 10 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery - Saturday, Sept. 29, 10 p.m.





Chuck - Monday, Sept. 24, 8 p.m.
Heroes - Monday, Sept. 24, 9 p.m.
Journeyman - Monday, Sept. 24, 10 p.m.
The Singing Bee - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 9:30 p.m.
Law & Order: SVU - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 10 p.m.
The Bionic Woman - Wednesday, Sept. 26, 9 p.m.
Life - Wednesday, Sept. 26, 10 p.m.
My Name is Earl - Thursday, Sept. 27, 8 p.m.
The Office - Thursday, Sept. 27, 9 p.m.
ER - Thursday, Sept. 27, 10 p.m.
Las Vegas - Friday, Sept. 28, 9 p.m.





Bones - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 8 p.m.
House - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 9 p.m.
American Dad - Sunday, Sept. 30, 9:30 p.m.
(most of Fox's schedule kicks off the week of Sept. 18)





Reaper - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 9 p.m.
Smallville - Thursday, Sept. 27, 8 p.m.
(most of the CW's schedule kicks off the week of Oct. 1)

Technorati Tags: new shows, fall, lineup, television, tv, programming, series

STONE SOUP

Anyone out there remember this story? It was one of my favorites in the reading center in kindergarten.



I was just reminded of this moral from the story:

If you want to get people to do something, don't tell them how desperately they are needed. Don't try to appeal to their sympathy and kindness. Instead, create the impression that you are giving them the opportunity to be part of your success.

I think we can all use that one in our lives, right now.

Technorati Tags: story, childhood, stone soup, lifehacks, life

VIDEO: Lucas with the Lid Off

No real theme here, I just liked this song back in the day, and recently was shown this video of it. Enjoy!



Technorati Tags: web, video, gondry, lucas, music

FIVE QUESTIONS

A while back, in a fit of what must have been caffeine-induced self insight, I wrote down the following questions on a Post-it note on my desk:

1. What am I doing to serve my God better?


2. What am I doing to serve my wife better? (Now I would probably add my son to this one)


3. What am I doing to serve my employer better?


4. What am I doing to serve my church better?


5. What am I doing to serve the lost better?

These things must have been sitting on my desk for the last 6 months, at least. I don't have an answer for any of them yet, but I do know that sometimes they're hard to read.

Technorati Tags: God, questions, life, better me

VIDEO JOURNEY 2: Update 3...???

Found a full version of "A Gentlemen's Duel" - watch it fast, before they bring it down!

VIDEO JOURNEY 2: A Gentlemen's Duel

Changing projects, changing jobs, changing residences - you should be glad I'm posting at all! But seriously, thanks for checking in so faithfully, good reader.

My buddies Jody and Janell of The A Team loved our previous video journey and asked for more, so I wanted to post this little 8 minute jewel from the good good folks at Blur Studios. Enjoy!

Update Part 2!:

Unfortunately, they have pulled down the full version of this video. I have no clue where or when Blur Studios will be officially releasing it, and believe me, I've tried to find out. (Note to Blur marketing - that's the kind of information you should TELL people about!)

In the meantime, here's the trailer for the animated short. I'll see if I can find some other cool video for ya later.

Update:

Had to post this one too. Great lip-dub of "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger. Would I wanna work at this company? Maybe not, but at least they can sing!

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri and Vimeo

THE SWAN: More than a duck

I know the bloggin' has been fairly scarce, but it shall return soon! The Swan cannot be silenced!



Image courtesy of the EXCELLENT Extra Life.

WHAT TEACHERS MAKE

I've got a lot of teacher friends and other associates in the education industry, so this is all for them. I have unwavering and overwhelming respect for you all.

DIGG ME!

Since I'm totally part of the Web 2.0 scene, I'm trying to get into this Read/Write Web kinda thing. To that end, I've added some schnazzy cool buttons below each post - just click those to add to your aggregator/bookmarker of choice.

I've also posted one of my personal favorite writings to Digg - go take a look and tell everyone you love it!

WHY BABIES ARE LIKE ALIENS

FUNNY CHURCH BULLETIN OF THE DAY

What? Another post?? On the same day???

It's a BLOG-A-PALOOOOOZA!

My mother-in-law gave me one of those page-a-day calendars for Christmas '06 called "365 Stupidest Sayings" or something like that. This recent one made me stop down for a good chuckle:

Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.
- actual church bulletin listing

POTPOURRI II

For some flash-back fun, check out Potpourri I.

• I got these earbuds recently, and I'm tickled pink with the fact that they faithfully reproduce frequencies from 5 to 24,000 Hz! Yep folks, I'm a geek.


• Babies can't dance. However, you can wave their arms around as if they were dancing. Best baby fake-dances include: The Lawnmower, The Cabbage Patch and The Sprinkler.


• Today, I'm wearing a new pair of jeans that I purchased from Wal-Mart for $7, and I think they are as cool or even... wait for it... COOLER than any pair of jeans I have owned before.


• SOME time in my corporate life, to complete my eternal aspirations, I want some big-wig to walk in to a large meeting with tons of people and begin with "What up, my homies!"


• I want to be an Internet Ninja. Not to be confused with Ask a Ninja.

ALANIS - MY HUMPS VIDEO

Ok, I'm going to post something MUCH more worthy of introspection and thought later, but for now, I thought this was DARN funny:

QUICK POST: 20 things you didn't know about The Nobel Prizes

This article hooked me, because The Nobel Prizes have always been interesting, and wrapped in mystery. My favorite nugget of interest is at the bottom:

20 Last year's winners include Claire Rind and Peter Simmons of the University of Newcastle in England, who won the peace prize for monitoring the brain of a locust while it watched scenes from Star Wars.

Technorati Tags: nobel prize, list, funny

Quick Post: FOLLICLES ARE FUNNY

Any of ya'll have a random, extremely long hair that just seems to always get in the way? I've got this one under my right arm that sometimes tickles me just enough to think there's a bug trying to bite me in that very unlikely spot. And what's worse, I don't know why the heck it's there! It's like one of my follicles just decided to say "Screw you guys, I'm going to have some fun! WHEEEEEEEE!!!"

Stupid follicles. Except the ones on my head. They're keeping production at a high level, and I'm extremely proud of them.


Technorati Tags: hair, follicles, quickpost, fun, wheeee