Blog: My Brain Dump
A Nice Deal On A Good Product
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There was a series of DVDs called Noodlebug that was created a few years back, designed for young children (ages 2 and up). It incorporated music, movement, animation and live video to teach kids about healthy brains, bodies, activities, animals, bugs and more.
I did the music for the entire series of DVDs…and in addition to the DVDs themselves, the music from each volume is broken out on a separate music CD within each package…so it was a pretty nice value to begin with. My 3-year-old grandson has been telling me lately that he prefers Noodlebug to The Wiggles, so I decided to buy him a set to keep at home rather than loaning him my copies. I went to the publisher’s web site, and was amazed to find that they had been discounted to $2.49 each! So I bought all 6 of the volumes they had for sale, and even with shipping, the whole purchase was under 19 bucks…for SIX DVDs!
So if you have a young kid that you care about, you might want to consider it as a very affordable gift! Here’s a nice video sample, so you can see that the quality is rock-solid. These were originally $15-20 apiece, I think…so these drastic discounts indicate that the products are being cut out of active stock from the existing publisher, and won’t be available long.
Here’s the link to the product page: Noodlebug
Catching Up
Wow…so long gone, eh? I plead guilty. It’s been something like 6-8 months since my last post. But it’s time to peel back the lid off the basket and dunk a few.
This time, I’m going to focus on catching up with a few things that I’ve discovered recently and which I want to recommend to those who might be interested:
1. Dan Miller
I had heard Dan’s book (“48 Days to the Work You Love”) recommended on Dave Ramsey’s radio show a few months back. Then I found out a couple weeks ago that he had a podcast as well. I listened to the most recent one and liked what I heard…so I’ve downloaded about 100 hours from his podcast archive (going back to 2006) and am working my way thru them as I work on other things.
Dan is a plain-spoken guy with a gentle manner and a wealth of knowledge. His main topic is finding satisfaction in your career, and for those so inclined, how to develop a career working from home. He gives out a great deal of free advice as part of his personal philosophy, but he’s also an author, a busy career/life coach and runs at least one business selling inspirational/motivational books.
He’s a guy who knows whereof he speaks. He lost everything he had (home, cars, etc) when he was in his 40s, and took years repaying creditors and the IRS. He’s not given to wild claims…he just offers wisdom and advice about what’s legit and what’s not…and encourage folks to pursue their passion. At the very least, I’d recommend that you consider listening to a podcast or two (free on iTunes…search for ’48 days’), and consider sharing this info with a friend who is struggling in their career direction.
And now, for the OTHER Miller Brother…Dennis. Yep, this is the same Dennis Miller who you laughed at on SNL 20 years ago, and who helmed a successful HBO talk show for 9 years. He was the smirking, sardonic standup comedian with an endless supply of hysterical allegories, and I read somewhere recently that he’d been voted the 21st best standup comedian of all time by viewers of Comedy Central.
Dennis is in his mid-50s now, and in addition to his standup career and his weekly appearances with Bill O’Reilly, he hosts a 3-hour daily talk radio show. After 9/11, Miller moved from his formerly liberal leanings to a moderate-conservative worldview. He’s not the angry young man of years ago. He’s been married to a beautiful former model for 20 years, has two great sons, and a successful career. What’s not to love?
His show is very funny, and unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, and I’ve been a long-time listener of the talk genre. He blends comedy, commentary, guests from the political and entertainment worlds, and he takes a lot of listener calls. His repartee is still witty, but without the hard edge. The show is occasionally uneven (unlike the slick or angry alternatives out there), but it’s well-done and very human.
If your local station doesn’t carry the show, you can listen live on the web site for free (10-1pm ET). I pay a little every year to get access to the commercial-free podcast, so I can listen anytime. If you like to laugh, chances are you’ll enjoy the show.
One of the things about computers that can be frustrating is the lack of personality in communications. Unless you’re an emoticons expert, you’re not always sure whether someone is joking with you or angry with you.
I stumbled across YourFonts.com a couple months ago, and found it to be a lot of fun. It’s a way to bring your own handwriting to your desktop by allowing you to create your own personal font.
It’s simple enough to use for letters and cards, etc. But you can also share the font with close friends so they can read your words in your own handwriting on their computer screen.
It took a bit of tweaking to get things the way I wanted them, but I came up with a font of my own, and I like it!
Dave Wooding has created a really nice way of automating an exchange of links with related blog sites with this sweet little WP plugin. You simply install it and fill out the fields for your own site, and it will create a links page for you that results in an instant linking structure that you don’t have to maintain at all. It’s perfect for people who understand the value of backlinks in search engine optimization, but who don’t have the time or desire to approach other people about link exchanges. Convenient, helpful…and, for the time being, FREE.
Two Quick Freebies
Since I had previously done an audio version of some of those Chuck Norris facts, a friend recently suggested that I do the same for some of the new Sarah Palin facts…so if you enjoy that kind of humor (as I do), come have a listen. If you like it, please consider sharing it with a friend or social bookmarking it.
Also, I released an album of my original songs for kids a few years back under the name Chuck Brown & The Chuckleberries. As of today, I’ve decided to make the whole album available for free download. If you have young kids or know of some kids who love music, give it a listen. You’ll find all 13 free kids songs from the album… plus a never-heard-before BONUS song download called “Bunny Baby”.
Thanks…now back to your regular Saturday programming! 😉
Google’s Missed Opportunity (So Far)
One of the great lessons I’ve had to learn over the years of doing business online is that of “standing in the stream”. In essence, what that means is that people are looking for stuff they want/need online…and they are going to search for it in whatever way makes the most sense to them. In the old-school model, you first needed to create a perception of need and then brand your product so that it was tied (in people’s minds) to your product as the solution. But, in the internet age, it’s backward…if you’ve got a product that meets a need, you find out what “they” (the peeps) are looking for already, and then you get out there and “stand in the stream” where they are already searching.
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The Plugin I’ve Been Waiting For!
Okay…I know…I’m usually the last one to know about these things. So this probably isn’t BREAKING NEWS to anyone (not that that would stop Rita Cosby from using that sound effect of hers!). But someone has finally created a plugin that does what I’ve been saying was needed for the last couple years.
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