Paul's World of Funky Stuff

Paul's Funky Stuff Wins Coveted Arte y Pico Award

2008-07-03T20:27:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Dr. Robert at Rob's Megaphone for the nomination.

The "Arte y Pico" award is given in recognition of support given, comments made and general all around blogging community spirit. I am honored for the recognition and would like to thank God, all the little people, the academy, the girls in the balcony and my family for putting up with my blogging every event imaginable.

In accordance with the "Arte y Pico" guidelines, I am nominating five blogs that are deserving of this award.

1. Life with the Swell Guy
2. A Bit of This A Bit of That
3. blog.LouLesko
4. Doctor On Call
5. See it Draw it Share it

The rest of the fine print...

The Rules thanks to arteypico.blogspot.com:

Rules:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award-winning, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y pico”blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) To show these rules.

Paul's Funky Caption Contest - Week 3 - WINNER

2008-07-03T17:59:00.008-04:00

The results are in...

First Place Winner - "Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Gremlin" - Mandy

Runner Up - "Everybody Loves Their Cousin Sometimes" - Greg

Miss Congeniality and Two Time finalist - "My Eye Adores You" - Deedles (she is obviously a force to be reckoned with)

Mandy will be receiving the fabulous prize package complete with

...and possibly an autographed copy of one of the following hit LP's

Paul's Funky Caption Contest Week 3 - FINALISTS

2008-07-03T09:51:00.007-04:00

Please vote for your favorite song from Cody Matherson's smash hit album from our list of six finalists.

1. "Get out of my dreams, get into my Gremlin" - Mandy

2. "When a man loves an inmate" - Stacer

3. "Everybody loves their cousin sometimes" - Greg

4. "He ain't heavy (He's my turtlehead) - Ace

5. "Care for some gopher?" - Narbi

6. "My eye adores you" - Deedles

We will tabulate the votes later today and announce our winner who will receive a (fly's) lifetime supply of.....

Contestants please only vote for yourselves under fake names once or twice.

Wooohoooooo!

Uncle Paul & Seth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

2008-07-02T22:34:00.009-04:00

The picture above is from the archives of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is from one of the first races of motorized vehicles that ever occured on the two and a half mile track. The race took place in August of 1909. The winning bike had no brakes, no fenders, and basically was a bicycle with a motor attached.

This 1909 Indian Racer was the winning bike. Why am I telling you all this motorcycle history????

Well, I took my two year old nephew Seth to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today. The Speedway is like an old friend that I always feel the need to visit while I am in town. Honestly, I was hoping to spend a little time at the museum knowing there wasn't much happening on the track between the 500 in May and the 400 later this month.

I was wrong.

There was much ado.

For the first time since that 1909 race, the Speedway will host a motorcycle event later this year in September. In preparation for the race, the Red Bull teams are all on the newly laid out motorcycle road course doing tire testing. Admission was free and Mr. Seth and I had our choice of seating from a variety of very cool vantage points. We scored. We hit the jackpot.

I have seen Indy cars piloted by the likes of A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and yes, Danica Patrick on this track. I have seen Jeff Gordon & Rusty Wallace doing NASCAR testing a few years ago. I must say that watching motorcycles flash by at over 200 miles per hour was also fun to watch (and I know nothing about the GP series and can't name a single driver). We saw Ninjas and Bugatis at full throttle and it kept a 2 year old's attention for over three hours.

Here's a couple of pictures from today's action.

Here's a short video that was filmed at yesterday's testing. It will give you a general idea of the track layout for the September race.

Great Work Once Again People!

2008-07-02T18:56:00.002-04:00

We will leave the caption contest up for a few more hours and we have some excellent choices for finalists today. While we tabulate the entries, here's a really cool switch that controls all the electrical devices in your neighbor's house (or the office next to yours).

Wait...no....maybe it's the switch that sends the nukes to bomb the Russkies?

Perhaps it's just the panic button that will end the day if you've had a really crummy one.

It's yours to use how you choose. Thank my later.

Paul's Funky Caption Contest - Week 3

2008-07-02T00:17:00.008-04:00

My good friend "The Swell Guy" had an excellent post yesterday that will serve as inspiration for today's fabulous Paul's Funky Caption Contest. His post linked to a list of some of the worst album covers of all time. This gem of a cover by the artist known as Cody Matherson was the first picture in the gallery and so your task for this week's contest is to either give me a song title or lyrics that might appear on this hit album, "Can I Borrow a Feelin'?"

After shipping out a box of Rice-A-Roni for last week's winner, this week's contest will feature another prize from my 1970's classic game show vault.

Good luck and remember to leave me a real or fake name on your anonymous comments so I can track all the entries. We will allow three per customer the same as last week. No wagering. Void where prohibited. Godspeed.

Tomorrow is Wednesday - otherwise known as Paul's Funky Caption Day

2008-07-01T14:01:00.007-04:00

I am mailing out a box of Rice-a-Roni today to last week's winner of the Funky Caption Contest.

Tomorrow is our third round and here's a couple of finalists that didn't make the cut for the big day

The beating of Snow White

2008-07-01T11:47:00.005-04:00

My brother reminded me this morning of a funny thing that we saw at the park Sunday afternoon.

There was a family not too far from us that must have been celebrating a birthday and so there was an (almost) lifesize Snow White pinata filled with treats waiting for all the kids. One of the people there informed us that this large size was traditional in Mexico. The little ones are fake American pinatas.

After an hour or so, they raised Snow White by the rope tied to her head and they gave the beating stick to a little boy.

This is where things got bizarre.

It was surreal as we watched (for the next 30 minutes) Snow White get violently beaten. I don't know if the manufacturers used paper mache' or quickcrete because she wasn't giving up her treasure any too quickly. Finally the bat was given to a teenage boy and then his father as they violently beat this sweet friend of dwarfs. My brother and I and the rest of our party laughed as Snowy lost both of her legs....then her head....and then finally....mercifully....her midsection split open as the candy gushed out.

It was a spectacle indeed.

Day 3

2008-06-30T21:12:00.009-04:00

It's another gorgeous day in Illinois as we continue our journey. We said our goodbyes last night to Grandma Barb who, along with Robin's Dad, have been most gracious hosts for us during our stay in Mattoon.

We met my Dad at noon at Pizza Hut for lunch. He eats there every Monday. He has certain restaurants where he likes to eat (like clockwork) everyday and the employees there have become like family to him. I said thank you to the manager for taking care of my Pop. He said that if Dad didn't show up on a Monday, he would probably call the police to report him missing.

We had good conversation talking about my Grandpa Oscar & Grandma Ellen (his parents) and his adventures growing up in Chicago. Dad recounted the day that his Mother stepped out onto her second story back porch of their house near the "el" tracks. Grandma was unaware that my Dad and his brother had found a way to climb the large X beams that supported the train track high above. There they would grip the hot railroad ties with both of their hands and eventually pull their heads up into the sunlight where the train tracks and the electrified rail were. They would play a game as to who could hold their heads up the longest as the train would approach. Whomever dropped first was the loser. So...as my Grandmother was standing on her back porch one afternoon while folding laundry she spotted two little heads above the ties on the track. My Dad and brother were both under 10 years of age. It wasn't long after this that my Dad's family moved out of Chicago to downstate Illinois.

On the way through Charleston, I dropped the girls off at their Aunt's house and I zipped over to the Charleston Country Club to play golf with a great friend from high school. My buddy Clint can be found in some of those MASSIVE posts (guys pictured in togas, etc.) I can't begin to tell you how satisfying it was to play nine holes with him as we shared memories and laughed about our days on the Greenwave golf team. I played with borrowed clubs wearing tennis shoes under a beautiful blue sky and it couldn't have been much better. Thanks Clint!

Later as we headed east out of Illinois towards Indianapolis, Robin and I were amazed to see how expansive the view was. Growing up here you get used to these ten to fifteen mile visibility views of field after field filled with corn and beans. Coming back...honestly...it was beautiful to see again. We stopped in the middle of nowhere to snap a couple of pictures. The one above shows a stretch of road typical of central Illinois. Flat and straight allowing you to see forever.

The heavy rains that have come recently have damaged some of the crops and we saw evidence of standing water that still remained in some of the fields. Mostly though, the rain has been good for the farmers in and around Mattoon. There is an addage here that says "Knee high by the fourth of July". This means that if your corn is knee high by the fourth, you're in good shape. Obviously the field pictured below is well ahead of this familiar saying.

That's it for today. Tomorrow we will be at Robin's Sister's house in Indy as Robin and I celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. I will keep you posted (somewhat) ;-)

A Beautiful Saturday

2008-06-29T19:11:00.004-04:00

We are ending day two of our Illinois journey.

We began the day at church with my Dad. First Baptist in Mattoon is a church that I was a part of as a kid and it was really nice to back here and to see some old familiar faces. The Pastor and thirteen other people had just gotten back from the mission field in the Dominican Republic and it was touching to hear their stories and view the pictures of the work they had done there.

After church we gathered in a pavilion at Lytle Park (near the giant swimming pool that we use to spend our summers in) for a gathering of friends and family. The weather looked a little suspect at times, but it wound up being a fine afternoon with good conversation and lots of laughter.

Later this afternoon I took my Father out to the edge of town to the cemetery where my Mother is buried. She passed away in 2001 and I miss her very much. As we stood under the shade tree where she is buried, Dad began to talk about how he first met my Mom and how her faith was always strong. He came to know the Lord after meeting her in college. Dad was required to go to church with her before he could ask her out on their first date. He talked about getting to see her again someday and how much he missed her voice and smile and laughter. Somehow our conversation turned to his name written on the stone and how the second date is still a mystery. He said that he was ready to go when it was his time and even though he will be 80 soon, he feels good and is in good health. We ended the visit there with a father-son hug and a few tears. Dad told me he missed me and was very proud of how my life had turned out.

I love my Dad. He's not perfect and he would be the first to admit it. He told me he prays for each of his six children by name each and everyday.

Today and that moment was worth the whole trip to me.

Day 2

2008-06-29T09:40:00.003-04:00

Not much on the agenda today other than recovery from the long drive and hanging out with Robin's family. We ate at the newly refurbished Little Mexico and played some putt-putt at Peterson Park (talk about nostalgia). I tried to tell Rob & Ash about my baseball heroics in the Little League All Star game that took place at the baseball stadium in this park...these hallowed grounds...the time I cracked a two run triple to help our team on to victory. They both yawned.

We're off to church this morning with my Dad at FBC and then we'll be headed to Lytle Park for a family/friend gathering under one of the pavilions at 1pm. Our weather yesterday was fabulous. It was in the mid 70's with a breeze all day. We hope for the same today.

Arrival

2008-06-28T12:34:00.006-04:00

Here are a few highlights from our Illinois road trip day one.

This is a lovely shot of I-40 in North Carolina between Asheville and Knoxville. This stretch of road is white knuckle driving to the inth degree. The rocks on the right have chain over them to keep the boulders from falling down on your car. Please note the foot of Mrs. Pulitzer with her sassy purple toenail polish. She obviously trusted my driving ability.

This is the famous stretch of horse farms between Lexington and Frankfort, Kentucky. All the really scenic shots were on the other side of the Interstate but you get the idea.

Crossing the bridge in Louisville into southern Indiana

The exit for Seymour, Indiana, the hometown of John Cougar Mellencamp. He was born in a smalltown.

The underlying theme of the trip was our ability to drive through nasty severe thunderstorms. We had a couple of doozy's in Tennessee; one that caused an accident just north of Knoxville which put us on a parking lot for a while.

All that to say that we made it in early this morning. I will keep you posted.

Going Home

2008-06-26T22:51:00.005-04:00

Friday begins an epic journey for our family as we load up the car and head back to the midwest. Our trip tomorrow will take us around 13 hours or so and we should log over 700 miles before reaching our destination, my hometown, Mattoon, Illinois.

We're looking forward to seeing family and catching up with old friends. It's been three years since we've been back. I talked to a good friend tonight about how his hometown isn't home anymore. All of his family has moved away and things have really changed since he left. It's sad in a way to loose that bond. I love living in South Carolina and hope to spend the rest of my life here....but...it is nice to be able to go back home too.

Dan Fogelberg Souvenirs (1974)
Illinois

Dusty day dawning
Three hours late
Open the curtains
And let the rest wait.
My mind goes running
Three thousand miles east
I may miss the harvest
But I won't miss the feast.

Chorus

And it looks like you're gonna Have to see me again
And it looks like you're gonna Have to see me again
And it looks like you're gonna Have to see me again.
Illinois...oh, Illinois.

South California
Your sun is too cold
It looks like your hills
Have been raped of their gold.
I should have come out
When I was first told
This lamb has got to
Return to the fold.

Flat on the prairies
Soil and stone
Stretching forever
Taking me home
'Cause I've got a woman
Who waits for me there
And I need a breath of that
Sweet country air.

Chorus Illinois-I'm your boy.

Funky Caption Contest Week 2 - RESULTS

2008-06-26T14:10:00.004-04:00

After a busy day of voting, the results are in....

FIRST PLACE - (We have a tie)

"Well--if you wore the pantyhose underneath like I told you, these boots would just slip right off" - Deedles

"Vladimir: Dude, you had a dozen roses stuffed up there!?!? Krotchky: Read the card, Vlady! Read the card!" - Dawg

Runner-up

"Ok..ok...k.k.k.k. Hold on!! Chuck Norris book instruction, Step #21 say "While holding bad guy's belt kick high towards neck and shout 'Say hello to my little friend". Then Whop-Pow!!" - The Swell Guy

Honorable Mention

"Say soldier, are those Manolos? They're fierce!" - Lurkinglivvyloverky

"So how does this work? I raise your leg and insert the quarter where?" - Dawg

In the tradition of great game shows, both Dawg & Deedles will receive today's fabulous prize package which includes but is not limited to a full one meal supply of

(That San Fransisco Treat)

and

Paul's World of Funky Stuff the Home Game

Thanks for playing and tune in next Wednesday for another funky caption contest!

Paul's Funky Caption Contest Finalists - Week 2

2008-06-26T08:30:00.004-04:00

Being as we have SO many great entries this week and my executive board are all off globetrotting, I am opening up the contest to the grand process known as DE VOTE.

I have narrowed down our field to these finalists. Please select your favorite and we will name a winner later today.

1. "Say soldier, are those Manolos? They're fierce!"

2. "Well--if you wore the pantyhose underneath like I told you, these boots would just slip right off!"

3. "So how does this work? I raise your leg and insert the quarter where?"

4. "Vladimir: Dude, you had a dozen roses stuffed up there!?!? Krotchky: Read the card, Vlady! Read the card!"

5. "STOP Friedrek, Do NOT crush these tiny people with your iron leg!"

6. "Mikhail, You are very limber. Do you have date for Kremlin ball?"

7. "Ok..ok...k.k.k.k. Hold on!! Chuck Norris book instruction, Step #21 say "While holding bad guy's belt kick high towards neck and shout 'Say hello to my little friend". Then Whop-Pow!!"

8. "See I told you mine were bigger than yours"

Nice work people

2008-06-25T22:58:00.003-04:00

I laughed all day reading your captions and we will take them all under consideration. You all have beautiful, slightly warped, minds and your captions were all impressive!

Look for a winner to be announced sometime tomorrow afternoon.

This week's Funky Caption Contest Winner will receive a fabulous prize from the Funky Prize Vault.

Here's a hint......

Paul's Funky Caption Contest - Week 2

2008-06-25T09:01:00.003-04:00

Leave me a comment with the best caption for the following photo. I would appreciate at least a first name on the otherwise anonymous comments. Make one up if necessary. Our executive board will determine the best one and it will be plastered all over the interwebs with your funny original caption. There is a fabulous prize for the winner this week. It will be announced later this week with the winning entry. Woohoo!

Limit 3 entries per customer. Void where prohibited.

Good luck!

Tomorrow is Wednesday

2008-06-24T16:46:00.004-04:00

Which, of course, means the 2nd round of the

Paul's World of Funky Stuff

Funky Caption Contest

I know you all are anxiously anticipating the posting of the photo and yes, there will be a prize awarded for your incredible creativity. Let the games begin.

The greatest wedding ever?

2008-06-24T11:06:00.002-04:00

Monday Muhahahaha

2008-06-23T16:30:00.010-04:00

(Clicky clicky for bigger versions of all these)

Pity the poor kid on the second row far left one second after this was snapped.

Innovative ladder stacking

Which is worse...rising gas prices or suffocating on public transportation?

This could have been one of our Wednesday caption contest shots. Love it!

Swell guy is right. Bikers do everything together

Paul's Funky Finetune Playlists

2008-06-23T13:27:00.004-04:00

Please note that I have uploaded two of my Finetune playlists onto the sidebar of this site. Feel free to listen as you surf the funky site or the rest of the web. Shrink the page and you can play it all day or pop the player out into a separate window.

My first two lists are

The Blender - An ecclectic blend of songs from a variety of artists from several different genres.

Paul's Worship & CCM Mix - This is a list I put together of songs that you might hear in contemporary worship services along with songs from my favorite contemporary Christian artists. I tried to pick tunes that you don't hear played 20 times a day on your local Christian music station.

Please drop me a comment or email if there are songs you would like me to add to either of these. Also let me know if you have any technical difficulties browsing due to having these added.

Thanks and peace!

Weekly Update

2008-06-23T08:28:00.009-04:00

Happy Monday to everyone. I trust you had a splendid weekend.

One thing we've always tried to do here at Paul's World of Funky Stuff is to keep you updated on the overall progress of the site based on the reports I get daily from Google analytics. It's always interesting to see where people have visited from and what strange web searches brought them here. BTW, I have a new widget from Feedjit on my right sidebar halfway down the page that will now give you a real time traffic report.

Here's the breakdown for last week (6/15 - 6/22)

3,637 hits from 1,955 visitors
Those 1,955 visitors came from 54 different countries
Those 1,955 visitors came from 973 cities

Top 5 Cities from last week

Greenwood, SC - 66
London, England - 51
Chicago - 26
New York - 25
Houston - 22

Top 10 interesting city names that visited last week

Horseheads
Due West
Orono
Dimmitt
Beersheba
Ixelles
Hastings on Hudson
Phitsanulok
Great Neck
Spearfish

Top 5 referring sites

Reddit.com
Stumbleupon.com
Google.com
Images.google.com
Fark.com

Top 5 Google Search Words that Sent People Here

Funky Stuff
Paul's Funky World
Wally Wallington
White Man Afros
Iconic Guitars

Top 10 Funny or Interesting Search Words that Sent People Here

Paul's Wacky Stuff
Funky Toaster
Funky Boobs
I've got that tupper feeling
Outhouse with no toilet paper
70's Toy Magnet Hair
Anyone flying from Detroit to Nairobi in July
The tighter you squeeze the less you have
Female news anchor pass gass
Holy Moly Yard Game

Traffic YTD

53,260 site visits from 111 countries/5,253 cities

As always, I want to say thank you for visiting Paul's World of Funky Stuff and for making it part of your daily habit. Please visit our sponsors if you have a an extra minute or two and let them know I sent you. Thanks again, God bless you and have a great week!

You Are Invited!

2008-06-21T22:55:00.008-04:00

I am extending an invitation to anyone in upstate South Carolina area to join me at New Covenant in Greenwood, SC Sunday morning at 10:30 for our Sunday service. We are in a brand new building which is EXCELLENT and Pastor David Harrell is beginning a new (very cool) series called Risky Business dealing with "safe vs. unsafe" relationships.

NC is on Woodlawn Road off of Highway 72 as you are headed out of Greenwood to the west. Take a left at the light near Grace Community and the church is on your right. The people at New Covenant are very friendly, the atmosphere is casual and the music is combination "in the groove bass thumpin' rock da house" and "smooth calm quiet intimate worship." We are Christ followers and are also trying to serve each other and our community as well.

We'd love to have you come and visit!

(photo above taken by The Swell Guy)

Paul's Top Ten List of Top Ten Lists

2008-06-20T09:03:00.020-04:00

1. Top Ten Billboards

2. Top Ten Dunks

3. Top Ten Contenders for the Automobile X Prize (This baby gets 130 mpg and was designed by the automotive engineering class at West Philadelphia High School)

4. Top Ten Most Annoying Alarm Clocks

5. Top Ten Bizarre Japanese Beverages

6. Top Ten White Men Afros (I couldn't resist)

7. Top Ten Strange Mini-Devices (That's a 1G flash drive)

8. Top Ten Photos Taken From International Space Station

9. Top Ten Urinals

10. Top Ten Shirts to Get Arrested In

Uh...what?

2008-06-19T22:12:00.000-04:00