While I was waiting for my Mensa application to be approved, I had this idea:

You know, a PT Cruiser really looks like theCRICKETtoy. What if I bought a PT Cruiser and wrapped it like a giant version of theCRICKETtoy? That would be cool.

Yes, my Mensa application is being fast tracked.

I now only owe $272.60 on ‘theCRICKET car’ (as my 1.5 year old son calls it). I’d love someone’s help to pay it off. So I’m offering 272.6 of theCRICKETtoy for only $272.60. Yepster, that’s a buck a bug. These will come packaged and ready to sell for a retailer.

     To purchase 272.6 of theCRICKETtoy for only $272.60 (first come, first serve), CLICK HERE!!!!

Yes, I wrapped a PT Cruiser like a giant version of theCRICKETtoy

     We’re in the middle of our June Bug Special (5 of theCRICKETtoy® for $14.95 including shipping) and I wanted to see how crazy the heat can make people.

     So here’s my question?

     What would you trade for theCRICKETtoy?

     Even if it seems crazy, go ahead and offer it. I’d like to have a little fun with this for the summer and see what can happen. Someone offered me part of a casket made for Boxcar Willie, so when I say even if it’s crazy, I MEAN IT!

     You’ll see in our store that you can buy 500 of theCRICKETtoy® for $750 so figure around that price to make a somewhat even swap ($1.50 per bug if it’s 350 or more cricket value trade).

     Share this with your friends too. I’d like to see what we can can come up with for the summer.

     You can email me or post your trade in the comments section of this post!

     Game on!

PS Non-silly trades are also encouraged (aka Master’s tickets, round of golf at Pebble Beach, Joe Montana rookie card, X-men #1, Spider-man #1, a Primera CD/DVD Duplicator/Printer, Kanstul rose brass flugelhorn, Canon 55 mm - 250 mm - F/4.0-5.6 lense, iPad, Cobra Limited Edition White ZL driver )7-8 degree, or a healthy cow (these are just ideas)

It’s June here in Nashville. Actually, it’s probably June everywhere as I think about it. (that was dumb).

We are in the middle of the plague of Cicadas. Google it on YouTube and you’ll see what I mean.

I wanted to do some fun promotions for the month of June at theCRICKETToy® so we are having our June Bug Special right now where you can purchase 5 of theCRICKETtoy® for only $14.95 which INCLUDES shipping!

So..if you’re an awkward person, you’ve got awkward friends, or you’re bored this summer and want to make awkward moments, theCRICKETtoy® is for you!

You can purchase theCRICKETtoy® here

You can see a picture of Richard Simmons here

You can see a clip of Battlefield Earth here

You can see the Sarah Palin turkey slaughter speech here

You can purchase Clerks II here

You can watch a clip from Judge Dread here

You can visit the website called www.thatawkwardmoment.net here

You can see Vice President Joe Biden ask Chuck Graham to stand up here(sorry Mr. Biden..nothing personal..I’ve done this type thing often. That’s why I have theCRICKETToy®

You can see the ‘awkward rap’ from www.collegehumor.com here

You can see Jessica Simpson and the ‘chicken of the sea’ comment here

You can see ‘Up’ and one of the ’squirrel’ clips here, which should completely explain my life and this post.

I’m just sayin’

Junebug special 5 bugs (theCRICKETtoy® for only $14.95 total including shipping). Order HERE!!!

All we hear is crickets chirping in the Indiana House right now. LOTS of crickets. They’ve apparently migrated from Wisconsin.

I think I’m going to send a box of theCRICKETtoy® to Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma.

Will I get in trouble? I don’t think so.

It’s still a (wait for it), right to chirp state isn’t it?

Chirp. Chirp.

Here’s Fox News’ take:

My take? Just another opportunity to hear crickets chirping.

I wish I thought about things a ‘little’ earlier. Sadly, my genius, creative ideas seldomly happen 3 months in advance.
11:34 today I realize 1:11:11 1-1-11 is going to happen and I decide to give away a LIFETIME SUPPLY of theCRICKETtoy® to the first 5 people who tweet @theCRICKETtoy Chirp. Chirp. at 1:11:11 today (1:11 pm Central). (YES..I realize for the military that is 13:11..leave me alone)
It really is a clever idea with the potential to have a lot of people tweeting and thinking about 1:11:11 1-1-11. Planning this in advance and publicizing it would be a fun thing to do. Thinking about this at 11:30 this morning as I’m walking out to door for lunch…well Chirp. Chirp.
At this exact moment, I’ve got 7,211 followers on Twitter, so I figured I might as well go ahead and do it and see what happens.

Chirp. Chirp.

I would like to congratulate @luv_mydachshund @dad1111 and @nutmeg237 for tweeting at 1:11 today and winning a lifetime supply of theCRICKETtoy®! Please follow them!

What is a lifetime supply of theCRICKETtoy®? Glad you asked.

A lifetime supply of theCRICKETtoy® = 50 of theCRICKETtoy®.

Click here to see the description of how I came up with 50. It involves a lot of scientific jargon. OK..maybe not. Let’s just say that my Mensa application must still be sitting on someone’s desk somewhere.

I should have planned this with more than an hour and 37 minute warning, but it seems, that’s how I roll. For those folks with huge twitter followings, these type things would be good to do once in awhile to see how many people that are following you are actually reading your tweets. I kind of thought with 7200+ folks following, I’d end up with maybe 1% tweeting or 72 folks. Well, I ended up with .042% responding. Yep..3 folks.

Chirp. Chirp.

Here’s the fun thing about this though. I get to talk about successes and failures on this blog, when things work, when they don’t work, when I do a horrible job and when I stumble upon something great at times. If awkward situations arise because of my plans, that’s GREAT! I’m trying to sell millions of crickets based on awkward situations. Let’s just say, I’m not ‘quite’ at a million crickets sold yet. And, as a small business owner, I think it’s great to share when things work and when they don’t. I get SO MUCH feedback from folks when I do things that help me plan better the next time.

I am VERY GRATEFUL to the 3 folks that tweeted and I am sending each of them 50 of theCRICKETtoy® very happily! They are my supporters, readers, tweeters, champions and currently, favorite people.

What I’ve learned from this? I will BE READY EARLY for the 1:11:11 11-11-11 in November EARLY and will plan it in advance.

I hope you all have a truly Happy New Year. Maybe the lessons we learned in 2010 propel us further in 2011. Blessings to all!

Chirp. Chirp.

     There are some people in this world who seem to just ooze talent. This Sunday at our church, a friend of mine, Josh Cassidy is singing a song he wrote “Baby Boy”. I could close my eyes and listen to this over and over again. Such a smooth voice and great guitar playing.

Check it out:

If you just watched that video, you’ll know what I mean. The idea that this guy doesn’t have a record deal is crazy to me.

Along with being a great guitar player and a great blues singer, he also is an amazing artist. His iPhone fingerpaintings have been featured on many different websites with Jimmy Fallon even talking about Josh’s painting of Jimmy.

Awhile back, I asked Josh if he would create an iPhone fingerpainting of theCRICKETtoy®. The cool thing about the iPhone fingerpainting is that he can record video of the process so you can literally watch him paint it. It’s really phenomenal.

Here’s Josh’s painting of theCRICKETtoy®

There are some amazingly talented people in the world. Many of them have yet to be ‘discovered’. Without a doubt, Josh is one of those guys. If you’re looking for a ridiculously cool contemporary painting of something, contact him. You won’t be disappointed.

I can’t wait to hear him sing Sunday!

Bethany Hamilton gets her arm bitten off by a shark.

Ok, so this should NOT be a spoiler by any means. I have the same level of understanding and compassion for someone walking into this movie and not knowing that as I do someone walking into Titanic and not knowing the boat is going to sink. When you look at promos for the movie and you look at the cover of the book:

You kind of see it coming. I’m just sayin’.

One of my best friends, Bill, invited my wife and I to a screening of Soul Surfer for industry folks tonight here in Franklin (Nashville), Tennessee. The official release date to over 2,000 theaters will be April 15, 2011. I am a composer/songwriter/producer for a living. (This ‘genius’ idea of theCRICKETtoy® is not where I make money currently.) I love movies, so I can’t resist the opportunity to see a movie 4 months before it’s official release that isn’t even 100% completed yet.

Here’s what I took away from the movie:

Bethany Hamilton is a truly remarkable young woman. So strong. So brave. And a dang good surfer (this goes without saying, but I’ve said it).

This is a FAMILY FRIENDLY movie that we will certainly take our daughters to see when it officially comes out (in time for summer surfing next year). The rating is going to be PG and the folks at Affirm Films (part of the Sony Pictures family) did an amazing job of portraying the shark attack in a way that will not gore out any children because of blood and such. Not at all.

The cast is strong:
AnnSophia Rob - Bethany Hamilton
Dennis Quaid - Tom Hamilton (father)
Helen Hunt - Cheri Hamilton (mom)
Lorraine Nickolson - Alana (Bethany’s friend)
Kevin Sorbo - Alana’s father
Craig T. Nelson - Doctor
Carrie Underwood - Bethany’s youth pastor
Branscombe Richmond - Ben (old famous surfer)

If you put Dennis Quaid in a movie with Helen Hunt and drop in AnnaSophia Rob, they are going to deliver lines REALLY WELL! When you add Craig T. Nelson, you’re adding even more depth.

This was also Carrie Underwood’s first role in a movie. Let me just say….she looks stunning on the big screen. Her look, her voice, and her delivery…she really did great. I think you’ll see her in more movies to come. The camera does love her.

Kevin Sorbo - I know..you may think of Hercules BUT….there’s more to Kevin. He really does a great job in a low key, supporting role.

Lorraine Nickolson-Well..she’s Jack Nickolson’s daughter, so..there you go. She really did do a wonderful job.

AnnaSophia Rob - Wow. Wow. Wow. She has a long, wonderful career ahead of her. LONNNNNGGGG! Truly talented. (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp? Hello?)

For all of theCRICKETtoy® fans out there, during one of the two really big scenes in the movie, there was a problem with the movie and we ended up sitting in the dark. The movie is still in post production, but this was just a computer issue. As we all sat quietly in the theater for about 5 minutes, it was so quiet you could hear crickets chirping.

Yep, I did go ahead and chirp theCRICKETtoy®. That’s what it’s made for. ANYTIME there’s an awkward pause, push the button on theCRICKETtoy® and you’ll hear “Chirp. Chirp.” (crickets chirping). Big smiles!

A special thanks to Carmike - Thoroughbred 20 in Franklin, TN for allowing us to watch this private screening.

Fun side note: Here’s me with one of the 6 surfboard props they used in the movie. This is the actual type board Bethany used when the tiger shark attacked her. Yes, I’m wearing theCRICKETtoy® shirt. A man with 9,000 crickets in his garage has to do a little plugging.

In the next month or so, you’ll start seeing trailers for the movie. But for now, you can follow Bethany on Twitter or on Facebook and you can follow info about the movie on Twitter and Facebook or the movie website.

You can buy theCRICKETtoy® here. I’m just sayin’.

It’s time. Time for the yearly (bi-yearly sometimes) sock enema.

It really is amazing how I have so many pairs of white socks and yet I can’t seem to find a pair that match. Drives me nuts.

I remember Nick Cage’s closet in The Family Man and that symbolized someone with a LOT of money. As I still have bout 9,000 crickets in the garage, I am NOT going to symbolize someone with a lot of money. BUT, I can make myself feel like I’ve got a lot of money.

How is that possible? It’s very simple.

A Sock Enema

Every couple of years, I simply throw away every pair of white socks I have and start over. It’s time. It’s amazing how good it makes me feel to simply buy 3 bags of white socks and have them all neatly stacked in the drawer.

Have you had a Sock Enema recently? You should. It does the body (and the sock drawer) good.

Chirp. Chirp.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday…Why can’t there be a Green Wednesday? There is today!

For the rest of the day, you can purchase theCRICKETtoy for only $2.99 each. Tomorrow, it will go back to it’s regular price of $3.99.

There is a 10 pack available online for only $35.00.

Think about that for a second. If you order the 10 pack today, we will charge you $35.00 and smile, laugh and chirp you a little.

If you don’t want to be chirped by the ‘Master Chirper’, just order the individual version and change the quantity to however many you want.

It’s not rocket science.

THIS is rocket science!

The price will go back to $3.99 for theCRICKETtoy at midnight tonight or at whatever point after midnight that I remember to change it back. Until then, this is really the best opportunity for a really cool, different and inexpensive stocking stuffer that you’ll find for under $3. I’m just sayin’

     Quick little post here. One simple question:

What does your CEO look like?

     My wife and I really enjoy watching Undercover Boss on CBS. It’s a fun show where the Boss (CEO) goes undercover to work in his company to see what really goes on. There are usually some heart warming stories and then….well…there are those people who could use a lifetime supply of theCRICKETtoy® because of the awkward situations they have put themselves in. Some of the situations are even more difficult to imagine because there is a TV CREW filming and they know that. How on earth do you say and do some of the things that these people do while being filmed?

     Jojo and Regan who host the morning show on Mix 106.5 in Baltimore said it best on twitter:

     If a rich looking dude with a camera crew shows up at your low level job, it may be a hint that you’re on “Undercover Boss”

     You can follow them on Twitter @JojoAndReagan

     Sooooo…if you work for a fairly large corporation, it might not be a bad idea to maybe google your boss and see what he looks like. I’m just sayin’

     If you choose not to google your boss, I’d appreciate if you mention theCRICKETtoy® when you’re sitting in that chair across from your CEO realizing the dumb things you said and did.

     Chirp. Chirp.

     If you want to watch clips or see when it airs, click here: