The End

Tony Funderburk Posted on by

It’s kinda funny to start out a blog post with the words “the end”, huh?

This story takes place in the year and half after I graduated high school in Texas. Immediately after the pomp and circumstance was over I headed up to Kansas where my mom and step-dad lived. And I got a job in a small, local lumber yard. There were two owners and 3 guys who did all the labor. And they had it all worked out that one owner and the other two guys would take their lunch hour first. The other owner and I would take the second lunch hour.

During our lunch hour there usually wasn’t much business. So, most of the time we’d listen to Paul Harvey on the little one speaker radio on the desk. I really enjoyed that. Paul Harvey had a way of delivering the news of the day that even the best talk show hosts of today can’t touch. And I still remember the end of each of shows. He’d simply say (with a noticeable smile in his voice) “Paul Harvey……good day.”

One day he talked about eagles and their importance in the fabric of American culture. He was lamenting the fact that our country was losing the moral fiber that held the fabric together. And as he shared a story about eagles, word pictures floated like puffs of colorful smoke in my mind. I found a sheet of lumber yard note paper and quickly jotted down a poem I called “The End”.

Unfortunately our culture never made a comeback, and I daresay Mr. Harvey would be saddened by how the moral fabric of America is even more worn and frazzled. So, my poem seems even more withdrawn. At any rate…here it is…

Lyrics to "TheEnd"...a poem by singer songwriter Tony Funderburk

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Here’s a fun way to make sure kids get outta bed in a good mood…

Jennifer is a working mom with 2 kids and another one on the way. She wakes up every morning at five o’clock, fumbles around for her robe and slippers, stumbles to the kitchen to make coffee. And then she lines up the breakfast menu. Let’s see…Fruity Toots or Choco Clowns? Ah, just put ’em both on the table. The kids’ll work it out.

Then a quick shower (she notices she’s running just a little late), yell out Emily and Nolan’s names, then throw on the clothes and back to the kitchen. She notices there’s no sound of tiny feet coming down the hallway, so she zips back to their bedrooms. One look inside, and…yep; they’re up and getting dressed. Not!

She calls out, “Emily! Get outta bed.”

Then, “Nolan, you too!” The kids start to wiggle (just a bit) and she realizes this’ll take more action.

Soooo….

She walks over to the dresser in Emily’s room and turns on her “boom box”, pops in Emily’s very own personalized music for kids, and in a couple of seconds she hears…

“Get outta bed, get outta bed.
You better get outta bed you sleepyhead, better get outta bed.
Emily, the sun’s up high. Better get up and open your eyes.
Emily, your cartoon’s on. Better wake up it’ll soon be gone.
Get outta bed, get outta bed.
You better get outta bed you sleepyhead, better get outta bed.”

Jennifer then goes into Nolan’s room and repeats the process on his little CD player. Only this time the personalized songs sing to Nolan. Mom gives Nolan a quick tickle in the ribs, and the kids start to respond to their cool wake up songs. That’s just the start of the day, and with their own personalized CD’s, they have songs that’ll take ’em all through the day.

Stay tuned,

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No-cost, low-cost, and premium ways you can show your support…

Tell everybody you know to subscribe to Tony’s Daily Devotional
(emails with good stuff for Fa-Ree)

Get my Rhyme & Reason Podcast delivered right to your device. (also Fa-Ree)

Get digital Bible stuff from the same company I do.

My books are also on Amazon.com or Apple Books

Grab yourself an un-cool T-shirt

Or how about some music for believers, dreamers, and thinkers

 

Coloring Video

Tony Funderburk Posted on by

I made a coloring video because
I had a little kid ask me how I draw into my computer…

Writer-singer-illustrator, Tony Funderburk, shares a coloring video not produced on an Etch-a-Sketch

I made the coloring video to show part of the process. The art of making art using only a digital pen and tablet is almost magical to me. So I can only imagine what it must seem like to a young, inquisitive, spongy little mind.

When I was a wee lad back in the old country (midwest and southwest America), there was no such thing as digital drawing tablets. The closest thing we had was the Etch-a-Sketch. By the way…coincidentally, as I wrote that last line…I checked for the link to Etch-A-Sketch and found out the the inventor, “Andre Cassagnes, has died at age 86”. How weird is that?!

Anyway…I guess since I always loved toys like the Etch-a-Sketch…and I always enjoyed drawing…it was only natural that I’d eventually find my way to the wonderful world of digital doodling. And I’m really glad I did. It’s given me the freedom of artistic expression I needed to add to my ebooks for kids, blogging, and music videos.

Without further ado…here’s a short coloring video showing how I get the color and drawing into the computer…

Stay tuned,

Tony Funderburk signature logo

No-cost, low-cost, and premium ways you can show your support…

Tell everybody you know to subscribe to Tony’s Daily Devotional
(emails with good stuff for Fa-Ree)

Get my Rhyme & Reason Podcast delivered right to your device. (also Fa-Ree)

Get digital Bible stuff from the same company I do.

My books are also on Amazon.com or Apple Books

Grab yourself an un-cool T-shirt

Or how about some music for believers, dreamers, and thinkers

 

Green Monkey: Another Kiddin Around Song And Video

Tony Funderburk Posted on by

If you can see a Green Monkey in the video below, you either had too much lime Kool-Aid, or you’re tuned into my wacky imagination and music.

A few years back I had CD’s of my personalized music for kids in several Denver, Colorado area kids’ stores. I sold thousands of them and decided to become my own distributor here on the TF website.

While I was still selling them in retail stores, I wrote several songs using the names of stores as the main idea or characters. They ended up on a CD called “Kiddin’ Around” and they’ve been very popular children’s songs for me.

One of those songs is “Green Monkey”. I was doing some illustrations and production work yesterday to create a video, when I remembered a video I had already created using Flash. So, last night I took the Flash video, updated it with the recording of the song, and created a new Green Monkey video you can even watch on your iPhone. Here it is…

Stay tuned,

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Kiddin’ Around. It’s one of the CD’s in my children’s songs collections…

…and a lot of people have gotten it for their kids. Thank you all for that, by the way. But I remembered, this afternoon, that I had some videos of kids dancing (with the choreography help of their teacher) to 2 of the 10 songs on the CD. I haven’t shared these clips here on the blog, so today I’m gonna do that.

When this teacher told me she’d like to use some of my songs for a presentation her kids were gonna do, I said…

“Really? Sure. That would be cool.”

So, the day came for the kids to put on their “show”, and I took my little hand-held digital video camera and went to the school. The lighting wasn’t great, and I was way up in the balcony. So, the quality is lacking a bit. But I think you’ll see how cute the kids were anyway.

And it really was cool to see the little people kiddin around to my music. Here they are…

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

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I’m working on some animation to add to my ebooks for kids…

Don’t get me wrong…I doubt I’ll be giving Pixar a run for their money. But I’m having a very good time learning these new animation skills. In case you hadn’t noticed…kids love animation. And they also love cartoons. And there’s more and more research showing how ebooks for kids with animation or other multimedia are very popular.

So…I figured it was high time I took my illustrations to the next level.

I’m on the beginning edge of this…as you can tell from my “stylish” video…but even adding basic movement to my stories brings a deeper, more immersive dimension. And I want to capture as much of a kid’s imagination as possible.

Of course, there are some who say providing the visuals actually diminishes the imagination of a child. I disagree…but…

What do you think?

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Kids Need Music And Imagination

OK…I’m not tryin’ to say your kid’s life will be completely better because of music. And I’m not sayin’ your kid won’t have trials and tribulations in this life if he only listens to music.

But I am sayin’ your kid will have access to the ultimate imagination machine if he or she’s exposed to a good variety of true, melodic music.

Not just beats…

Not just lots of rhyming words…

And not just loud noise.

But real, true, melodic music.

When kids can actually sing along to a melody with some catchy lyrics, their minds can develop word pictures. And that’s when the connection between music and imagination really kicks into overdrive. It’s like reading a good book. only it sticks in their heads much better because music is attached. That’s because their brains are the hardware for things like math, logic, design, and creative ability.

Take all those things…combine them with music…and imagination flourishes. Suddenly kids can not only imagine the wondrous possibilities, they can begin to actually create their dreams. Wow!

And think about it. Do you know of any culture on the planet that doesn’t have some form of music? It’s often described as the universal language. I know that’s true. I’ve seen kids, who can’t even speak in whole sentences, dancing to music. In fact, whole families dancing to the same tune. It’s awesome when that happens. But it only happens when the music is actually FUN and has some redeeming quality.

That’s what I’m always trying to do. Write fun music (for the whole family) with some sort of uplifting quality. Then moms and dads can enjoy dancing, carefree, with their kids. Or watching their kids dance the funny dances kids do.

It keeps everyone in the same, safe and happy world. At least for a little while. That’s very cool.

Stay tuned,

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

I just read an article in one of the New York Times “parenting” blogs that said ebooks for kids aren’t as good as books for a child’s learning progress.

The article said “according to Lisa Guernsey of the New America Foundation’s Early Education Initiative, is that when we read with a child on an, we may actually impede our child’s ability to learn.”

Here’s what I say…

Nonsense. Ebooks for kids are still books.

When I read articles by people who think a current technology or method or delivery system is better than an emerging one, I get a mental picture of different generations and how they must have done the same thing. For example…a long time ago, before there were any good and durable ways to keep paper records, people would memorize stories. Then, someone develops papyrus and other tools for writing them down. There were probably some who said “Oh, written words will never convey the feeling and power of the spoken word.”

Then along comes Johannes Gutenburg with a printing press…a way to make lots of copies of the written works. The elite of the day bemoaned the idea that the unwashed masses would now have access to the same great literature they had been able to reserve for themselves. And others figured it would be a passing fancy because those “unwashed” masses wouldn’t be interested.

And now we get to the snazziest delivery system for the written word yet…digital. eBooks for kids are an awesome way for kids to immerse themselves in the story. Not only do they get to see and read the written word…but they can also hear the spoken word again…and also watch a video version of the story…oftentimes from the author who wrote the story.

Talk about connection.

A device will only “get in the way” of reading and learning when an adult doesn’t control the reading experience. Don’t think of “control” as disciplinary tactics…think of it as part of the teaching experience. Just as you wouldn’t send your child down a hiking path without your adult supervision and guidance…don’t send them into the world of digital words alone.

Show them how to use the tools, and be there with them as co-pilot. Sooner than you know, they’ll be airborne into the exciting multimedia galaxy of ebooks for kids…with a quest to reach for the stars around the next turn.

Stay tuned,

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Your Heartbeat…can you hear it?

Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Imagine if you couldn’t hear your heartbeat…

…and that’s the predicament young Henry Hippo found himself in. He couldn’t hear his heartbeat, and he was pretty sure it was pretty important to have a heartbeat. So, he decided to do something about it.

Back when I was attending the Institute of Children’s Literature, I had an assignment to write a story using an animal as the lead character. After a few starts with other animals I came up with a hippo. I noticed hippos weren’t being used all that much in children’s writing.

So…Henry was “born”.

I figured most of the youngest kids would understand how important it is to be able to hear your heartbeat. I’ve seen how interested they are to lean their ears on their mom or dad’s chest and hear a beating heart. Then, they get curious about “what’s going on in there?”. Then I wanted to use an animal whose ears would be a long way from his heart…and bingo! A hippo.

Wouldn’t it be awful if you couldn’t hear your heart beat?

Once I knew I wanted to develop this story into a picture book, the plot thickened…so to speak. I began to think about where I’d find an illustrator I could work with. After looking into several areas online and locally, I decided to give it a go myself. I got a digital drawing tablet, installed some software on my MacBook, and started my “etchings”. The great news was that it was a blast…not a chore at all. So I emerged myself into the drawings for “Henry”, his hippo friends, and all the other characters and scenery. I was hooked. Now, there’s the illustrated ebook, the song (in the video above), and even my personal narrated audio version.

Currently I’m working on the 7th one of my ebooks for kids. And I’m truly blessed and thankful for the technology that gives me the freedom to pursue this really fun writing career. Much more to come, so…

Here’s the new iTunes podcast video
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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

I’m a writer-singer-illustrator…writing for kids

…and it’s true. That’s who I am and what I do. (sometimes adults, too)

But through my years online I’ve created several identities for myself. I now believe it was all sort of gently nudging me in the direction of where I started out way before there was an internet. But in the early days of my online marketing I thought I needed to show how business and tech savvy I was.

One of my first endeavors was a company I created to provide audio to businesses and websites. I called it Audio Lingo. This was at a time when websites couldn’t handle video. There was no YouTube, Vimeo, or any of the others. In fact, if you wanted a multimedia experience, the technology of the day was Flash. So, I bought the expensive Macromedia software suite and learned how to create Flash animations. I also learned Dreamweaver and Fireworks so I could create my own graphics and websites…as well as create websites for clients. And I even learned the extensive, comprehensive Director so I could create applications for DVD presentations, web interaction and more. Here’s a quick video look at what my Audio Lingo website looked like…keep in mind…this is Flash-y stuff and around 1998 or 1999 or so…

Play

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Yikes! Now, it’s as simple as…take out my iPhone, record some video, compose and audio track, do the quick editing, upload to a video service, and Whammo! You’ve got awesome content. Such is life I suppose.

After Audio Lingo I had FunderburkProductions.com, CustomKidSongs.com, TonyWrites.com, TonOFunTunes.com, and a host of others I won’t even tell you about. Suffice it to say most of them were ideas that needed to remain ideas.

Now, I’m very happy to be doing what I envisioned myself doing back when I was daydreaming in my history class in high school. I’m a writer, singer, and illustrator. There’s never been a day in  all my adult years when I haven’t dived headlong into the world of words to see where they would take me. I’m hopeful and eager to see where they lead in 2013. With your support and encouragement I know it’ll be a good year.

Here’s to more songs and stories!

Stay tuned,

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Six illustrated ebooks for kids by a writer I know personally…

OK…I know it’s shameless self-promotion, but since I’m the writer, singer, illustrator, publisher, publicist, promotion team, and blogger for the TonyFunderburk.com empire I can’t delegate it to anyone else. Please forgive me and read on…

What’s the greatest source for a vivid imagination?

Kids of course.

Have you ever talked to a kid, asked him a question that doesn’t make sense, and watched the imagination machine start to churn? It’s a fun thing to do, and I do it all the time. For instance”I might ask a 5 year old boy or girl why the sky is so green today. They’re old enough to know the sky is blue, but a grownup just asked why it’s so green. So their imagination starts to spin and they try to make sense of it even though they also like to make nonsense out of it, too.

The looks kids can get in their eyes are priceless. I never get tired of seeing the consternation”and the wonder.

That’s a big reason why I started writing and illustrating ebooks for kids. Their minds haven’t had the dreams beat out of “˜em yet. They don’t think in terms of having their hands tied by a job or a family or a mortgage or whatever. They still think an elephant can fly or hatch a “who”. It’s a blast to write with my thought waves in their world.

If you have kids, I encourage you to spend time in their world. Remember”once upon a time”

…it was your world.

Stay tuned,

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Children’s Songs Should Be Clean…not explicit…
Because Kids Should Just Be Kids

I read a part of a study in an issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs that kids who watch R-rated movies are more likely to smoke, have sex earlier, and even experience “teen aggression.”

And my guess is”that ain’t all that’s likely to happen.

And another guess of mine is”I’ll bet similar results can occur when they listen to R-rated music.

So, when people ask why I write the kind of children’s songs I write, I just have to smile and wonder why there would be any other kind. Kids should be allowed to be kids. Full of innocence, awe, and wonder. And the music they listen to should just be for fun. Not some excuse to teach them how to be intimate with the opposite sex, or even worse”how to beat up on or belittle others.

Sadly, so much music for mass consumption does just that.

Well, my kids music doesn’t do that. Never has. Never will. I still believe in the ideal of a child’s imagination. I still cater to that. My children’s songs will always seek to inspire, tickle the fancy, and spark the imagination of as many kids as possible. And I support any other singer/songwriters out there who will do the same.

I believe it’s much more loving to let kids be kids without the “adult” or R-rated stuff even adults shouldn’t be consuming.

Share this link with everybody you know, so they can jump on the The TRUTH
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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Which Is Healthier?
Fast Food? Or Dancing With Delight?

OK…I know it’s a trick question. If your kid is about to faint from hunger, of course “fast food” is healthier than dancing with delight. But still…dancing with delight can’t be too unhealthy. Don’t you think?

Why do I bring this up? Well, maybe you heard about the “board of supervisors” in Santa Clara, California who voted 3-2 to ban the toys in fast food meals…at least the fat food meals that don’t comply with their fat and calorie standards. Yep, they actually made a “law” that says fast food restaurants who serve those kid meals with toys in the package have to watch the calorie and fat count or they can’t put toys in the box.

Don’t worry, though, because they were willing to admit that toys, in and of themselves, do not make children obese. Now, that’s just good deductive logic.

Well, I have a solution for the fast food restaurants. Start including my kids’ music in every happy-go-lucky kid’s meal. Whether it’s my personalized music for kids, funny children’s songs, or even the ever popular lullaby songs, kids will be dancing with delight and burn off any unwanted calories. Problem solved!

So Micky D, Colonel, Miss Wendy…give me a call. I’m sure we can work something out. And if it saves even one kid from the fat farm, it’ll be worth it.

Stay tuned,
THE writer-singer-illustrator for kids and life in Denver: Tony Funderburk

P.S.  Get my children’s books on Amazon.com

Ebooks For Kids Will Soon Include Izzy

Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Izzy is the star of the next one of my ebooks for kids…

Imagine you’re not sure if you’re awake or asleep. Suddenly you see a yellow fireball coming right at you. You look to your left and right and there’s nothing but a deep, dark abyss to fall into. What do you do?

That’s Izzy’s dilemma. And he finds his only help coming from a foggy face in the sky. Yeesh… what’s a kid to do?

I’m finishing up the illustrations for “Izzy Carries The Dream”…hopefully today. And you’ll be able to see this latest one of my ebooks for kids on Amazon. Shortly after that I’ll make it available here on TonyFunderburk.com

It’s fun to draw little quirky characters who have to face challenges in their dreams. In case you haven’t been following my bedtime stories…I’ve already written, illustrated, and published two other bedtime stories in the “Bedtime Buckaroos” series. There’s gonna be several more of those; however, I’ve been working on a few others like “Izzy” to explore other parts of imagination.

So…please watch for more upcoming ebooks for kids with characters who either have to find a way to get to sleep…or find answers in their dreams…or figure out why they’re dreaming the dreams they’re dreaming.

Am I just dreaming?

Stay tuned,

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Recently I saw some cloud designs as I was driving home. And I saw something (besides the headlights that look like wolf eyes) that prompted me to take a picture.

Can you see what it is?

As I first noticed the cloud designs I was driving parallel

And there was nowhere to stop. I thought it was really cool how the image wasn’t blowing away or apart. I knew I wanted to get a picture so I could share it, but I figured it just wasn’t in the cards.

Finally…I came to a sharp curve in the road, and my direction changed to face the cloud designs, the foothills, and the traffic coming down out of the mountains. And, by chance, a small gravel shoulder to the road came up just in time before the image (and the photographic opportunity) dropped below the horizon.

I pulled over, popped out my trusty iPhone, snapped the shot, and drove home.

Today, I plugged my iPhone into my MacBook, as I always do when I’m working, and the iPhoto app popped up…as it always does when I plug the phone in. The app showed me the photos I hadn’t uploaded to the computer, and there was the picture.

Have you guessed what I saw yet?

I knew I wanted to draw the picture so I could show others what I saw. And before I could get started on the drawing, a poem seemed to nudge me to be written. So, I relented to “the muse” and wrote the poem. Then I drew the picture. Here are the words and picture to…

"Lady In The Hat" by Tony Funderburk: the world's leading writer-singer-illustrator for kids and life.

"Lady In The Hat" illustration by Tony Funderburk: writer-singer-illustrator for kids and life

Your email address is the key to my Tony’s Daily Devotional . It’s how you get lots of fun stuff delivered right to your inbox. Spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to 2 of my Christian books for kids and 2 songs, right away. Fun for kids AND without being cutesy. So grownups enjoy it, too.

The TRUTH

Stay tuned,

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Here’s the writer singer news I’ve been working on for a few days now…

Have you ever felt schizophrenic in your daily life? I don’t mean like you’re hearing voices or you have 16 personalities like “Sybil”…who was played by Sally Field back in 1976.

No, I mean when you find yourself stomping after what you think you should…while tap dancing around what you know you want to do…or putting it under a basket and only taking it out when you’re done stomping. Yeah, that’s been me for a long time. I’ve been very productive and prolific…but mostly in areas of my life that leave me longing for more.

And I’ve gotta tell you this…I almost never share these sorts of feelings with anyone. I’m not a “feelings” sharing kind of guy…or at least I haven’t been in public. Yep, it feels weird to do it now. But it falls under the category of the writer singer news I mentioned at the top.

Here’s some more writer singer news.

I just spent the last 3 solid days giving my website/blog a complete makeover. Well, I’d say a 90% makeover anyway. There will always be little tweaks, but the main changes are made now. It feels (there’s that word again) awesome. I’ve come to terms with who I am, and it’s in big letters up there next to my picture at the top. Uh-huh…I’m a writer-singer-illustrator. And I specialize in words and music for kids and life.

There! I said it.

And that being said…let me tell you there’s a lot of stories, songs, and media coming in the days, weeks, and months ahead this year. I’ve prayed for my writing fountain to flow freely, and my prayers are being answered.

So…I recommend you jump on The TRUTH because I’m gonna add…

  • More books your kids will get a kick out of…
  • New songs for kids and adults, and…

It’s gonna be fun.

Stay tuned,

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

With ebooks for kids gaining popularity…
are we looking at the beginning of the end for traditional publishing?

I don’t think so. Not very soon anyway. Why? A little thing called electricity. If you use an eReader or tablet or mobile or laptop to read ebooks for kids or any other ebooks, you need electricity to read ’em. And if there was an extended outage (hurricane damage for instance), you’d be without your reading material. So, the good ol’ paperback or hardbound book would look pretty awesome right about then.

Still…as a writer and reader of ebooks for kids and other humans, I’m extremely fond (putting it mildly) of the digital medium. For instance, at any given moment during a typical day…no matter where I am…I’m carrying around at least 6 to 10 books. And I have them in the little side pocket of my Levi’s carpenter jeans…in my iPhone. And that’s in addition to being able to access the Bible (many versions complete with reference materials), a large collection of my lullaby songs and other children’s songs, my pictures and videos and audio memos, and so much more.

I actually enjoy reading ebooks on my iPhone. It’s not cumbersome. It’s there when I’m ready. I don’t have to remember an extra thing to carry around. And I don’t lose my place in the text. Oh yeah…and I can send myself (or others in social media circles or email) notes, clips, and more.

So…it’s worth it to me to have to remember to keep my iPhone charged in order to read the latest of my ebooks for kids or cool marketing pdf or my Bible. After all, I’d have to keep it charged even if I was just gonna use it to make phone calls.  🙂

Get my Tony’s Daily Devotional . Because the flashes of light I share on my website come directly to your inbox. So you can spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to books and music, right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies.

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Analog vs Digital

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There’s Been This Analog vs Digital Debate For Quite A While

Today I read articles, heard audio, and watched videos about things like a “table pc”, robotics for Lego’s, another car that drives itself, and fitness gadgets galore.

I love this stuff.

Then, I was going through a kitchen drawer looking for a cabinet catch, and I saw a package of Blue Diamond matches that I had forgotten were even there. Now…why would that strike a nerve, you ask.  (pun intended) Well, I wrote a song a few years back about a guy who doesn’t like or use digital technology. This guy is the quintessential “Analog Man”. And it just so happens that’s the name of the song, too.

The song references Blue Diamond matches, and that’s why I’m writing this now…to share the words to the song with you. In the world of analog vs digital…where do you stand? My feet are planted firmly on the digital side of the fence. But I’ve spent a great deal of my life utterly basking in the analog. So…I took some word pictures I’d formed in my head over the years of life on the road…and I embellished a bit with some colorful descriptions, and I came up with…

A creative content writer in Denver talks about analog vs digital and shares his singer songwriter side with lyrics to "Analog Man"

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Let’s Get Real For A Bit

Have you read where a protoplanet named “Vesta” might have some clues as to how life on Earth may have formed? Yeah, scientists have discovered some areas of impact on the “minor planet” that seem to show collisions with carbon rich asteroids. And of course, they emphasize that carbon is the essential building block to all life on earth…from single cell to human.

When a human being dies, the same carbon that was there before death is still there after death…so here’s a silly question…Why is there no life in the carbon? I mean…if it’s the essential building block of all life on Earth…why does a carbon rich body die?

Let’s get real some more.

I’m not a scientist…and I don’t play one on TV. And I’m not a physicist or alchemist or biologist. I’m just a children’s writer and singer. A words and music guy. A guy who probably contains as much carbon as anyone in those other professions. But I’m a guy, who like those other guys, has a time limit on my LIFE here on earth. If and when my time to die arrives, my carbon will still be here. So my life did not arise from or depend on carbon. And real science shows the enormity of complexity in human DNA. The code in a single human cell fills volumes of information.

Every human has their own unique DNA. My finite mind can barely apprehend (and certainly not comprehend) the implications of that. But I can say this without hesitation…DNA clearly shows we’re information based, not carbon. It’s sort of like this: my MacBook Pro is a cool looking device. But without the information in the software, it’s merely a shapely piece of aluminum. It would be “lifeless”. And no amount of added aluminum would ever get it to calculate, punctuate, or create a single image, sentence, or sound.

I wish scientists who trust in carbon could get real and approach life from the information base. I believe they’d be better equipped to process that information and build a much better understanding of life, love, and design. They might even develop a trust in the Designer.

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The Green Eyed Monster Built The “Fiscal Cliff.”

Hey…you have more money than me…that’s not fair! Gimme some. I deserve it because I’m an American citizen. I deserve it because I’m a real nice guy who just didn’t get the breaks you obviously got. And I deserve it because we need to keep a level playing field.

It really bothers me to see you driving your fancier car, eating your fancier meals, flying first class, and making policies that other people will have to follow.

Well…don’t get too comfortable in your luxury SUV…or your high-brow restaurant, or that private jet. I found a way to make you give me some. How am I gonna do it? Vote!

Yep, voting is the great equalizer…or so millions of people have been duped into believing. By the stroke (or coloring in) of a pen on a ballot, a middle or lower class American citizen can help elect an official who’ll make sure the “rich” pay “their fair share.” And they believe they’ll actually get some of that booty.

Truth is…they’ll ultimately be the ones who pay…and pay…and pay.

America’s 2nd President, John Adams, had multiple negative things to say about this. He talked about how a democracy “soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.” And I hear a lot of modern day “conservatives” lauding the constitution as our source of enlightenment and freedoms. President Adams said this about that… “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

And maybe you’ve heard of this quote attributed to Alexander Fraser Tytler: “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”

I attribute all this to the “green eyed monster.” Envy.

Just as the first paragraph, above, illustrates…envy wants what you have. Envy believes it deserves what you have. At least, if you have more, of course.

As for me, I do my best to wrestle and speak against the green eyed monster. I’m glad for you if you’ve managed to do well and prosper…especially in the midst of all this growing national envy. And guess what…rich people are a minority. I thought Americans were supposed to protect the rights of minorities. If you try harder to love and understand the “rich”, you’ll do yourself a favor.

Most “rich” people are amazing givers. By their own nature they’re not takers. They shouldn’t be forced…er…coerced and manipulated by any government to give even more…or their so-called “fair share.” Who gets to determine what “fair share” is anyway? The green eyed monster?

Your email address is all it takes to get encouraging, regular issues of my Tony’s Daily Devotional . It comes directly to your inbox so you spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to 2 of my Christian books for kids and 2 songs, right away, that grownups AND kids can enjoy.

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