{EAV_BLOG_VER:ee8cce029d54b69b}

The code above is for Empire Avenue to verify that I am the owner of bRight&Early. Well that’s not a very exciting post. Let me tell you a bit about Empire Avenue.

From their about page:

Empire Avenue is the Social Stock Market, where you can Grow your Social Capital online. Here’s how it works, you get to discover valuable, interesting, cool, fun people online and then based scores or share price, invest virtual currency in their profiles by buying shares in our Social Stock Market. It’s boatloads of fun, and that simple act of buying shares in someone you think is worth your currency, you will create new connections and as people invest in you, grow your own social capital and get more value in and out of your networks!

EAve is a lot of fun. If you look on the sidebar you can see how my stock is doing. I’m trading at 24.831 this morning, up .494 – not bad for my third day. Look for (and invest in) me on Empire Avenue. My stock symbol is JIMBRICK.

As you know, social media sites are huge, and only getting bigger. I’m going to explore it at my bRight & Early backup site on WordPress. Visit that site to discuss social media.

Tweet

Just a quick reminder to invite you to support Chris Muir in the 5th Annual DBD Support Fund Drive. Remember, Day by Day is 100% reader supported. Help put Chris over this year’s goal, and score some sweet swag!

Tweet

Looking at our economy, both now and in the foreseeable future, can be a depressing exercise. The current administration and the President’s party offer nothing to alleviate that depression. We see people all around who are happy to live on what government provides, and naive enough to believe that government can provide everything they’ve promised. You would be forgiven for occasionally thinking, “is there anyone else out there who understands?”

If you’re feeling that way, I have good news. There are other people who get it. Here is one of them — Amilya Antonetti — talking with FNC’s Neil Cavuto.

(h/t Breitbart TV)

Tweet

Today would have been Lucille Ball’s 100th birthday. For years she made televisions audiences laugh with a comedic style that others have rarely approached, let alone matched. And, as you can see, she was quite the looker in her early days.

Cal Thomas has written this remembrance, Why We Still Love Lucy.

The 1950s, a decade dominated by the likes of Lucy, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, Red Skelton and so many other funny people, constrained performers from engaging in what was then called “blue humor.” In other words, you had to really be funny and not rely on bathroom humor for cheap laughs. In addition, these TV shows were done before live audiences. There was no such thing as a laugh track. If you weren’t funny, you didn’t get laughs and you died on stage.

[...]

Even in re-runs, her comedy still works: the Vitameta Vegimin supplement, infused with alcohol, made her drunk, but her drunkeness, far from being crude or a turn-off, was hilarious and still makes me laugh. Same with the scene where she is crushing grapes with her feet in an Italian village, and the time when she and neighbor Ethel Mertz were picking candy off a conveyor belt that suddenly speeds up. Lucy starts shoving chocolates down the front of her shirt. I defy anyone not to crack-up, regardless of their age.

Here is one of her classic bits, Vitameatavegamin:

Tweet

THIS IS A BRIGHT&EARLY EXCLUSIVE!

Our roving photographer has managed to snag a picture of what is in the White House candy bowl this Valentines day.

Click for larger

You can make your own at http://www.cryptogram.com/hearts/
Happy Valentines day from

Tweet

Discounted tickets and passes for the inaugural year of LEGOLAND® Florida, scheduled to open in October of this year, have been extended. Originally, these prices were slated to last through the end of 2010, but it has just been announced that the discounts have been extend until April 30th. You can read more about it at The Brick Blog.

Tweet

Good morning and Merry Christmas. I know it’s not even 7am yet, but I want to get a jump on things and get my Christmas shopping started early, so I’m about to head out. I’ll be updating this post with Christmas wishes from the blogosphere, but I’ll start out with a couple of links you need to check.

NORAD Tracks Santa – This is a “new” tradition, but one that is as old as I am, and it started with a mistake.

NORAD Tracks Santa, the official name of the exercise, began in 1955 when a Colorado Springs newspaper ad invited kids to talk to Santa on a hotline. The phone number had a typo, and dozens of kids wound up dialing the Continental Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, the predecessor to NORAD.

The officers on duty played along and began passing along reports on Santa’s progress. It’s now a cherished ritual at NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canada command that monitors the North American skies and seas from a control center at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.

More later. . .I’ve gotta run!

Tweet

Thanksgiving day is full of traditions. For some that will include watching parades, putting up Christmas decorations, and hours of watching football. Of course food, family and friends will play a big part in the day. Some recipes only make it to the table on occasions like today.

Well, here is one tradition that should be passed along, viewing this 1978 episode of WKRP. It still makes me laugh.

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly. (The part you’re looking for is about 17 minutes in.)

Happy Thanksgiving.

Tweet

I found this video by way of Plumb Bob Blog and thought it a perfect way to head into Thanksgiving and the holidays. The Tribune has the story of the event.

One minute, Stephanie Tritchew was just a face in the busy Seaway Mall crowd, sipping coffee at a cafeteria table and chatting on her cellphone.

The next, the St. Catharines native was standing and belting out “hallelujahs” from the famed chorus in Handel’s Messiah in front of a stunned food court congregation.

[snip]

Within minutes, more than 80 Chorus Niagara singers previously blended into the weekend mall multitude had joined the chorus.

You will enjoy this. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Tweet

Yes, I know that we are just one week away from what could truly be an historical election. I promise, I’ll address that later today.

This morning I want to update you on what is happening at LEGOLAND® Florida. Last Thursday, October 21st, I had the opportunity to participate in a Media Hard Hat Tour. Around 150 members of the media, hotel, concierge and travel representatives, local business owners, and government officials heard a presentation on the plans and progress taking place at the park. I have details about the Media Hard Hat Tour at the Brick Blog. I have also started a series describing the different parts of the park. You can read about the first three areas — The Beginning, Fun Town, and Miniland — as well as taking a look at some brief videos.

If you have children ages 2-12 make your plans to visit LEGOLAND Florida when they open in October of 2011. You just may see me there.

Tweet