Friday, January 27th, 2006
Dave Barry
To Sleep 1:45 AM Awoke 7:05 AM

Click Here For More Info On Koa Uke

I did some research for Charlie Deal on tuning pegs and found the best ones, made by Grover. I also found a real KoAloha nice koa wood, concert ukulele (Click for more info), only $600. It is a concert uke, which is a little larger than the soprano uke I have been playing and supposedly sounds better. I did email Teal, the real pretty, tiny, blonde ukulele playing singer for The Mother Truckers. Months ago, after a quick look at their site, I determined she was Dana (who is actually the drummer) and emailed him by mistake. I always wondered why she never got back. So I did email her correctly this time. I hope she reads it. The Mother Truckers are the only country group I know of with a ukulele player. She is the person that got me interested in the ukulele. I listened to lots of samples of their music. Some of it is pretty funny.

Well I didn't work on the Cell Phone Video Game (CPVG) much yesterday. I did think about it alot. Worked it out in my brain what lines of computer code I have to write and how. It is best that way. Then when you do write it, it is much easier to write, and less chances of making a mistake. This stuff ain't easy. I have nothing planned for later today, during the day, maybe I can get it done later. If I can get away from my blog, even get it started before I go to sleep.

Well Dave Barry is at a book signing today at The Book Passages in Corte Madera, California. I hope I make it, I hope they let Penguin Man in and I hope I get to meet Dave again. If I can get in his newspaper column or even blog (or hopefully both), it would be much publicity for Penguin Man. Well see.

Sleep

My dreams keep getting weirder. I was some hard core sports fans, 2 guys. We were at a World Series and one of the guys noticed that the last names of last 5 batters to get on base formed a sentance. Also there were these other 2 fans, that had their own fan club, were shown on TV, where one of the guys gets blown out into the sky and lands by coincidence in the other fans convertible, while he was driving 20 miles away. I pointed out that what people saw of that episode on 'live' TV had to be faked, for some reason or another. I said this all reminds me of The Matrix and that I only saw Matrix II and that it did not make any sense, and that I should have seen the 1st movie first. He says that it didn't matter because the 1st movie didn't make any sense either. The next thing I know all these scenes are flashing in front of my eyes, MTV style, with a voice over saying "there were 12 of everything, 12 people, 12 realities, 12 times, (then went through 12 different times past, present future). It then mentioned Tiny Time (which is actually a name of part of the Java computer language) It then said, "then there is Tiny Time Tim" and showed pictures of Tiny Tim flashing. I was watching the beginning of The Matrix.

This all comes full circle. Howard Stern (whose show Penguin Man wants to be on), I guess is a fan of Tiny Tim. I heard thatHoward put Tiny in Howard's movie Private Parts. To help Tiny who I guess was poor. Tiny died Nov 30, 1996, about a month before the premiere of the movie. Tiny Tim's widow years ago had helped me fund my World Peace Song CD. I never met her and this is not related to Penguin Man playing ukulele, that was Teal (see above). I checked www.tinytim.com someone has parked the site and squatted it. I hate CyberSquatters. Either use it or lose it.

Wow, 8:02 AM. I already got a reply from Teal, from the Mother Truckers. She was up early for playing a gig last night. She was playing in Austin, TX, the same town that syndicated columnist Molly Ivins lives in and whom I spoke with yesterday. I should have invited Molly to the gig, but didn't know until too late. It took Teal 8 hours to get back to me. She just said congrads on my Penguin metamorphasis and she was glad that Charlie Deal was still working on her toilet seat uke.

This is something I am not sure what to do about. A couple of things that I forgot to add to yesterdays blog. She I go back and add it to yesterdays or just enter it in todays. It is easier to just do it now, so I will. I never was able to contact Collin, the guy who was interested in hiring me for the cell phone software design job. He was supposed to make a decision yesterday. I did get him once on his cell phone, but a real bad connection, unless he was using the cell phone jammer thing I am supposed to work on. He told me to call him a bit later on his land phone. I did a couple of times and just left messages. I will try to contact him again soon. I also received a call on my cell phone. A woman that had read my blog and had an answer to a question I posed about instructions for making Mexican hot chocolate. It says to use a blender to powederize the chocolate and I was wondering how they did it before they had blenders. She told me that thhey used some kind of scrapping device that attached to your thumb. My first response from my blog. I had to get off my prepaid cellphone. My phone says that my conversation lasted 57 seconds. Cingular charged me for 2 minutes. I did call her back and got her kids, who could not believe that their mother was reading someones blog on the Internet. I'll call her again.

I've got to work on my Cell Phone Video Game. It is still early 9:00. Did check www.penguinblog.com adn found the guy who has the site, also is a programmer who has detailed instructions on how to remove most SpyWare, better than SpyBot. http://theflyingpenguin.com/spyware-removal.shtml

I did get in touch with Collin about that cellphone job. Figures, no luck, they found somebody a mile away from the client, who is about 60 miles from me, way down in Silicon Valley. I would probably have better luck finding a job down there if I was to live down there. Not.

Spoke with a fellow light artist, electronics engineer friend of mine in Palo Alto, Daniel Kottke. I have known Dan for at least 20 years now. He just get back from visiting his daughter in Germany. Wow their are 34,600 google hits on his name. I didn't know this, he turned out to be Apples first employee. Google also says that he died in 1928, over 25 years before he was born. He resurrected in the 50's. He mentioned a company that makes electric cars Motors that might be hiring. That are making electric cars, from the futire. I emailed my resume. I have a bit of experience in that field. I also called their office and left a message with their founder, Martin Eberhard. He quickly got back to me, but I didn't hear my cellphone, so he lefy me a message and I called him back. No email, though I asked him twice for his. We would be a great match.

I am looking for an agent for my video games, and saw that International Creative Management, in Hollywood represented video game programmers. I called them and they said I needed a referral from a lawyer. Which got me thinking Brian Rohan. He is a big entertainment lawyer. Why had I not thought about him before. It has been way over 10 years since I contacted him. I found a number and called him. He also called me back, but I did again, not hear my cell phone. He seemed interested in Penguin Man and gave me his LA phone number. I have been so busy, I have not had a chance to call him back. He also gave me his email. That is better.

Trying to find a power supply so I can sell the other Dell Precision Workstation I have for more money to move with. $190, more than the computer is worth. A similar, not Dell power supply, that doesn't work in a Dell, but the same, just different connectors is $14.

OK the rest of the day is real exciting. I hope I can fit it all in. I hate spending more time writing my blog, than living it.

I did hitchhike to Corte Madera to go see Dave Barry. I first rode bike to the library to print off something to give him and to the copy place, etc... Finally started hitchhiking at the dreaded spot at East Blithdale & Sunnyside Ave in Mill Valley. Where it is real hard to get the mile to where it is real easy to hitchhike. A guy in a rent a truck, who works as a mover for people with actual houses, gave me a ride. We spoke about how he could make a living with CraigsList and the stuff people don't want when they move. Things they would have to pay to get rid of. he could sell. He gets me a 10 minute walk to Dave Barry. I get there at 6:30, Dave is to speak at 7:00. The place is packed, standing room only. I find a spot to the side, and this lady tells me I can't stand there. I move to another spot and she tells me I can't stand there either. I finally find a spot and she finds where I had stashed my backpack under a seat and at that time I was about to tune my ukulele with my electronic tuner. She thought it was a recording device and said she wanted it. I told her it was a tuner and she wanted to know why I was tuning a ukulele. We were waiting for Dave Barry, and had nothing else to do. She threatened me with having to be ejected from the event. I assured her I would not cause a commotion. She then left me alone from thereafter. Scary. I mean this is Dave Barry. If she found my Penguin costume, who knows what she might have done.

Dave was funny as usual, but I think it must be really hard to be him. I did meet him at the same place about 6 years ago when I was Light Man and had all kinds of cool light toys I made, which I have none of now. He has in the past year stopped being a weekly humor columnist. Something the world sadly misses. But is devoting his attention to his books and WEB site, which his blog is real funny. From writing a blog I know. At least he has an assistant that works full time.

Dave was real funny,and at times very spontaneous. Somehow the audience, unannounced to Dave, went into singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat. He said "That in the rest of the country, people when they get old, people stop using drugs, but not in Marin." He spoke for about 45 minutes, then signed books. His brother whose birthday was yesterday, introduced Dave. Dave informed us about his brother's, Sam 49th birthday and we sang Happy Birthday to him.

After the show and after the book signing line. I waited until the last person and at the last instant slipped on my Pengui costume and sang for Dave a song I had written while waiting there called: Oh Dave Barry sung to the tune of Oh Suzanna. The lyrics were:

Oh Dave Barry
Oh won't you write about me?
I have come from Antarctica
With my ukulele

He asked me "If I always dressed like a Penguin and did this all the time?" I said Yes. He had me pose for a photo with him and said "He would put me in his blog". A Penguin could not ask for more, except fish.

I asked Dave Barry, "How can all the sale of all the books he signs at these book signings, possibly pay for the cost of the expenses of his travel, lodging, food, hookers & drugs. He told me that, in his contract, the bookstores paid for the hookers and drugs. I asked him when he spoke in Amsterdam, where prostitution and drugs are legal, can he write them off his taxes, he said "He would look into it".

Since Dave is not writing a syndicated column anymore, just books and his Blog. I forgot what I was going to say but it was like: I should have sang for him:

Oh Dave Barry
Won't you put me in your blog?
I swam to San Francisco,
And all we had was fog.

Dave knows Molly Ivins, whom wrote the article about Penguin Man, 2 weeks ago nationwide, whom I spoke with on the phone yesterday.

I have a chance to see Dave tomorrow, Saturday in Berkeley at a book signing at Cody's Bookstore. Gosh darn it. My mouse is acting up. Hard for a Penguin to proceed. It was now 8:30 PM PST by the time I got to the closest freeway entrance to hitchhike the whole 2 miles to the next exit to Mill Valley. Finally A Mexican couple gave me a ride and I sang them songs on my ukulele. I was down to the last dreaded mile to hitch hike. Of course the Mill Valley Police Department had to stop me. They asked me for ID. I said no. They said they were going to give me a ticket for hitchhiking, and I said "Go a head", then they said "We need your ID to write you a ticket", etc... They wanted to search me and I said no. In Germany they can. After about 20 minutes and 2 cops later, they let me go. Dave Barry asked me if Penguin Man had problems with the police? I showed him the police blotter from The Mill Valley Herald about me and gave it to him. I told the cop that just stopped me to find Usama Bin Laden instead of me. I think he may have laughed.

I walked the backroads to a spot (2 AM Club and Miller Ave, across the street from where I got stopped before on Dec 23rd, the Beginning Of My Blog.) There I got a ride in seconds from a guy named Chris. He gave me a ride the last mile. Believe me a ride a mile helps, lotz.

While walking the last block home, I come across Charlie Deal, toilet guitar and now toilet ukulele maker, outside of Sweetwater Saloon. I told him about my tuning peg discoveries and my email conversations with Teal from The Mother Truckers. He asked me to email her back telling of his progress and asking her what to do next. Something about if he should paint his logo on the uke. Another thing to do.

It is now 10:30, 2 hours after I left Dave Barry and I home, not in jail for hitchhiking.

Actually right now I am exhausted. Will post photos when I wake up, against my rules, these photos were taken today, but will be posted tomorrow.

I am sorry but I did again not get photos of the Mill Valley Police stopping me. I should have at least asked. I was joking with them big time. You have to keep them amused.

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