Wednesday, January 14, 2009

I'm moving

Well, kinda. My blog is. The official "Blawg Wild" of Chris Johnson the journalist will be moving to the Ledger-Enquirer's Web site. You'll be able to link directly to my official blog by clicking here.

As for this current Blogspot Blawg Wild, this will become more of a personal one for family and friends, so don't expect too many updates on this unofficial one.

The change is effective immediately.

Thanks for reading,
CJ

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

My next job


As a Parrothead with the dream of becoming a full-time beach bum, I respectfully ask that none of you interfere with my efforts to land the job of "island caretaker" on Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia. My friend Jenny Peaster passed this along to me as she knows I'm perfect for the job.

It requires 12 hours of work per month for six months, performing such arduous tasks as snorkeling, whale watching, feeding sea turtles and blogging about life on the island and throughout the Great Barrier Reef. Now this is a job at which I'm actually willing to work hard. Although, the living conditions -- being put up rent-free in a multimillion-dollar, three-bedroom beach home with pool and golf cart -- sound kind of tough.

They're looking for someone who can communicate with the media (heck, I am media) and can write and speak English (working on that now). They also say they're not looking for a "beautiful" spokesperson. Got the not-beautiful part covered too!

The six-month job begins July 1, so I don't guess I'll see y'all much for six months after that.

You can read more about it here and here and in this Sunday's column.

I'll be filling out my application at http://www.islandreefjob.com/. But, with a reported 13,000 hits every three seconds, I'm gonna need a lot of luck getting on that clogged site. It's not loading for me now, so the rest of you please quit clicking on it.

Smilin’ Bob

I'm amazed those Enzyte commercials are still on the air, you know — those with Smilin' Bob who takes the once-daily pill for "natural male enhancement." Especially after the CEO of the company that originally made the stuff went to prison for fraud a few months ago. Apparently, it doesn't work, no matter how happy Smilin' Bob and his wife are in the commercials. My son loves the commercials, even though he has no idea why the folks are so happy.

But I dunno if it's a complete fraud. I just took a whole box, but the pills got stuck in my throat and now my tonsils are freakin' huge. Unfortunately, I can't talk, and that has my wife smiling as much as the lady in those commercials.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Ledger Lounge with Sonya Sorich

We used to do some cutting up and goofing off with our video dude at the paper, Joe Paull. That was put on hold for a while, but now we've got the Ledger Lounge with nightlife diva Sonya Sorich. She does a great job with it, and y'all need to check it out. Especially today ... it's her birthday. She manages to squeeze that tidbit of info into the latest Ledger Lounge.

Check out the video section by clicking here.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Song played to death

I'm a huge Jimmy Buffett fan, but I've heard the song "Margaritaville" enough. He's recorded 200 better songs. Apparently, these guys in Colorado feel the same, albeit a bit more to the extreme. They allegedly killed a Special Forces soldier for playing "Margaritaville" on the jukebox. That's gonna probably seem like a pretty dumb idea as they spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Read about it here.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Not running with the Heard

Some of you who know me well know that I sure wouldn't mind getting my grubby little hands on a piece of waterfront property, especially on Lake Blackshear or the Flint River. I thought about heading over to Lake Oliver, one of my kayaking grounds, this morning to bid on the $18 million Bill Heard estate. Unfortunately, I don't think the $1.57 I managed to scrape up between the cushions in my SUV was gonna make me much of a player. Read more about how the auction very expectedly went at the Ledger-Enquirer's Web site. Normally it makes me sick to see someone's property auctioned off or a bank twisting people's arms. Strangely enough, this one's not bothering me.
Ledger-Enquirer photos