Forget Chris Crocker or the Star Wars Kid. Today I bring you a prime example of how doing something dumb on the Internet can make you rich.

Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages just created a music video featuring Tay Zonday and rapper Mista Johnson for their new Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr. Pepper. What’s the name of the song, you ask? Well, it’s “Cherry Chocolate Rain,” of course.

The video has all the things you’d want in a good parody rap video – bling, bitches, slo-mo chocolate, fish eye shots of Tay’s big ol’ mouth, and TRS-80 computers. Funny stuff.

That’s NaBloPoMo 2007 for me, and I am outta here.

I want to hear what YOU think an Al’s Grill Smoky Riblets jingle needs to sound like. Come up with a ten second jingle in whatever style you feel appropriate and email a 128kbps MP3 file to dogjingle AT 3rdmartini DOT com by 12:01am on December 15th, 2007. I will determine the top three submissions and will place them on the web site for the public to vote. The winner as of 12:01am December 22nd, 2007 will win a $25.00 Petsmart gift card.

Sound good? Get to recording.

Tuesday it was gardening tips, today it’s been the finer points of nutmeg as a condiment (I chimed in regarding nutmeg hallucinations in his comments), and I’m told tomorrow’s post will be the epitome of all anniversary week posts.

Is his change of focus permanent or only to throw people off? Only one man knows for sure.

5 string guitar meets 3 string bass in a weird hybrid that looks simultaneously fun and frustrating to play. Wow.

FFFFOUND! is a web service that not only allows the users to post and share their favorite images found on the web, but also dynamically recommends each user’s tastes and interests for an inspirational image-bookmarking experience!!

There is a wildly diverse and highly inspirational collection of images on this web site. I highly recommend adding FFFFOUND! to your RSS feeds.

In addition to fighting what I hope is the tail end of a pretty nasty cold, I’ve spent the day making tremendous progress toward finishing the basement in the house.

My brother-in-law Pete and I have finally gotten all the framing, electrical, and data wiring done, which means that the next step is to start drywalling and make this space finally take shape.

I’ve never done any carpentry project at this scale. In fact, there’s not a ton of projects I’ve ever tackled that involved a lot of wood. Most all my projects have been of the small electronics type.

So, it’s safe to say that Pete, who has a lot of carpentry experience, has done a lot of the actual building. I’ve been more of the miter saw boy or wire runner. But, that’s OK. I’m learning a lot in the process. In fact, I constructed two sections of wall all by myself and only had to take them apart and rebuild them twice.

I’m excited that this basement will get finished before Nathan is born. It’ll be a great work space for me, and it’ll be a great fun room for the family.

9 knives of assorted types… jig bones, skinners, congresses, toothpicks, and more. All knives in the set come in a handsome banana yellow bone finish. It’s sure to make you want to give all your friends a set of these fine knives during this holiday season.

I’m kind of sad that WWTS? is done for this month. I’m also sad that I never committed to a cutlery purchase to give away to my fine readers. I guess the month isn’t over, so I shouldn’t speak too soon.

For my money, there is absolutely nothing better than a monkey dressed in cowboy gear riding a dog, Absolutely NOTHING.

Apparently Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey has other talents besides shilling tacos. Looks like he’s quite the sheep herder to boot. Enjoy, and a belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

But, I make it up to you this time with two… TWO dog treat jingles. Yes, I can feel your excitement from here.

First up, a little something snappy I’d sing when we had a bag of Freshy Breath Treats. This jingle is performed in the style of a 1950′s radio jingle.

As your bonus, here’s my favorite all-time jingle (and my wife’s absolute least favorite). This one’s for Canine Carry-Outs Bacon Bites. I’ve performed in a style that mixes a little Doug Brogar with the rock voice that Trey Parker busts out occasionally.

Yes, I actually sang it this way every time.

We’ll be back next week with the last one, which is a jingle that’s forming in my head for a new bag of treats we got Stella.

From Wikipedia:

Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely usedâ€ usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era Englandâ€ but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date.

I think the only books I’ve read that I’d categorize as steampunk would be the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. As good as I thought those were, it’s the steampunk recreations of modern objects that I think are the coolest.

If you want to look at more examples of things like the keyboard pictured above, go to Steampunk Workshop. You’ll be glad you did.