Lazin' on a sunny afternoon...

Cause I love to live so pleasantly
Live this life of luxury
Lazy on a sunny afternoon
In the summertime...
In the summertime...
In the summertime...

- Ray Davies

Well, not exactly "lazy." OK, well, kinda lazy...

We're just back from visiting my brother and his wife in beautiful Normal, Ill. during the hottest weekend of the 21st Century... How's that for hype!?! TV ain't got nothing on me!

Sorry for the lack of updates: Between book writing and travel and household chores, the poor site has been ignored! I can either write for the book or write for here so I am busy trying to get my priorities equalized. And, of course, I have my hobbies. Cliff Ward and I went to the riverboat in Elgin last week and separated Queen Victoria from a few hundred dollars of her cash. She was NOT amused. A $500 win on the "Wheel of Fortune" machine (third one in from the left) in the smoke-free lower level was the big difference. I had a nice run on roulette (again) and had some other nice hits. Sadly, The Terminator game that was so fun in Vegas was just a disappointment in Elgin. It was really the only thing that didn't pay...

I think I understand how actually retired seniors with lots of free time on their hands end up on the boats so frequently. Before my semi-retirement, I think I was there two-three times a year. In the past three months, I've been aboard about six times - always a winner except for that ill-fated voyage with lunch partners a month ago (I forgot to ask permission to blog them).

Speaking of incessant gambling, we hit the lottery! Well, the scratch-off version, anyway. On Friday we were running errands and I bought four $10 tickets and won $130. On the way back from Normal Sunday, I was spellbound and decided to invest $80 of the winnings in four $20 tickets. I know. Call me crazy. Get me the 1-800-GAMBLING number (which, I believe, is 1-800-GAMBLING). Then also call me a $300 winner!

Amazing! On Tuesday, I invested half the winnings into supplies for the big pool deck resurfacing which, finally, takes place on Wednesday, weather permitting. Scratch another chore off the list. That "lazy on a sunny afternoon" thing is gonna have to wait a couple days, Mr. Davies...

Hey, but YOU can still be lazy if ya want! Check out these cool new additions to Mark's Summer Reading Club:

•Newspodder.com The world of podcasting keeps evolving. Check out this new take on an evolving media.

•TheDunkTank.com Tired of me? Tired of anyone in particular? Well, all you need is a picture of someone on your desktop. Follow the easy directions and you'll be dunking someone special in no time thanks to the fine folks at Applebee's! My picture is conveniently located at the right.

•Inside a Tornado Ever wondered what it looks inside a tornado? Well, the folks at National Geographic have a cool site for you and it looks a lot like the movie "Twister" (except the tornado is not so fake looking).

•MovieMistakes.com For all of you who cursed me for the addictive "Findadeath.com" here's another one to keep you up nights. This site has catalogued film flubs of your favorite movies! Bet ya can't look up just one...

•Unfortunate Greeting Cards This is, honest-to-God, the funniest site I have seen in a while. These are actual greeting cards that are, well, unfortunate! You gotta see it to believe it.

•Snopes.com Are you tired of friends, family members, co-workers and other annoying people forwarding you some email message that ends up to be totally bogus? Why did I suddenly start channeling "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure?" Damn moviemistakes.com! Anyway, even a monkey can fact-check an urban legend here - so there's no excuse for forwarding crap (but, imagine the fun you'll have pointing out to a co-worker that this email allegedly detailing a press conference given by actor and former Marine R. Lee Ermey is, like, dude, wicked wrong).

•London Cam Want to keep an eye on London in wake of the bombings? Here's a cool cam aimed at famed Trafalgar Square.

•CelebrityDeathBeeper.com You give them your email address and when Scotty from Star Trek dies, you'll know first. As Death Trilogy Commissioner, I find this to be an essential service!

•Batfan63: A Dark Knight for a Dark World My brother, of Batman fame, has started his own blog and I thought I'd give him a plug.

Have fun!

Mark