Daniel Harmon

If you’ve ever wanted to watch a water balloon explode in slow-motion (I know I have), now’s your big chance. The most incredible thing about this ad is that they did it all sans CGI; they used a camera that shot 10,000 frames per second instead.

The result? A very elegant and imaginative way of communicating what I love most about soda (or pop, if you’re from Idaho): the tongue tickling bubbliness. And I have to admit, the shots and song are so beautifully mesmerizing, it makes me want to expunge my memory of everything I know about carbonated water’s adverse health effects. Strong bones, joints and muscles? Who needs ‘em! Gimme some of that fizzy drink!

My techie friend, Duane and I have started a grassroots fundraising campaign for BJ Lawson’s North Carolina congressional race: BucksForBJ.blogspot.com. If you’re a Ron Paul fan, or if you want our government to return to Constitutional principles, please check out BJ Lawson’s website. I blogged about him here, too. If you like what you see, go to BucksForBJ.blogspot.com and pledge. We’re asking for small donations and for you to spread the word to some buddies. We call it a Money Ball—not to be confused with a money bomb.

I wasn’t always like this. Previously, I was about as politically active as a fence post. I never donated a dime to any politician (I thought they were already doing a good enough job of taking away my money). And I certainly never dreamed of campaigning for anybody.

But then along came Ron Paul. After my brother introduced him to me, I wanted to learn everything I could about him—and more importantly, the principles he stands for. As my closest friends and family can attest, I turned into a walking, interactive, encyclopedic, Ron Paul billboard.

I even donated to him. We didn’t have any extra money at the time, so I asked my wife to give my Christmas money to Ron Paul’s campaign fund. Ever since then, I’ve made a personal commitment to get more involved in the fight for freedom.

By the way, I’d love your ideas for improving BucksForBJ.blogspot.com. So leave a comment here if you have any thoughts. Thanks.

My oldest brother was in town visiting about a month ago. He’s a big fan of architectural design. I’m pretty partial to it as well. He told me about the Chicago Spire (now under construction). Ever heard of it? It’s an incredible structure! Once completed, it will stand 150 stories high. In comparison, the Sears Tower, the tallest building in North America, is only 108 stories.

The website is definitely worth a gander. It says the building is “inspired by nature.” Sounds like they’re just trying to vamp up its green appeal. I submit they change it to, “inspired by an industrial-strength tapered drill bit.” Now that’ll attract the tenants.

The Caterpillar corporate site I’ve been working on for the past few months went live today. Check it out here. There’s a link on Cat.com’s homepage too. The site focuses on the progress Caterpillar is making possible around the world.

I wrote a lot of the copy (an advertising term for text) on the pages. And I even helped with the writing on some of the scripts for the videos (voice over stuff). The designers did a great job, don’t you think? If you see anything that would improve the site, leave me a comment. Thanks.

Thanks to the Ron Paul’s presidential campaign, I’ve taken a keen interest in the preservation of our freedoms. I believe that the key to establishing the limited government that closely resembles our founding is to establish representatives that are committed to upholding the ideals of the Founders.

That said, I’m increasingly interested in learning about anyone that’s willing to stand up to the status quo and fight for a foreign policy of peaceful friendship, a monetary policy backed by a gold standard and a stance of unrelenting protection of our civil liberties.

On Lew Rockwell’s blog, I found one: his name is BJ Lawson. Haven’t heard of him? He’s running for congress in North Carolina’s 4th District. And he’s the spitting image of Ron Paul…minus about 40 years, the receding white hair, the Texas drawl and about $35 million in raised campaign funds.

OK. So they obviously have their physical and financial differences. But when it comes to political ideology, they’re almost identical twins. In fact, on his site, BJ says, “I was drawn back to politics by Ron Paul’s tireless and principled work to restore a Constitutional federal government.” It looks like he’s even adopted a fund-raising strategy from Ron Paul’s play book: posting his numbers in real-time on his homepage. Nice move.

I don’t know everything about him. But from what I’ve read on his site, he seems sharp, passionate, personable, logical and principled. I can’t cast a ballot for him, but (hopefully) I can cast a few supporters his direction with this blog—and maybe even some donors to boot.

It’s encouraging to see the fruits of Ron Paul’s labors already starting to take root. I’ve often wondered who would emerge as the key figures to lead the fight for freedom when Ron Paul is no longer in the picture (he’s 72 after all). Whether or not he wins his 4th District race, BJ Lawson may very well surface as an influential national figure in the cause of liberty. Regardless, he’s a patriot; and to that I tip my hat and raise my voice of encouragement.

I recently read a Wired article called “Clive Thompson on the Age of Microcelebrity: Why Everyone’s a Little Brad Pitt” (in the printed version, it’s titled “Almost Famous”). Intriguing stuff. It was my first exposure to the term “microcelebrity,” but from the sounds of things, it probably won’t be the last.

Thompson’s premise is simple: with the flood of social networking sites, blogs, personal web pages and photo sharing sites, anyone who has stuff on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, a blog, etc. may have a mini following—a micro fan base, if you will. So a “microcelebrity” is someone that is “extremely well known not to millions but to a small group…maybe only a few dozen.”

According to Thompson, the pundits worry that the omnipresent scrutiny of online admirers (or haters for that matter) will result in everyone talking “in the bland” to avoid ruffling any feathers. However, Thompson doesn’t agree with that bleak outlook. I don’t either. Like Thompson concludes, I think people will just better learn how to behave “in front of a crowd.” We already do that in real life when we’re with our friends and colleagues; now it just extends to the virtual world.

Personally, I’m not too worried about having info out there that I don’t want others to see. I save all that for my personal journal that I keep on Pyxlin.com—part of FamilyLearn.com—my brother’s site. The public can’t view any of my private stories, life lessons or personal secrets on Pyxlin. They’re encrypted (call me crazy, but I don’t want the whole world knowing the details of the time my baby sneezed in my mouth). And I can have all those personal stories published into a hardbound book. Yes, I’m saving the private me for my posterity. Not for superhottie17 or HobbitKiller2193.

So, my beloved fans, I welcome you to my virtual life—at arm’s length of course. No offense.