Here are a few grasshopper badges (they’re flash - you might have to leave your feed reader). Are you a grasshopper?

I just posted a few new items to my shared RSS feed. Check it out in the sidebar or by visiting the page on Google.

Don’t worry, I am not trying to compete with Scoble.

From my Tumblog:

I’ll be out of town for the rest of the weekend (through Monday). Enjoy your iPhones, Pownce accounts, and whatever other shiny things you can find.

Here’s a list of my top favorite musicals. Yeah. Musicals. Get over it and listen to some great tunes.

1. The Last Five Years
   by Jason Robert Brown - A one act music that shows the story of a five year relationship in a rather unconventional manner. Wikipedia explains it best: “The show uses a novel form of storytelling in which Cathy travels backwards in time (beginning the show at the end of the marriage), and Jamie travels forwards (starting with the couple’s first date).”
2. RENT
   by Jonathan Larson - The most talked-up musical of the 1990s, Rent is deserving of its praise. The original cast is fantastic, and you’re at an advantage here as well because most of the musical is sung so the soundtrack is basically the whole show. You get the whole story.
3. Spring Awakening
   by Duncan Sheik and Steven Satar - This season’s most buzzy musical, Spring Awakening is a teen coming of age story - set in 1890s Germany. This is an addicting musical.
4. Wicked
   by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman - Produced by Universal Pictures, this is ultimately a family-friendly version of the novel it is based on: “Wicked: the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West” which is an excellent read. Nonetheless, it condenses the books plot enough so that it is understandable (big plus) and has some really great songs to boot.
5. Aida
   by Elton John and Tim Rice - I’m partial to this because I was in a production of it, but it really does have some great songs and a cool plot. It is tough to get a grip on without actually seeing a production, but trust me - it is cool.
6. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
   by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin - Although this probably won’t serve for any real inspiration, it’s a damn good show with some really catchy (and hilarious) music. This one is addictive too: be warned.

Writer extraordinaire Joel Kelly (a longtime Celtx user and brief collaborator) is working on a brand new podcast - Ingenioustries. The new podcast is a story podcast; currently he’s reading through a story titled “Deltree”.

Deltree is incredibly dark and well written and it appears to be getting even darker. Which can’t hurt, can it? The main character, Dell, is an incredibly sarcastic person who gives the story it’s awesomely unique flavour.

I recommend this podcast to anyone and everyone who is up for a great story. Check the podcast out at Ingenioustries.com.

Simply cool.

I’m adding this to the list of films I want to see this summer (I add a few pages to the list every day).

From Apple’s trailer listing:

Celebrated directors from around the world, including the Coen Brothers, Gus Van Sant, Gurinder Chadha, Wes Craven, Walter Salles, Alexander Payne and Olivier Assayas, have come together to portray Paris in a way never before imagined. Made by a team of contributors as cosmopolitan as the city itself, this portrait of the city is as diverse as its creators’ backgrounds and nationalities. With each director telling the story of an unusual encounter in one of the city’s neighborhoods, the vignettes go beyond the ‘postcard’ view of Paris to portray aspects of the city rarely seen on the big screen.