I've been seeing the TV commercials that the folks at Disney started airing on September 18, 2008.

So I looked up details about the Free Disney Ticket On Your Birthday special online.

Looks good to me! No catches that I can see... other than the fact that you'll be obligated to buy a full-price ticket for anyone who accompanies you on your visit to either Disney World in Orlando or Disneyland in California. But that's to be expected. Plus, it's only good on your actual birthday in 2009.

Jim and I both signed up for a free ticket at each of the different parks on each of our birthdays. Who knows if we'll actually be able to get away when the time comes (Mar 2 and Nov 14), but it's worth considering, if you ask me.

You're allowed to sign up all your kids. May as well encourage your closest friends and relatives to sign up too! It's only 3 very simple steps. And no, you don't have to sign up for their optional "birthday club". We didn't.

Following are some of the world record holders across the U.S. and beyond which pertain to pumpkins and Halloween...

Listen to Bud Light's Real Men of Genius "Mr. Humongous Pumpkin Grower Guy":

Most Lit Jack-o'-Lanterns
Keene, New Hampshire takes its pumpkins seriously. Each year, the town tries to regain its status as World Record Holder for the most lit pumpkins during their annual Pumpkin Festival.

Check out this amazing behind-the-scenes video showing Keene, NH residents going for the world record again in 2005.

Although Keene still holds the record for the most jack-o-lanterns in one place (28,952 in 2003), a competing festival in Boston beat out Keene this year with a total of 24,541 pumpkins on Boston Common, compared to Keene's 22,157.

I'm a channel flipper, and the other night it was late when I happened upon "Dan Finnerty and the Dan Band" on the BRAVO channel.

Never heard of him, or his band, but his backup singers (a couple of Max Headroom type personalities) really caught my attention. They were so dead-pan with their expressions, at the same time highly expressive with their movements. Very captivating. And incredibly hilarious.

These two were meant to be funny, as they make up "the Dan Band" part of "Dan Finnerty and the Dan Band".

Here's some off-the-wall, albeit interesting stuff!

How about a collection of Dumb Laws (by state), Dumb Criminals (and their crazy antics), Dumb Warnings (as in appliance manuals), and a whole collection of Dumb Facts?

Check 'em out...

On our recent trip to Arizona (including Sedona and the Grand Canyon), we were talking about the Grand Canyon being one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Turns out, it's not. The Grand Canyon is one of the Seven NATURAL Wonders of the World instead! (There is a difference.)

The Grand Canyon is a stone formation that has been carved by water, winds, seas and sands that gets more then 4 million visitors a year. It is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide and 1 mile deep.

Anyway, it looks like I'm not alone. Many people wonder about the top wonders of the world, and there's even a catch-all list of sorts called the "Top 100 Wonders of the World" that's been created -- probably so people can just say that they've been to one of the Top Wonders of the World or something... Count me in!

All this "wondering" led me to consider the many places that I have been -- far and wide -- and I began to wonder where those places rank on the "Top 100 Wonders of the World" list.

Want to see if the places you have been appear on the Top Wonders of the World list?

Found this while surfing the Net the other day...

It's a quick way to summarize the states in which you've lived and those that you have visited at some point in the past.

First, have a listen to Bud Light's Real Men of Genius "Mr. Way Too Proud of Texas Guy":

Here's where I've lived, and where I've been...