I can’t think of any better way to celebrate "Fun Friday" then to introduce you to one of the funnest (is that a word?) and funniest people I know. This is Corey Mann. He’s our high school ministry director at Granger. Corey joined our staff team a couple of years ago after spending his previous life as the top DJ at the hippest radio station in South Bend.

Just so you know, Corey and I have a lot in common besides the fact that we both love Jesus and work at the coolest church around. For example:

• We both have our own blogs.
• We both are children of the 80s.
• We both have a last name that begins with the letter "M."
• We both enjoy dumb movies especially ones with Ben Stiller.
• We both frequently wear shirts when we show up for work.
• We both have wives that love us even when we do stupid things.
• We both love making people laugh (only Corey’s really good at it).

You need to know that other than these seven things, Corey and I probably don’t have anything else in common. That’s probably why I love hanging around him so much. I get to enjoy life from a whole new perspective. I love being around people like that.

Welcome to the blog world, Corey! I’m a subscriber.

I reached 100 posts and today’s only the two-month anniversary of my blog. Do I get some sort of award for that?

Here’s what you may be thinking:

• "He’s not very smart, but you got to give him credit for at least being prolific."
• "Tony needs to get a life…or at least eat more pizza."
• "How do I get a job at Granger so I can have more time for mindless endeavors?"
• "I can’t wait to see him in the pink shirt hugging Mark Waltz."

Regardless of what’s really on your mind, I have more writing to do. I can’t stop. Must blog. Must produce more witty insights to increase my subscriber numbers. Of course, you already know that I’m only really concerned about the numbers.

It’s not a grocery store version of Starbucks. It’s the real thing. Tables and chairs. The morning newspaper. Friendly baristas. Drive thru. And, it’s just around the corner from my office.

When you live in Indiana, you welcome the small pleasures in life including the brand new Starbucks.

So, I’m really curious. Now that you know the people I’ve never met that I’d invite to my backyard barbecue, who would you invite to your barbecue? They have to be living. Dead people aren’t very much fun at barbecues.

I have a wager with Mark Waltz that Ed Young doesn’t own a pink shirt. See Mark’s post. Read the comments. Pray for me.

It’s "Fun Friday" and, rather than talking about pizza this week, I thought I’d give you this fresh perspective into the psyche of Tony Morgan. These are:

The Five People I’ve Never Met that I’d Invite to my Backyard Barbecue

David Crowder — In addition to being one of my favorite musicians, I think he’s absolutely hilarious. If you haven’t already, you have to experience Crowder live. My favorite story is the one about the squirrel. You also have to admire a guy that can pull off that hairdo. Crowder’s at the barbecue.

Phil Mickelson — Phil is an incredible golfer and appears to be a great all-around guy. My wife loves him (maybe a little too much) because he’s always talking about his wife and his kids. He’s a family guy, and he’s one of the great players of the game. Phil’s at the barbecue.

Andy Stanley — I have learned some of my most significant leadership lessons from Andy through his teaching and writing. Beyond that, though, what I love about him is that he seems to be completely honest in his communications. He’s down to earth. He’s genuine. Because of that, I get the sense that he’s also a fellow introvert. We introverts have to stick together…just not with each other. Andy’s at the barbecue.

Brian Kilmeade — Brian’s the sports anchor for Fox News and he’s one of the co-hosts of their morning show, "Fox & Friends." Brian just seems like the type of guy that I’d like to hang with. He knows sports, politics, and I get the impression that he likes to have fun–in other words I think he can kind of be a "bad boy." Brian’s at the barbecue.

Cameron Diaz — Come on. You didn’t think I was going to have just a bunch of guys at the barbecue, did you? That would be pretty sexist. Cameron’s at the barbecue.

I don’t know when this little shindig will take place, but I’ll post the pictures from the gathering. Let me know if you think there’s anyone else I need to invite.

My buddies Dustin and Corey had Coldplay in their playlists, so I started checking out the band a couple of months ago. Pre-ordered the new X & Y album a couple of weeks ago, and then downloaded it earlier this week when it was released. It’s all I’ve been listening to this week. My favorite track is Speed of Sound, but I also love the simplicity of the final song on the album, Till Kingdom Come.

Today the Business 2.0 Blog reported that there are 5,712 free WiFi hotspots around the world according to JiWire. One of them happens to be located at Granger Community Church. And, that’s what led to the unusual call this afternoon.

Several months ago our very capable communications team sent out a press release talking about the use of wireless access at Granger and specifically how we’ve incorporated that into our Saturday Night eXtras. That led to an interview I did with an Indiana business magazine. Then the Saturday Evening Post picked up the story.

Today we received a call from Andrea, a reporter from Marketplace, the business news programming for National Public Radio. She was doing a story on the growth and impact of WiFi and was interested in how we are using WiFi at the church. So, sometime tomorrow, you may hear Andrea and me on your local NPR station talking about WiFi at Granger Community Church.

In case you are wondering, I thought it was a fairly decent interview…all things considered. (I thought you needed a little bit of NPR humor.) Let me know if you actually hear the report.

UPDATE: Here’s the link to the Marketplace Morning Report story that was broadcasted this morning on NPR. You’ll need Real Player to listen to the audio file.

I ran across an interesting finding the other day. This comes from the May edition of Men’s Health magazine. (OK, I admit it. I have a subscription to Men’s Health. No, I’m not proud of it, but it has led to some fascinating conversations with my wife and for that I’m very grateful for the publishers that put out such a fine periodical that is committed to helping men experience healthy eating habits, improved exercise patterns, fashion sense and they hit other important topics that men consider from time to time which is all good and to be encouraged within the context of a biblical, healthy marriage and I’m probably not really justifying this very well for you but it works just fine for me so just leave me alone. My wife got me the subscription. So there.) According to the article, the Smell and Taste Center in Chicago found that the smell of pizza can actually raise the sex drive in men.

This finding sheds a great deal of light on a lot of things. Now I know why, as an example, I sense amorous feelings towards my wife whenever we eat Papa John’s pizza. Also, men generally eat a lot of pizza, which could explain why we tend to frequently have these amorous feelings for our wives.

Now, this really hasn’t been officially researched by the Smell and Taste Center in Chicago or any other prestigious research centers, but I’ve developed a list of some other activities, similar to smelling pizza, that appear to encourage the type of activity cited in the Men’s Health article. Here’s a sample list I’ve developed through my own observations:

• smelling spaghetti
• smelling lasagna
• smelling leftover chicken casserole
• smelling cabbage
• smelling Brussels sprouts
• tasting any of these foods
• looking at any of these foods
• shopping for any of these foods
• playing golf
• mowing the lawn
• watching ESPN
• filing my taxes
• listening to music recorded in the 1980s
• reading the business section of the Sunday paper
• washing the dishes
• drinking my morning coffee
• blogging

Now, as I stated, these are just my unofficial findings. This will certainly require some additional research. Since it’s highly unlikely that there are any other Men’s Health magazine readers in the audience, I felt it was my obligation to keep you informed on these scientific breakthroughs.

Got to go. Remember…blogging is on the list.

Scoble posted lasted night about CEOs reading blogs, even though they aren’t themselves blogging. He mentioned a personally signed letter he received from "Mr. Google Guy" Eric Schmidt and another blogger friend who received a note from Steve Jobs. Just in case you’re wondering, neither of those guys has sent me personal notes…yet.

It made me wonder, though, if there are any "CEO-types" reading my blog. I know of at least one. It just so happens his office is in relative close proximity to mine. That’s why I will only say nice things on my blog about CEO-types–especially the ones that lead churches in Granger, Indiana.

Hey…if you paid my salary, I’d say nice things about you too.