I admit it, I'm a closet Disney fan and am delighted that I have an excuse this summer to visit Disneyworld (I'm speaking at a conference in Orlando). Having said that, though, I also have found Disney to be going through a real dry spell with innovations and truly family-friendly products and services. Sure they've expanded the theme parks, but just about all the expansion has been thrill rides like Kilimanjaro that are aimed much more squarely at teens and younger adults than at families with wee ones.

But still, there's Mickey Mouse and the many additional cultural icons that Walt Disney and his team have given us over the years, however much crass capitalists like Michael Eisner later tightened the thumbscrews and changed things (to, I admit, be more profitable and a better run business, but somehow the fun, the heart, the caring seems to have been lost along the way).

Anyway, I'm really delighted to see that Disney is jumping into the world of cell phones and mobile telephony with its upcoming launch of Disney Mobile, and the more I read about it, the more it seems like just what families need to let their children have the connectivity of cellphones while also having limits and controls.

OK, here's the deal.

Last Friday, I flew down to Northern California to visit with my family and participate in my fantasy baseball league's auction draft on Saturday.

Sunday I flew to DC. OK, that part's theory. In practice, I got as far east as Phoenix, missed my connection by 10 minutes, got rerouted to Las Vegas then on to a red-eye to Newark, then Monday morning caught a shuttle flight to DC.

Why, you may ask, did I put myself through that kind of hell to get to DC? Because I testified in front of Congress; specifically, the House Government Reform Committee, on exactly how broken the current processes are for trying to get a visa to enter the US. (short description: submit application, wait 3-5 months, come in for interview, get asked a few irrelevant questions, get random answer). So by getting to DC midday Monday I still had time to get briefed and prepped to testify (and get some sleep -- I arrived at our DC office on exactly one lousy hour of sleep).

Side note: I was flying US Airways/America West. They just merged -- sort of. The tickets and flight numbers are sort of merged. The branding is not -- it's a huge, confusing mix. And most of all: the employees are totally, utterly checked out. Zero customer empathy -- they don't care, and they can't be bothered. DO NOT FLY US Airways or America West. They don't deserve your business.

Testifying went well. Yo-Yo Ma was also on the panel with me, talking about how difficult it is for artists and performers to get into the US as well. The committee was very receptive.

Tuesday afternoon I spent 4 hours on the Mall in DC with my camera. Took almost 500 pictures. I've culled down to about 50 I like, and am cleaning them up for posting to my Flickr site. Stay tuned...

Wednesday morning I flew home and went in to work.

Tonight I head out with my daughters and their school choir (on another red-eye, two in one week) to Philadelphia and DC (another two-fer-one special this week).

So I'm behind on everything. Sorry about that. Next week will be better. Promise.

If you are reading this post on my blog's home page, you should have noticed a new addition to the blog - a list of headlines from previous Warnie Award winners. This is all part of my mission to become a more influential blogger by driving you away from my own blog to the sites that I love! These people have much better stuff to say than I do - so go read their material, but keep coming back here to find it. The list of articles will always be bang up-to-date, so it's a great reason to visit my page several times during the day so you can see what many of the other Christian bloggers have been writing about.
The Warnies began as a somewhat tongue-in-cheek concept, but at the height of the award's fame, Christian bloggers would literally fight, bribe, and cajole their way to obtain membership in the highly-honoured club of Warnie Award winners. Now that the winners' headlines appear here, I fear that an all-out blog war may break out!

Today I have also awarded another two blogs the coveted Warnie Award – Resurgence and Together for the Gospel. Actually, I have decided to include headlines from the individual blogs of each of the writers of Together for the Gospel as well, since they are so fabulous. Resurgence and T4GB are two of the finest blogs on the planet, in my opinion, and should need no introduction to you!

I have gone through and updated the list of previous winners. (I don’t think that list left anyone out - please let me know if it did!) As a measure of the resilience of Warnie winners, only one has apparently bowed out of the blogging arena. Christweb was untraceable - any reports on the whereabouts of the Mac gratefully received!

John Mark Reynolds and Phil Johnson have both deserted singleton blogging, however, and joined group blogs. After careful deliberation the judges - ok me - have decided to officially appoint their successor blogs, Middlebrow and Team Pyro, as Warnie Winners.

All Warnie Winners remain eligible to place the coveted Warnie Award stamp on their blogs, but I ask that the link be changed to this home page, where you will be able to read the last ten headlines from Warnie blogs at all times. The Warnie winners are available in an RSS feed or to read in Google Reader.

I just am not sure about the placement of the headlines. If anyone from Google is reading this blog, a way to resize the box would be fantastic – then I could put it in the sidebar. Otherwise, it might move at some point to the bottom of the middle panel (where it sits on individual post pages). Anyway, here it is . . . and I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think, and go congratulate the new winners!

If you want to include the list of Warnie winners in your site simply copy and paste the following code:

<script language='javascript' type='text/javascript' src='http://rpc.blogrolling.com/display.php?r=82b9e2ba8203c458cd4d3087f22cb86b'> </script>

If you want to include Warnie headlines on your own site, just drop me an email and I will send you the code, or nick it from looking at my source code!

For previous winners who want to include evidence of their award in their sidebar (this is entirely optional) simply copy and paste the following code into your template - this will give you the stamp at the top of this post:

<a href='http://www.adrian.warnock.info'><img src='http://www.adrian.warnock.info/uploaded_images/warnie-714212.gif'></a>

Alternatively, Phil has updated the stamp with a new look, which you can use if you prefer.

The code for this new picture is as follows -
<a href='http://www.adrian.warnock.info'><img src='http://www.adrian.warnock.info/warnie4.gif' /></a>

UPDATE
Phil was first out of the blogs to welcome the re-launch of the Warnie Awards which look like they are here to stay now! In his own inimitable style he thanks me for the first Warnie I sent his way:

'Last year, just three days after the launch of my original blog, PyroManiac, Brit-blogger Adrian Warnock catapulted me to worldwide fame by bestowing on me the most coveted award in the entire Christian blogosphere: the Warnie!'

In the comments section, Phil has also proposed a new version of the 'Warnie Stamp of Approval,' and since he no doubt still has the file from when he designed the first version for me, hopefully it didn't take him too long as I don't see people queuing up to add the Smeagol edition of the warnie stamp to their sidebars!

Incidentally, one of the things that prompted me to revive the list was the evident longing some have for a Warnie - perhaps that graphic should be reworded 'Warnie Award Awaited.'