@PeanutFreeMom is a barrel of laughs

If you're looking for clever laughs, head over to Twitter and follow @PeanutFreeMom. 

PFM, aka "Debra Jones-O'Brien," plays a brittle, obnoxious, self-centered single mom with sensitive child in tow. 

"Debra's" tweets are consistently clever, and timely as well. With Hurricane Irene hitting the East Coast this weekend, topical tweets, apparently from the scene, include:

• "Whole Foods had plenty of bottled water stocked up for the upcoming hurricane, but not my brand. I'm beginning to panic..."
• "Our town has opened up several emergency shelters for the storm, but I just got us reservations at the Hyatt instead. #Irene"
• "Went to CVS out of desperation and asked a man where the bottled water was. He rudely said "I don't work here." Complaining to management."

And here's a pre-Irene tweet that capture's PeanutFreeMom's clueless spirit: "Just made Caleb mommy's famous "PB & J": Portobello Bruschetta & Juicebox." 

Classic. 

Create your own hyperlocal Flipboard publication

As regular readers know, I'm a big fan of Flipboard, the slick iPad feed reader. I've thought over the last year how Flipboard can be the local news platform of choice as tablets (OK, iPads) fly off the shelves. 

Now comes this nice how-to from Ted Mann, digital development director for Gannett NJ, who shows how easy it is for someone to create their own hyperlocal Flipboard news feed. 

There's still a disconnect as to how your feed can be shared by others -- and there's that ever-present advertising question -- but the concept is great, and Mann's short video well worth watching. 

As noted before, if you haven't tried Flipboard -- which Apple named its "iPad app of the year" it's time to do so. 

Soul legend Cropper back with a vengeance

Southern soul legend Steve Cropper has been living off his reputation for more than 40 years since Stax Records petered out and Memphis lost its mojo.

But Cropper is back from nowhere with a surprising tribute to a band called The 5 Royales. "Dedicated: A Salute to The 5 Royales" is a star-studded album, featuring performances  from B.B. King, Lucinda Williams and Betty LaVette.

But it's Cropper who is on fire, reaching deep in salute to the little-known R&B/gospel group he says inspired him to jump into  a career that led him to become one of the 20th century's most successful songwriters (stuff like "In The Midnight Hour" and "Sittin' On The Dock of The Bay" to name just two).

NPR affiliate WBUR has a nice interview with Cropper that offers a glimpse at an understated musician who, thankfully, is sharing some of his inspiration all these many decades later.