ICCFA 2011 Convention speaker Juliet Funt, who talked about the importance of "white space" (unscheduled time) and how to get more of it in your life, ended her fun and informative presentation with a short "anthem," with the help of ICCFA members Mark Krause and Doug Gober (on loan from the Cryptones), Mike Hays and Nicole Weideman.

The audience loved it, and so will you. It's a 2-minute picker-upper (click on the pic to listen):

The lyrics:

Every day of my life there’s more to achieve,
A sense of urgency that just won’t leave,
I try to do my best,
But they put me to the test,
...It’s the Culture of Insatiability on me,
But I’m singin’ a different tune now listen to me- I’m freed!

Singin’
I can let it go,
The pressure and the stress and the crazy rat race,
I can let it go,
So come and grab a little white space with me.

It’s noble work to counsel the bereaved,
The satisfaction’s not be believed.
But then the florist’s late,
And the grandson get irate,
It’s the little things that make me anxious and distressed,
Even Todd Van Beck would be a mess- unless, he sang,

I can let it go,
The pressure and the stress and the crazy rat race,
I can let it go,
So come and grab a little white space with me.

I can let it go,
The pressure and the stress and the crazy rat race,
I can let it go,
So come and grab a little white space with me.

The Cryptones wowed 'em again, this time at the Wide World of Sales Conference opening reception in New Orleans. It was a great conference kick-off and very amazing considering they only had three days of practice.

YouTube is having some kind of problem - it is taking forever to upload video and then when it plays it keeps stopping and starting, like it can't buffer fast enough. So I am going to post them on my Vimeo account and see if that works here.

Here's the first one to try, the unplugged version of Layla. If it works I will post the rest once they are uploaded.

Actually, in case I don't get around to updating this post right away, if you are interested go to the Vimeo site by clicking here, and type "cryptones" in the Search box at top right. Our Cryptones videos start on the second page.

Cryptones perform at ICCFA Wide World of Sales, January 13, 2010 - Layla from Joe Budzinski on Vimeo.

Here is Mike Burke showing his Memphis roots in Whipping Post.

Cryptones perform at ICCFA Wide World of Sales, January 13, 2010 - Whipping Post from Joe Budzinski on Vimeo.

This was a surprise - Brenda Ayala-Figueruelo, Family Service Coordinator for Serenity Meadows in Riverdale, FL, took lead vocals for an impromptu version of Dreams. Not too bad considering the Cryptones had never practiced the song and never met Brenda before this!

Cryptones perform at ICCFA Wide World of Sales, January 13, 2010 - Dreams from Joe Budzinski on Vimeo.

A number of ICCFA representatives participated in the American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE) meeting in Springfield, Illinois, this week. The meeting, which just ended a couple hours ago, was a great learning experience, providing invaluable information about how we can best develop our educational programs going forward. It was also a chance to meet a bunch of great people and reconnect with some we had not seen in a while.

I will try to get some more photos posted later in the week. These are just a couple taken by our VP of Membership, Nancy Lohman.

Allen Dave, Mark Krause, Nancy Lohman, Julie Burn, Joe Budzinski at Lincoln's Tomb in Springfield, IL

ICCFA Immediate Past President Mark Krause and NFDA Treasurer Pat Lynch at Lincoln's Tomb

Last song of the night last night, killer finish to Convention week.

Keynote speaker and all-around good guy Doug Gober on lead vocals.

UPDATE: Thanks to one of our commenters, here is the full list of Cryptones band members:

Keyboards & Vocals - Vicky Amato (performer at Pat O'Briens and wife of Doug Gober, New Orleans, Louisiana)
Bass - Chris Bentley (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Guitar and Vocals - Mike Burke (Palm Mortuary, Las Vegas, Nevada)
Vocals and Tambourine - Doug Gober (Matthews International Corporation, New Orleans, Louisiana)
Guitar - Mark Krause (Krause Funeral Homes, Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Guitar - Rick Martin (Palm Mortuary, Las Vegas, Nevada)
Sax - Jay Poster (King David Memorial Chapel, Las Vegas, Nevada)
Drums - Rich Webster (Las Vegas, Nevada)

I only got one angle from the right side but the entire performance was professionally filmed so eventually the whole thing, with video of the entire band, may be available.

After a truly fantastic Convention this week, we did not deserve any more blessings but we sure got one at the end of the night. Is this a great country or what!?

That's Mike Burke, Chancellor of ICCFA University, and Vicky Amato, New Orleans piano bar maven and wife of keynote speaker Doug Gober, on lead vocals, and our immediate past president (and also a University professor) Mark Krause on lead guitar.