Yesterday I spent a good two hours in the car … which generally leads to some random thoughts and bits of information streaming by and sticking somewhere.  You guys are now the happy recipients of this … for whatever it is worth.

But before sharing the actual information, I feel compelled to share the cool tool that made it possible.  It’s free – and all you need is a cell phone.  If you’re like me and often use your e-mail as the organizing principle of your life (combination of information repository/library and to do list) then you might find this quite useful.

The tool is called Jott and it offers the ability to phone messages to yourself which then appear in your e-mail as a link (in the free version).  Click the link and you go to your Jott home page, where you can retrieve either the transcription of your “Jott” or the audio.  The info has to be in Tweet-sized bites … but that’s usually not a problem.  I love it for when I’m in the car and something strikes me that I want to remind myself of later.  Since I’m sure to check my e-mail, it works great.  Check it out.

So here’s what I “Jotted” yesterday …

Check out GlobalPost.com – a site launched just yesterday and a source for news from around the world.  Editor Charles M. Sennott writes, in his introductory blog piece, about the site and the blog.  It sounds like both will provide an excellent source for international news:

This blog is a place where you can come every day to be taken behind the scenes of GlobalPost and hear about what our correspondents are working on and how they managed to unearth great stories.  Here I will be highlighting reporting from the field by our 65 correspondents who live in the countries about which they write. Every day they will be out there finding and reporting the kind of stories that are close to the ground and can enlighten you about the corner of the world they cover.

Click on a country on the map, pull up the page, and check out the fascinating timeline feature – a great way to start exploring the site.

On the international soccer (and USA) news front, Marta won her third consecutive award as FIFA’s female soccer player of the year and signed with the LA Sol … which is a great day for Marta, for the Sol, and for WPS!

“With the signing of Marta there is no doubt that we have brought in one of the biggest and most exciting pieces of the puzzle we targeted when we launched this franchise last fall,” said Scott Hanley, Vice President AEG Sports, who operates the Sol. “She is a bonafide superstar in the sport of soccer who will undoubtedly electrify fans and raise awareness for both our team and WPS on a global scale.”

Marta, as she’s commonly known, will join a team already littered with international talent, namely US internationals, Shannon Boxx, Aly Wagner and Stephanie Cox.

“I am extremely excited to be joining the Los Angeles Sol,” Marta said. “Knowing that WPS is going to be the most competitive league in the world made my decision easy. I am going to Los Angeles to win as many titles as possible and achieve all the remaining goals in my professional life.”

While playing with Umea IK, the talented striker amassed an incredible 111 goals in 103 appearances, over a goal per game. That was similar to her record with the Brazilian national team, where she scored 47 goals in 45 games. She brings that lethal scoring touch to a Sol team that are certainly favorites to win the WPS title, in its first year of existence. The Sol’s inaugural game will be held on March 29th, at the Home Depot Center. They will host the Washington Freedom in a 3pm kick-off.

Moving from Marta to Marya,  we come to Rupa and the April Fishes – an eclectic musical group out of San Francisco fronted by Rupa Marya – a physician musician.  Singing in multiple languages and musical styles, the group has a new release titled eXtraOrdinary rendition.

According to Marya, the title of their 2008 CD release of eXtraOrdinary rendition was a reference to the United States policy of Extraordinary Rendition. “I actually wanted people to Google the expression and then read, oh the first thing that comes up is a Wikipedia article, you know, not an album,” said Marya.

What I heard of them on NPR yesterday sounded indeed, extraordinary!

Then there’s Jim Haynes.  Every Sunday for the past 30 years .. in Paris … he has hosted dinners for random people.  All you have to do is contact him ahead of time .. it’s first come first served … ’til he hits his seating limit (something like 60 people in cold weather and >100 when the feast can be expanded to include outside seating).  What a commitment to nourishing community!  Here’s how to get in touch with Jim if you’re in the area and want to stop by … it sounds totally fascinating!  (Also check out his life – in chronological snippets – very interesting.)

… counting down the days ’til the Eagles swoop down on the Cardinals … 😉