Wednesday Weekly.com

Diversity: more than just an old, old wooden ship

2012-01-24T12:41:00.002-06:00

An Anchor Man joke? I know, pretty juvenile... but considering a white, suburb-raised 20-something male is about to talk about Diversity, I thought it seems right.

There are far more intelectual and lofty publications out in the world that deal with diversity in higher education and I don't exactly think I am going to contribute any new thoughts or idea.

Still, I wanted to share at least something about this new Master's class I am taking through Park University. The class itself is an introduction to public policy and government management. It's the starter class for the larger Master's in Public Affairs and Administration.

As we went around the room introducing ourselves we were supposed to say our name, where we are from and what our future plans were with the MPA from Park.

Out of the 12 students in the room, I was the only white male.

Now, this is nothing new. When I worked in the Kansas City's Northeast neighborhood this was pretty typical. In Brooklyn, I lived and worked in a predominately Caribbean neighborhood. Even at the Community College the level of diversity (while not ideal) is pretty high when compared to some suburbs in the region.

No, what was fascinating to me was where everyone else was from:

Five of the students in the class are from Saudi Arabia.

One student is from Azerbaijan.

One students is from Africa (I regret not being able to hear from what country specifically).

All of them had roughly the same story; they came to the U.S. specifically to get a Master's Degree in Public Affairs and then would be returning home once they graduated.

Most of them said they worked for the government in their respective countries (or worked for a type of NGO) and that they would be returning to that job when they returned home.

That is quite a move to attend a private university in the middle of the county.

I did not want to be rude or insensitive, but as a marketing guy, I wanted to just pick their brains about what drew them to Park or even Kansas City. How they found the program or even how they made the decision to up-root home and family (one guy had enrolled with his wife) to come to Missouri for two years.

I mean, I thought traveling to the Park campus just across the river was going to be a chore every week (luckily I am at the downtown campus just a few blocks from my apartment).

It is already a wild ride as we talked about how different students don't see the freedom of speech as one of those untouchable rights. Even to hear someone talk about America's "drinking problem" raised a few eyebrows (we were talking about the constitution's amendments and recent hot topics).

Buckle up, team, because I get the feeling the ride on this old, old wooden ship is going to be a lot of fun.

LEGO Brick Factor KC: building like a top 40 champ.

2012-01-15T11:22:00.004-06:00

WOO!

With more than 200 LEGO builders from five different states competing for the title of Master Model Builder, it was an intense day of building.

Even though I did not make the cut for the final 10, I managed to get into the semi-finals with the top 40 builders from around the region. With that badge of accomplishment, I feel like I represented well this weekend.

The competition itself was a blast. It reminded me of the old high school debate days. Saturday, like back then, was filled with about an hour of intense competition and then a lot of sitting around waiting for judges and results to be posted.

It was great to have not only family and friends, but also a small contingent of blog fans come out to support me as I competed.

For Round One we were told the theme was Animals. Most every had about 30-45 minutes to think about what they wanted to build.

The only problem with planning ahead was that you did not know what bricks you were going to be dealt. Judges even mentioned that they put relatively basic bricks to see how creative the contestants could be.

For 30 minutes you have to not only build a model that will impress the judges, but you have to also interact with the crowd that is gathering at each table.

With so many red bricks in my first round draw, I thought a ROCK LOBSTER would be fun.

I finished the lobster pretty quickly. So, I started asking the kids watching my table what they think I need to add. Some said I needed sand for him to live in, other said food. The finished product.

Round Two was even more insane as the crowd was bigger and the competition included 39 other incredibly good builders. The theme for this round was to build something we thought represented Kansas City or the Midwest.

I thought I could play off the City of Fountains motif.

Of course, it would not be a KC Fountain without a bum wading around in the pool.

Like I said before, I missed the final cut but was still pleased with how I performed all day. Plus, the final 10 all had some amazingly creative models and it will be interesting to see what they put together in the final round.

I have A TON of photos from the LEGO event on my flickr page.

TMI... or follow me on twitter #Scopy2012

2012-01-12T14:41:00.001-06:00

Well, team, we are in the throws of prepping for my very first colonoscopy. I thought I would share with you the recipe that is my afternoon:

In a shaker, add:
10 oz. Magnesium Citrate
285 grams of Miralax
64 oz. of Gatorade

Shake vigorously over rocks. Pour into a pitcher-sized Goblet. Garnish with two doses of laxatives. Drink within 1 hour. Brace for impact.

The weekend is almost here!

That's what she said...

2012-01-10T19:42:00.000-06:00

Back when I worked at The Old Paragraph Factory, I had an editor teach me to always re-read your writing as if you were a 13-year-old boy.

The idea, or at least one of the ideas, was to catch any accidental penis jokes or sexual innuendo that might have been left in your copy.

Think of it as a 'That's what she said' rule. Don't write anything that leaves the youngest person in the room giggling...

That rule, of course, can apply to just about any copy you write anywhere. You hear that Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts email? The KPAC is advertising the massive organ it just installed in the Helzberg Hall.

Here is email I received today...

To: Wednesday Weekly
From: The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Subject: A magnificent organ, a momentous occasion

Teeheehee....

Sorry, I don't mean to bring down the Classiness of the KPAC and its ... hehe ... organ.

LEGO competition at high noon in KC

2012-01-06T14:40:00.001-06:00

Hell's Bells, Kansas City, make way for this LEGO Champion.

Next weekend, I will swagger jack this LEGO competition from some sad 10-year-old who thinks his Cowboy Space Castle is "da-bomb" — or whatever it is the kids say these days.

In preparation for the new LEGO Discovery Center at Crown Center, the Master Builders from around the country will be on hand to watch a bunch of child-like men and women attempt to compete for the coveted job of Kansas City's first LEGO Master Builder.

It's three rounds of timed building and only the top builder will be offered the job.

Yes, I will be competing. No, I never really stopped being 12. So save your judgement for another day...

I have been brushing up on my LEGO skills and watching film from previous competitions to see what is in store during the first few rounds of speed building. I just need to be on my game and ready to win.

If you are free Saturday, Jan. 14 at Noon, swing by the Crown Center to support your hometown hero (me) and play with some free LEGO sets!

I am really going to need is a sweet cheering section... I think it might be the only way to psyche out the competition and really make them feel inferior right out of the gate. Because, let's be honest, as much as LEGO means fun play, this is no longer playtime... it's go time.

If nothing else, if I lose, I will want to drown my sorrows with good friends and a lot of booze (from a mug build with LEGO).

What's on tap for 2012

2012-01-03T13:44:00.001-06:00

Well, there goes another year.

So, let's see what we have scheduled for 2012:

Get married, grad school, buy a house, kite festival, eat healthier, drink less, exercise more, write more, take more photos, learn more graphic design elements, produce more videos, pick up some freelance work, see middle brother graduate, watch more basketball, take a week-long vacation, cook more at home, start baking, vote, teach cats to do tricks, get a hair cut, get a colonoscopy, get a better video camera, volunteer more, backup my computer, organize the storage closets, blog more often, go skydiving, travel more...

That sounds like a good start to the year.

You win!

2011-12-16T16:25:00.000-06:00

I am always looking for a cheap and easy way to fill the pages of this blog. So, what better time than now to tell you:

I won a design contest!

Well, technically, I won third - according to the judges - but when my artwork was reproduced in Black and White (as the instructions said it was going to be) mine was the only one that was legible...

Hurray?

Here is the deets:
The pizza place up the street from Ye Old Jr. Varsity is trying to drum up some business from the lines of people heading to the Christmas in the Park display.

People sit in their cars for HOURS to see the display. The Pizza Boss came up with the idea to hand out fliers to people waiting in line telling them the pizza joint was open and they could watch the line shrink from the windows of the game room... clever stuff, I tell you...

The Boss's Microsoft Word design skills were lacking so he threw it out to his Fans on Facebook...

"Design me a flier," he said. "And win $60 in Next Door Pizza gift certificates."

Now, my design skills aren't really what I would call... "professional" nor have I gone through any of the "training" or "education" needed to "be a graphic artist"... but I'll do just about anything for free pizza.

Like I said, it's not exactly art... and from what the Facebook folks were saying there were some REALLY serious graphic artists on the case. Still, nothing says good design like a sweet readable font choice.

Huzzah Technicalities!

And Huzzah Next Door Pizza, who I think has some of the best Deep Dish Pizza in KC.

Somedays...

2011-12-01T15:38:00.001-06:00

... I feel like I want to set my hair on fire.

Despite our early week excitement, this whole week, though, as been dragging along. The Temple of Gonzo-KC had a bit of a medical emergency Monday night when The Librarian came down with some kind of stomach flu.

I think she picked it up from her infant niece (I say this only because I know for a fact babies cannot comprehend something as complicated as The Internets, but I could be wrong and might have to brace myself for the wrath of a drooling child upset by internet-tolls).

Anyway, if a man's engagement to a women is to be a time to learn about one another before marriage, I can definitely say my engagement to the Librarian has taught me how to effectively clean up buckets of puke.

For nearly 18 hours - every 15 minutes - she was puking, giving me only about 10 mins to rinse, clean and deodorize the trashcan we were using.

It was brutal.

What I thought was funny though was how many people kept telling me I needed to get her on the BRATs diet when she finally stopped up-chucking.

It sounded like they were nuts, but Banans, Rice, Applesauce and Toast must have been one of those health lessons I missed when I was in Jr. High.

Once we got things back to normal the work week ground to a halt and became insanely more boring.

Maybe it was the weather... maybe it's because tomorrow is payday... maybe it's because I decided to quit injecting caffeine into my eyeballs in the morning (health reasons). Whatever the case, I think this is a sign of things to come as classes end and the semester winds down. I'll have to start taking on some more evergreen projects - not necessarily a bad thing, really.

On the bright side, I found out my Attorney landed himself a cushy Lawyer-like job down in Springfield. Even got himself a high-fallutin' loft downtown... Fancy.

Now that he has ascended into the 1% I guess this means he can get all my drinks when I head south to visit the SOB.

Let's just hope all his lawyer-ing does not mean he has to back out of the wedding. If anything, I am going to need a lawyer more than ever in Vegas.

What am I thankful for?

2011-11-24T22:49:00.001-06:00

One year my cousin put up a Thankful Tree at my Mom's house as part of a Thanksgiving activity. This is what I wrote on my leaf...

Two years later, The Librarian and I finally got to spend an entire Thanksgiving Holiday together. We were up early to make our pies and deserts and pack the cooler with libations for our moveable feast.

And now two Thanksgiving Dinners, two turkeys, one spiral-cut ham, 10 pounds of green beans, and an unknown amount of pretzel-jello later, we are passed out on the couch watching bad television.

This is what I am thankful for.

Viva Las Vegas...

2011-11-22T15:00:00.001-06:00

Pack your best Hawaiian shirt and bring along your fanciest flask. The Librarian and I are headed to Vegas this summer to get hitched...

Wooooooo!

It took us about a week to realize that planning a wedding and reception in Kansas City was going to be like pulling teeth with a weed whacker. We took in a couple of bids from places that we thought would be reasonable. But everything we could fit into our budget was going to involve WAY to much heavy lifting and coordination from our end and was just going to sap any and all fun we were going to have.

After we started to spread the news that Vegas would be the location of our destination wedding, I started hearing from other friends and co-workers who did the same thing. They all kept telling me is was the best decision they made when it came to getting married.

Although I am a little bummed we will not get Elvis or even Barry Mannilo to do the wedding for us, I suspect the resort will have someone of equal stature to officiate Wedding-palooza 2012!

Get pumped! You can find more details about the wedding and such here.

I liked it so much I put a ring on it...

2011-11-13T10:13:00.001-06:00

Raise a glass and get quiet, WednesdayWeekly readers.

A couple of weeks ago we had introduced you to The Librarian as one of the new authors to this dump of a blog. Well, that invitation had an ulterior motive since I knew I would be asking The Librarian to git hitched.

For about a month I have been planning and scheming. With the help of my crazy(,) supportive family and friends I was able to surprise her on the front lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

She had always told me how much she loves the Nelson. It is her Happy Place in KC. So, with the help of my Attorney who was working behind the camera, I popped the question catching her completely off guard.

After the Nelson we had family on tap for drinks and then off to an evening of dinner and music with friends.

With the level of excitement from the engagement, the pressure is on now to bring my A-Game when the wedding rolls around sometime in the coming year.

Let the Kansas City Kite Festival Madness begin!

2011-11-10T08:37:00.002-06:00

We are solid six months away from the 2012 Flights of Fancy Kite Festival, but we are already knee deep in planning and coordination for the April 21 event.

The sixth annual festival got a nice early shot in arm on Wednesday when we were featured in the 2012 Mid America Regional Council Public Safety Communication Calendar...

The calendars will be sent to every 911 call center and public safety communications office in the greater Kansas City area.

The calendar itself lists all of the training sessions and classes MARC offers throughout the year. Still, turn to the month of April and you cannot ignore the amazing kite photos and information about our growing festival.

The MCC-Longview Flights of Fancy kite festival

April 21, 2012

10 a.m. - 5 p.m.5

500 SW Longview Road.

Safety first

2011-11-07T13:00:00.003-06:00

Hudson knew exactly where to be when the OKLAHOMA EARTHQUAKE OF 2011!!!!!!!! struck the heart of Kansas City.

He might seem like the dumb one, but I bet - secretly - he knows more than he lets on...

Kansas City Riverfront

2011-11-01T16:20:00.002-05:00

Despite living in the River Market for several years, I had never actually walked down to the Heritage Riverfront Trail...

On Saturday, before the big Halloween Blowout, The Librarian and I spent the morning wandering around this bizarre park land, which is dotted with neat overlooks and ruined industrial landscape.

From the trail, you can walk right down to the river bank and probably even dip you feet in the water... neither of us had a death wish, so we kept our feet on dry land.

What really caught our eye, though, was the remains of docks and other buildings that were in various states of decay.

This concerte staircase was all that was left of some dock and led from the trail all the way down into the water. I assume is only now used to help when dumping the bodies into the water...

Not a bad trip... I am sure we will get down there again and try to walk further into Berkley Park next time the weather is nice.

Green Monkeys rule the night.

2011-10-31T10:36:00.000-05:00

Nostalgia can do crazy things to people... and so can a lot of cheap booze.

That's why our Legends of the Hidden Temple costumes were a HUGE success as The Librarian and I went wandering into the night this past weekend.

Anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s immediately recognized the game show uniforms and those who did not know the name of the show recognized it as soon as they could muster up the courage to walk over and blurt out "We have been sitting her FOREVER trying to remember the name of THAT show."

Pictures would ensue and people would stumble back into the night giggling and talking about how Legends and GUTS were their favorite Nickelodeon shows as kids.

I don't think The Librarian was used to so many people stopping and asking to take pictures with us. It was kind of surreal.

Still, the night gave one hero in our band of misfit characters the opportunity to announce that, although none of us won the costume contest, it was still the best Halloween (*observed) ever.

Save the Children

2011-10-26T20:44:00.002-05:00

A big question. The biggest. What should my first post on this illustrious blog (I really do mean that) be about?

My love of Castle, Nathan Fillion fans unite!...no

My awesome cats...my Publicist has got that covered

My love of ellipses...texting has rotted my brain (at least it's not like)

My job...the wacky world of librarianship can be very controversial...DING!

Today, I faced the age old dilemma of a public librarian. Or at least a public librarian in a predominantly conservative part of town. The dilemma: what can I promote and display in the Teen section that won't make the hyper-sensitive moms angry?

Now before I get to my opinion, you need a little background. I have 3 brothers who are all at least 6 years older than me. At the age of 12, I was watching and reading things an 18 year old boy finds interesting. I will not elaborate as most of you need no explanation. This input has not, however, made me an over-sexed serial killer. There are no dead bodies in my closet (that I put there). I consider myself a healthy well adjusted individual.

From my background, you can see how overprotective moms can be quite frustrating. Get ready for library power! My job is to provide information not to limit it. Information is never the problem, it's what you do with it. And besides, if these moms really knew what their kids were actually into then they might just start crying. Buffy the Vampire Slayer would be the least of their problems.

Today, I chose the easy way out. I'm not going to do the display. They win this time, but this is only a battle not the war. I will get V for Vendetta in their grubby little hands if it kills me.

I hope this entry suffices as an acceptable beginning. It has actually been quite fun.

Librarian Out

Introducing: The Librarian...

2011-10-26T13:40:00.001-05:00

Since 2004, this blog has been limping along as a pet project that gave me a platform to espouse whatever filth I decided to write about...

Well, that all is changing.

Don't get me wrong, I will still continue to treat this dump like the wasteland of nouns and verbs that it has always been.

Only from now on I will have a partner in crime that will be blogging along side me. I have extended an invitation for The Librarian to join us to share her writing, photos and design work.

The great thing about the Librarian is that she is not only a creative writer, but she also was into professional photography way before dirty hipsters started using the Sepia filter to call their cellphone photos art...

She will lend a woman's touch to this pad and also give you some insight into the world of hard boozing... er, I mean Libraries.

So, put your hands together for our newest contributor, The Librarian...

Water Fire Kansas City

2011-10-23T10:39:00.001-05:00

Brush Creek is set ablaze for Water Fire 2011.

Although it is in its sixth year, this was the first time The Librarian and I had ever been to the arts and music event. Music, arts and more importantly FIRE!

Baskets of fire float on Brush Creek lighting the waterway and providing a great fall feeling as singers, dancer and fire flingers(?) perform along the banks.

The dance group Quixotic kind of stole the show, I thought. We stuck around for two of their three performances and both were kind of wild.

Check out the rest of the photos from myself and The Librarian.

Green Monkeys FOREVER!

2011-10-19T13:28:00.001-05:00

The Halloween Costumes have finally arrived!

Old Mec would be proud.

Now all I need is someone willing to dress up as a Temple Guard who will randomly chase us around while we are out and about that weekend... might be something for Craig's List.

What I do know is that the Blue Barracudas are going down in the first round!

Mmmmmm... barbacoa

2011-10-18T12:37:00.000-05:00

I know... it's an ad for Chipotle.

But holy (free range) cow, it's also Willie Nelson!

Football in a house divided

2011-10-17T12:35:00.003-05:00

Ours, is a house divided.

I went to MU. She went to KU. Somehow, through what I am sure is a policy similar to Mutually Assured Destruction, we make this relationship work like magic.

On Saturday, the Old Roommate got us tickets to go see the KU football game in Lawrence.

I had never been to to a KU football game (a few basketball games), so I was pumped all day to see the Jayhawks in action.

We got out to L-Town early to take in the city and eat/drink at Free State Brewery. Some light tailgating and then GAME TIME (with continued tailgating)!

It was a fairly demure crowd on the non-student side of the stadium. Since it was Oklahoma, I think everyone was just expecting the worst...thank Jebus for a stellar defense. I will tell you, I wanted to see KU win as bad as the folks sitting around me.

Also, you all know my feelings about Oklahoma.

Friends seem to forget my mother indoctrinated me early into the Jayhawk way of life... still, everyone seems weirded out when I not only know the tunes to all the cheer songs, but can also clap along...

Now doesn't that feel collegiate...

Free Parking Downtown

2011-10-16T11:32:00.001-05:00

There is a parking garage downtown, not too far from the Power and Light District, where you can park for free.

It is just a nice little secret where I park whenever I am going to the theater, or grabbing a drink at Flying Saucer.

I don't need validation or a parking pass. I just drive in and tell the attendant the password and he waved me through the gate.

I don't live or work in the building above the garage. I don't even remember who told me about this garage.

Concert at Sprint? Park for free in this garage. Roller Derby at municipal? Park for free in this garage. Convention at Bartle Hall? Park for free again. Even when there are big events, this garage has never had an added charge or more than a handful of other cars.

Even though I live in the River Market and the walk up the hill to the Downtown Loop is really not bad. Still, sometimes, Free Parking is just fun.

Not even Disney wanted to call KC home

2011-10-14T13:18:00.000-05:00

Everyone has quite the idilic view of Walt Disney and his connections with Kansas City.

I have seen his face on murals and in warming Chamber of Commerce Videos that get played when we want to remember the great people who came from KC.

Unfortunately, I get the feeling old Walt did not share the same connection with KC that we thought he did.

One of my favorite blogs, Letters of Note, found this letter from Disney and his brother to the creative animator that would one day create Mickey Mouse. In his letter he begs, pleads and cries for Ub Iwerks to move to Hollywood.

It all seems pretty straight forward until Disney's final zinger at the end... Feel free to click through to LON or I can just spoil the ending for you here.

As he signs off with Ub, Disney adds this little P.S.:

"P.S. I wouldn’t live in K.C. now if you gave me the place — yep — you bet — Hooray for Hollywood — !!"

KC might need a litte ointment for the burn...

Waiting...

2011-10-13T13:54:00.001-05:00

Hudson grows impatient with how long this blog thing is taking...

He grows weary of waiting...

I hear you, fuzz-ball. Some changes are a coming down the pipe

Air Show

2011-08-21T21:30:00.002-05:00

The KC Air Show invaded our quiet neighborhood and rattled the windows as plane after plane buzzed our apartment building just across the river.

On Saturday we had the awful misfortune of witnessing the crash that killed a pilot after he lost control of his plane. On Sunday, though the show's pilots vowed to continue flying and kept to the air for an all-day spectacle.

We watched stunt planes, Russian Migs, Mustang fighters and an A-10 Warthog all buzz the rooftop of the Market Station apartments as we ate dips and drank away the afternoon.

The air show has a special place in my heart since it was the place, as a photographer, that I got this sweet photo when I tagged along with the U.S. Army Golden Knights when they did their arial parachute stunts:

The view was different this year, but amazing with the good people and good drinks.

Ka-Boom!

Two whole years...

2011-08-17T10:54:00.000-05:00

Two years ago I met The Librarian at a house warming party.

I showed up alone and already reeking of cheap Kansas whiskey.

She was forced to go by another friend.

I was shouting at the room about how much I loved the movie District 9.

She also loved the movie, even though her volume was quieter and more polite in mixed company.

Two years later the amount of loud talk and enthusiasm for one another is still as strong as our enthusiasm for a movie about aliens.

Here's to year three and many more after.

The new kitchen

2011-07-26T16:47:00.000-05:00

Hell's Bells, Wednesday Weekly, the move-in was a complete 110-degree success. The blistering sun did not deter us from shlepping our stuff across town in a rented truck and carrying it four stories up to the new apartment.

Everything is just about unpacked — aside from a few dozen paperback novels The Librarian owns.

As the dust settled and the two additional roommates became more accustomed to the new digs, I cooked up the first meal in the place: Spaghetti and homemade meatballs. It was a complete success as I only set the smoke alarm off once...

Of course, this is not our first foray into River Market Living. Only this time the building seems a lot more... quiet. I mean... unsettlingly silent at all hours of the day. I am wondering if that will continue or if that is just one off weekend...

The new neighbors are nice.
The new commute is a breeze.
The new view is pretty cool.

Sticking around for another year...

2011-07-20T16:30:00.000-05:00

It seems the price for being a world-famous blogger is about $10 a year. At least that is what Google demanded from me this past week when the registration for this dump was about to expire....

I figure I'll pass the cost on to my readers... which really just means my Mom now owes me $10.

Since I had to re-up my membership fees to the Google Overlords, I figured I better post something — anything — to sate your insufferable appetite for things from the WW... and to prove that, no, I have not died yet...

So, on to the good news!

The Temple of Gonzo-KC will be moving its offices back to the River Market this weekend as the Librarian and I join forces in our ongoing missions to bring peace to nations and ending world hunger... or something like that... Somehow Whisky is a part of that mission.

The Waldo neighborhood has served myself and our Resident Deep Thought-ologist well this past year, but it is time we move on from this shanty-town and into the regal and luxury to which we have grown accustomed.

Oh, and we will be welcoming a couple of new roommates into the mix: Hudson and Sawyer

That is right, WW.... get ready for some INSANE CAT VIDEOS! Marvel when I transform into EPIC KC CAT PERSON. Indulge in all the cat blogging your skull can handle.

Are you as excited as I am? Probably not, but since when have I cared what any of you think.

Onward and Upward!

Fourth of July

2011-07-05T15:22:00.001-05:00

And so we made it through another successful Fourth of July with all of our fingers and toes still intact...

We ate ridiclous amounts of food, drank terrible beer and blew up little paper chickens and tanks all in the name of Ah-mer-a-kuh.

In Independence, fireworks are still legal and continue to be amazing...

USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

SPARKLERS!

Ka-BOOM!

STL Summer Vacation

2011-07-01T15:50:00.000-05:00

With so much activity going on this summer blogging is about a frequent as a Solar Eclipse.

Work is busy.

Home is busy.

Family is busy.

But we did manage to escape for a weekend in STL with the brothers, moms and girlfriends.

Here is what we did:

THE SCIENCE CENTER!

THE ZOO!

MORE ZOO!

MOAR! ZOO!

Cardinals Game!

It was a whirlwind weekend with an Epic Game of Cranium and thunderstorms that would make Jesus weep with fear.

Does this make me a professional?

2011-06-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

My photography has always been a hobby.

But this week I broke out of my old hobby and landed my feet squarely into the world of office art!

That's right, WWers, photos I snapped... er, excuse me, composed (I am a professional now, damnit!) of the 2010 and 2011 Flights of Fancy kite festival are now proudly hanging in the Community Education office at MCC-Longview.

I was worried the photos, while they look cool on the computer screen, would end up looking like big colorful piles of shit once they were blow up to the landscape proportions we wanted in the office.

"This photo looked really good on the website, why does it now look like roasted roadkill stapled to the wall?!" Yeesh... that would be a mood killer every time someone walked into the office.

You can find the online versions of these photos here, here and here.

And let's not even talk about my abysmal abilities when it comes to Photoshop to fix or alter some of these photos. The most I ever learned from that program was how to make the photo black and white and how to lighten it enough to run newspaper photos on a printer that was as old as dirt.

So swing by the MCC-Longview Community Education office and say 'Hi' as you meander through the new photo exhibit. I am planning, at a later date, an artist appreciation reception with boxed wine and Kraft Singles Cheese...

...I mean, I might be a professional now, but it does not mean I have to give up the finer things in life.

"Tacos are the most versatile fruit..."

2011-06-10T14:20:00.000-05:00

Yup...I think I might be best friends with this video.

If you are not watching My Drunk Kitchen, then you are missing out on... well, essentially what I do every night...

Things to watch for at the next Wednesday Weekly get together? Jargaritias...

Higher Learnin'

2011-06-08T12:51:00.000-05:00

Dust off you mortarboards and sharpen those pencils, The Wednesday Weekly is officially going back to school... again...

That's right, rubes, my official acceptance papers were dropped off via a dive-bombing carrier pigeon yesterday announcing that I was accepted to Park University's Masters Program.

Hopefully in two years I will emerge a full-blown Master of Public Administration with an emphasis on Not-for-profits and Community Service.

I know what you are thinking, I'm just doing it for the money. And you would be right.

As part of the admissions process, of course, I could not entirely hide my abysmal undergraduate performance at Ye Old Missouri University so the Deans and Doctors at Park agreed to take me on with a few conditions... I am really hoping one of these conditions involves helping a professor move into a new house. Heavy lifting worked wonders for my grades in the past.

The Librarian will also be taking classes with me as she goes for the gold and completes her second Masters degree. Hopefully she will keep me on point and won't let me get too far behind in my studies.

With a Masters program now on my plate, this means I will probably have to put my Graphic Design classes on hold for a while. Which is kind of sad, considering I was having so much fun with them.

On the plus side, I am now officially a Pirate.

There is only a handful of people still around that will enjoy the fact that after having a pirate name for nine years, I am now becoming a real Pirate.

KC In LEGO

2011-06-02T13:45:00.002-05:00

Per my contact with The Wednesday Weekly, I am legally obligated to share all things LEGO from The Interwebs.

But even if I were not required by penalty of death and dismemberment to share this, I think this is pretty badass and would have shared it with you nerds anyway...

Presenting LEGO KC from the Kansas City Star...

The Kansas City Star is falling back on the age-old principal that user generated content is always the best read. It's the same reason The Editorial Page is the most read section of the paper.

BUT back to LEGO.

Although each of them are awesome - except for the ones obviously made by children (seriously, kids, step up you game here) - I have to say the Microsets are the coolest...

AWESOME Sauce, boss.

I might have to dig around my Mom's basement to see if I can dig up my LEGO collection and see if I can't recreate sections of my neighborhood... hookers and all.

Gottcha

2011-06-01T15:39:00.000-05:00

The description of this over on YouTube is that it is from the Doctor Who Confidential after Episode Six. Well, there you have it...

The Shave

2011-05-31T10:25:00.000-05:00

Spent Memorial Day as any good American should... at the grilling by the pool.

While bobbing around in the pool The Girlfriend, Roommate and I got into a heated discussion about shaving and barber shops... I honestly cannot even remember how we started into it, but it led my Roommate and I to start praising the kinds of barbershops that still use straight razors and will trim beards or offer a full shave.

There was this shop in Northeast that used to do cut hair and trim beads (straight razor-style) for a whole 10-bucks. Since then it has closed. There is one still in River Market (I think).

Kansas City has no shortage of barbershops and hair salons. But of the 10 pages of shops that come up on Google Maps, only about two or three (if they are still in business) will do it.

After using a straight razor you did not need to shave for a week, my roommate declared.

Anyway, I saw this today and figured since straight razors were in the zeitgeist, I should share it with you rubes.

BSS | Straight Razor from Bruton Stroube Studios on Vimeo.

Competitive BBQ with a heart in Joplin

2011-05-27T16:38:00.000-05:00

I have always had an interesting experience when trying to convince my boss how social media and online marketing can work for the college here.

Social media is a very nimble and quick moving animal when the college itself acts more like a 10-ton tanker ship. Trying to convince anyone how we should change is ... well, like trying to turn the Titanic.

We have been over case studies and data and examples, but I think I what I was missing was a real world example that she could experience and relate too...

Her son this week was able to break through to her when he organized the Operation BBQ Relief in Joplin. Her son is from Pleasant Hill but travels the country competing (and winning) in big BBQ competitions.

The day after the tornado destroyed much of Joplin, he was already on Facebook activating his network of friends and fellow competitive cookers asking them to donate food, time, anything to help feed the residents and emergency workers in southwest Missouri.

In less than 24 hours (by Tuesday) he had hundreds of BBQers from Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma all headed to Joplin to start smoking meats and feeding people. Sams Club donated 2,000 lbs. of pork while OK Farms donated a truckload of chicken. All of it was headed to their smokers and to the people who needed it most all becasue he got a wild idea and looked to do something about it.

Her son's success on the ground helped recruit more help as he not only was able to coordinate people coming into Joplin, but could also easily export news and supply needs to people who were all over the country.

On Tuesday her son reported feeding 1,200 people... by Friday they had more than 6,000 people come through the lunch lines just that day. The need, he said, is still there and he continues to organize help and donations through the Facebook page.

I am not able to gives his work the credit it deserves.... I am probably an ass for looking at what he is doing from the perspective of what I do professionally. So, it is important to point out how selfless my boss's son and his family has been as they helped organize this amazing effort to help feed the folks in Joplin.

If you are interested in helping out or know of someone who does, hop over to their Facebook page and let them know. This is too important to let it pass by.

"There is a tornado on the lake!"

2011-05-25T14:08:00.000-05:00

So as everyone on campus was waiting in the FEMA shelter/Cultural Arts Center someone burst into the main hallway to announce that a tornado appeared over the Lake... you know, the one right next to the college...

While I am highly doubtful that an actual tornado touched the banks of Longview Lake, the police and administration were taking zero chances.

And so that is how I spent two hours in our emergency shelter playing Scrabble and waiting for the official tornado warning to go away.

Battlestar TARDIS

2011-05-24T13:36:00.000-05:00

At this point I am pretty sure my family, friends, girlfriend and co-workers love me for all the Doctor Who and Battle Star Galactica things I talk about...

But if I post a mashup of both? They will love me even MORE!

[via (Jeff)isageek.net]

Storm Chasing

2011-05-23T13:48:00.000-05:00

My roommate and I in college used to chase storms that would come tearing across Mid-Missouri. We would hop into a Honda Civic with nothing more than a police scanner and a camera because, well, that seemed like the sanest thing to do during a tornado.

We had all our tall tales from the road ... we were tilting at windmills and taunting giants, but after seeing the photos of destruction coming from southern Missouri and elsewhere, I am honesty glad - despite all our chasing - we never actually caught up to any of those terrible storms.

I saw this in a dream...

2011-05-19T11:30:00.000-05:00

I am not kidding... I saw this in a dream one time and for WEEKS thought to myself... why exactly would Dart Vader be playing a trombone to salsa music at a retirement home?

Carve out 4:30 minutes of your day because you will not want to look away...

Thank you, Geekologie

Angry Birds

2011-05-18T16:47:00.001-05:00

Wanna watch the designers from Rovio design a level for Angry Birds... then check it n00bs...

What's neat about this video is not only getting to watch The Swedish Chef create a level, but also getting to hear the Rovio CEO talk about how the company wanted to keep the "story line" vague and non-specific going so far as to not even name the birds.

He wanted players to make the game their own. Take it and share it and apply their own experiences and ideas as they shared it with other people.

Hell, I will admit I named the birds and then also continue to play the game for several hours a day. It's not just because it is an addicting game it is because it is an easily addicting game that leaves itself open with little to no resolution... until the next level.

It would be a great lesson if I could, for the life of me, figure out how to use it around my office. Since we don't sell a product, per se, rather we sell an experience on campus and through classes that are well defined and regulated by state and national rules...well, there is not a whole lot of ambiguity to play with there.

However, I think I have an idea for something we can use during Friday's graduation that plays on the "My experience..." theme...

Let's see if I can pull it off.

photos, photos, photos...

2011-05-17T15:57:00.001-05:00

I quit taking photos a few months ago and I am not really sure why...

Maybe something deep inside of me realized that you cannot fully live life through the eyehole of a camera all the time...

But that sounds like a bunch of hippie bullshit.

I actually chalk it up to just being too damned laze to charge and take my camera with me places anymore. Maybe part of the reason the blog died earlier this year was because I quit taking photos and video of the insane decisions make and places I go.

Maybe it is because I don't make as many insane decisions and go to as many crazy places as I used to...

Well, it's time we get back on it. Damned the torpedos and fire off a few snap shots of the pets.

P.S. Brother, be on notice: I applied to my masters program and I will (hopefully) be clawing and thrashing my way through a Master's in Public Affairs... Let's just hope the keggers in Graduate School are as epic as the ones in undergrad...

Getting through finals week

2011-05-09T17:21:00.000-05:00

Here we go Dub-Dubbers - it's almost finals week here at Ye Old Junior College.

Today for show and tell I present to you my final project for my graphic design class. We were asked to design and build a CD prototype. The band we created the CD for could be made up or real...

So, I figured what better way to prove my creepy stalker credentials than to once again call on Tater and the Gravy Train and use them them in my final project.

The photography is all from my Flickr Account from over the years and hopefully makes some kind sense in the grand scheme of the overall CD project... my influence? Travel and Booze.

For the inside CD Jacket I decided to build an 8-panel poster that would fold up like a 4-square napkin into the CD front cover.

This would be your front cover:

Then the front jacket would open up to a two-page spread with the lyrics:

The jacket would then open up to a four-panel poster on the inside:

Now, before you get your chaps in a twist I know that is not Tater nor any member of the Gravy Train gracing this poster. It's actually Nick Schnebelen from Trampled Under Foot. I shot one of their shows at Kansas City Kansas Community College about a year or so ago for another project.

I kid you not, out of about 1000 band photos I have taken over the years, I have zero of Tater and the Gravy Train.

The only other action-ish photo I considered for this poster was one I had of Michael Buble, but that just seemed insulting.

Moral of the story... well, I don't think there is one, to be honest... let's keep moving...

While I was really happy with the poster, I think I was more pleased with the inside of the CD Tray - this is the image you would see when you pull the CD out of the case:

And the back cover - the side would fold up to fill that l/2 inch gap on the side of the CD case:

There is that logo again. Huzzah!

I was rather pleased with this project considering we had only two class periods to put essentially eight different design components together. You can see everything and how it came together over here.

I have submitted this for your approval (and a grade).

On to design 102!

Photos: Can be seen here.

Font: Showguide

Text: Tater and the Gravy Train

Summer Theater - Student Work

2011-05-03T17:13:00.001-05:00

Check it, rubes... We have some insanely talented students in our MCC-Longview Graphic Design program.

To promote and advertise the new Summer Theater Workshop on campus here the marketing dept teamed up with a couple of students to put together an awesome campaign that finally breaks out of the mindset that Marketing = Posters on Campus.

Granted, the students DID create posters for campus (pretty badass posters, IMHO) but they also sat down with the our guest theater director (yes, I refuse to spell it theatre) for an entire day interviewing him about what he would like to see happen in this new theater workshop.

Watch it and be amazed at people a decade+ younger than me being 50 times more creative.

We are using the videos and the color scheme to set up a whole campaign to roll out the advertising for the class this week. In the coming weeks we will have a few more video spots with Ryan talking about the theater and a whole mess of other things.

I had nothing to do with the creative end of this project.... I just oversaw the thing to make sure they did not break the law or secretly flash pornography on the screen, which actually might have been a good selling point...now that I think about it.

When you can't say it in person...

2011-04-29T16:58:00.001-05:00

...say it with the Internet.

(Cross-apply my argument to the DisAd, Solvency and everything that happened Friday)

The cat lady.

2011-04-26T18:50:00.000-05:00

Missed Connection

You: Cat Lady, with oversized military-green jacket and matted hair purchasing cat litter.

Me: confused man standing in the cat box aisle comparing the differences between one mechanical auto-scooping cat box to another mechanical auto-scooping cat box with saratoga wagon cover.

I made first conversation - That might have been my downfall.

"Excuse me, have you used one of these? Do you know which one is better...?"

You whipped around on your heels. Your eyes turned black and the parakeets on aisle 5 went deadly silent as they seemed to already know my fate.

"O.M.G, Yes! My babies love it they really do. Before I got one they would come up to me and say 'Mom, what is the deal with the dirty litter box?!' but now they are happy and we enjoy it together a lot..."

I was already confused when you referred to them as your children... but then something exploded in my brain when you said all of you enjoy the cat box together...

But it did not stop there. No, you then pantomimed - in the middle of the aisle - how your cats reacted the first time you brought the new box home and set it up for them. There was jumping and impressions and what looked like character acting.

I thought Allen Funt might suddenly jump from behind the fishtanks and shout "You're on Candid Camera!"

Alas, he did not. And I was forced to watch the three-act street performance before me in stunned amazement.

To you, dear Cat Lady, and your dedication. Both my girlfriend and I were sufficiently informed and terrified about our purchase.

Rock the Block

2011-04-22T15:40:00.000-05:00

Hells bells, Dub-Dub-ers, it's finally Friday and we are ready to party it up for Passover... er, I think that is what we do anyway.

All I know is that I am in charge of the jello salad and Manischewitz. P-A-R-T-Why? Because nothing says family get-togethers like Jell-o and New Jersey booze.

Anyway, before I completely offend every member of my girlfriend's family I better get to my latest and greatest graphic design adventure...

Today we feature the the T-shirt project. We were asked to design a t-shirt that represented us, the student. Since I figured my teacher would not be too amused with profanity and ethnic slurs, I instead went with something a little more subdued.

Rock the Block! Hey, there's that skyline again!

Actually, I drew the skyline originally for this project - since we did this back in February. The only stolen piece of art was the cassette tape rising over the city like the God of Fire - bow down to its hipster kitch and obsolete piece of technology. I suppose a record would have made more sense, but when I tried that it ended up looking like a big black target on your chest.

I was trying to create a "concert" t-shirt for a mythical event that would be kind of cool to see in Kansas City. It was modled off the the old dorm concerts where the RAs would ask for people in each dorm to play at a concert for your fellow dorm-residents.

There was free food, you learned who was "in a band" and everyone had a good time. This project assumed someone in KC would give this kind of event a whirl.

From the old days at The Paragraph Factories, I know some neighborhoods already do block parties like this, but hey... they never had this kick ass t-shirt advertising.

Midterm narcissism

2011-04-20T11:37:00.002-05:00

If blogging is the zenith in narcissistic behavior then I feel I may have just breached the final frontier of self-serving indulgence...

That's right, I turned a midterm class assignment into an experiment of how much Me can everyone take.

I already talk too much in class. I am THAT alternative student who answers all the hypothetical questions posed by the teacher and will interject with my own internal monologue when nobody asked.

Take that night class!

For this assignment we were asked to create a logo, letterhead, business card, etc for either an existing or fake business.

I chose to gussy up this Dumpster a bit and use it as my "fake" business for the assignment. Saying I gussied up the Wednesday Weekly, is like saying I cleaned the bathrooms with a power-washer and a gallon of chlorine (which I have seen my roommate do once before... the place smelled like a Holiday Inn for three weeks).

The logo treatment is nothing too terribly new... You all have see it before.

Oh, that's right... the fake part about this assignment was that I turned my blog into an Advertising Firm. Why not?

I am a little more excited about the letterhead, though...

BAM! Hand-Drawn Skyline! Take that hand-written letters!

Heck yeah, At WW we don't skimp on business cards... that shit is double-sided and probably glossy... maybe even implanted with a GPS tracking chip because I am a paranoid nut job.

Business Envelope! This is kind of hilarious because who sends mail any more?

And so that was midterms... up next, designing a business brochure for an HR company that specializes in ZZZZzzzzzzzzz.....

F--K YEAH, KITES!

2011-04-18T11:50:00.001-05:00

That is how I started my morning at 5 a.m. on Saturday. I figured waking up at that hour to begin my official coordinating duties at the kite festival required a small bit of profanity shouted at Max Power.

If I had a bottle of whiskey next to my bed, like I did in grade school, I am certain I would have done a shot to get the day going.

My morning ritual of shouting swear words at the day is why I am thankfull my roommate had removed his hearing devices before heading to bed. The girlfriend, on the other hand, has full hearing and was fully displeased with my excited utterance about the day's activities.

Well nutz to you then. On to the Kites!

Even with all the aggravation of setup, the chilling wind and clouds, and the nagging feeling it could rain again at any second, the festival turned out to be bigger than last year's.

Right at 11 a.m. the clouds cleared the temps shot up and the masses started to arrive. According to the car counters we had the the two entrances, we clocked about 15,000 people (AAA says that for every car we can multiply by 3.4 to get a rough estimate of attendance - we went with a straight 3 multipier).

The crowds were great, the vendors and sponsors were happy and I think our boss was pleased with the whole day.

I know I was.

We have even got some great photos from fellow bloggers out there:

MCC-Longview Flickr

The Schultz Party

Hip Suburban White Guy

Tohams aerial photography

With the number of people I saw out here with cameras, I would not be surprised to see a few more photo galleries appear in the next week or so.

Flights of Fancy 2012 is already underway. Mark your calendars: April 21, 2012 @ MCC-Longview.

When using a prop, make sure you know how to use it...

2011-04-14T17:19:00.000-05:00

"Well shit."

That is what was going through my mind as soon as Weather-dude Brett Anthony asked me how to fly the infernal kite I was holding. It was SUPPOSED to be a prop. A visual aid to let you know that this segment was brought to you by A Kite!

First question out of the gate and I was beaming with pride because I knew the name of the thing and its kite designation... I could even break out its scientific name (Lotious Boxus).

But did I get a briefing on how to fly the actual thing? (Even worse, had I ever actually flown this thing?)

Nay sir... nay... Why, you ask? Because I am a professional and flying by the seat of my pants is what I do best.

The whole thing almsot went up in smoke 5 seconds in, but I think I recovered well and got out what needed to be said about the upcoming Kite Festival.

Check it and all my kite shilling glory.

Aw yeah... there is nothing cooler than midday news banter.

I'm not really a cat person

2011-04-13T12:21:00.000-05:00

I don't like doctors

2011-04-12T21:20:00.000-05:00

I swear if I hear my doctor tell me "you need to lose weight or else..." I am going to strangle him with his stethoscope.

Doc: "Why didn't you come get this checked out sooner?"

Me: "I am not a big fan of doctors."

Doc: "What's wrong with doctors."

Me: "You're kind of like smarmy PR guys in white lab coats."

Doc: "Ah, and so what exactly do you do?"

Me: "I'm in public relations."

Doc: "And an asshole."

It reminds me of an asterisk

2011-04-11T15:58:00.000-05:00

Kick back, kiddos, it's time for show-and-tell from art class.

The first project we did in my Art 102 - Conquering Your Fear of Shapes class was to recreate a portrait of a famous person using only the letters, numbers and punctuation you find on the keyboard.

We could pick any famous person. We could pick any font. We could use however many letters and numbers to create the assignment.

Challenge accepted.

I went with Vonnegut mainly because if I royally screwed the pooch on this project, no one would really be about to call me out on it to harshly. Also, it allowed me to once again be a snobbish prick to the people around me...

"What do you mean you don't know who this is?! Get out of my sight, philistine!"

Anyway... here is the finished product... hopefully I did not completely make him look like an asterisk

He looks a little too grandmother-y in my opinion. But then again, when you have that many open- and closed-parentheses for your hair, you might also look like an old lady.

Shameless

2011-04-08T16:41:00.001-05:00

If ever I was to be given a middle name, it would have been Mike "The Shameless Event Plug" Ekey. The festival is in one week and nothing brings out the crazy in an office like a 15,000-person single-day event.

Watch for me this week as I will be visiting KSHB and KMBC to shill... er... talk politely and professionally about the Kite Festival.

If you don't show up next weekend, you are dead to me.

I'm back

2011-04-07T17:52:00.001-05:00

Strike up the band break out the good Whiskey, I have returned from the Internet void. Two whole freaking months have gone by since we last chatted and I laid down some Midwest Wisdom on your skulls.

Yes, I know; far too many bloggers in the world start off their posts with "Golly G, friends, it has been a while... (winky face)" Well, fuck that. I had shit to do and personal things to work out when it came to this blog.

You see, we have blogging in this little trash heap since 2004 - back when blogging was still sort of new and journalists thought the Interweb was their mortal enemy. I hated most the journalists I worked with at the time so it seemed natural that I would pick it up and start dumping my particular style of drunken ramblings and whining here.

I was going to be the next Hunter S. Thompson... banging out screeds against the government and The Man. "Screw you and you little dog, too!"

But that was mostly a failure since attempting to maintain that style of intense writing and and anger toward even the most vile of Nixon sympathizer is taxing on the soul. That and you grow up - sort of.

Now, my merry band of readers, I find myself in the strange position of working in The Marketing Department. "Polish up that Turd and fax it over the daily newspaper! We have to sell these microwave ovens!"

Of course, by Microwave Ovens, I mean Higher Education and by Polished Turds I mean the many non-stop waves of new things we are doing here at Metropolitan Community College.

Don't get me wrong, not everyday on campus is like rolling into a pile of rainbow-farting puppies. It has its ups and downs, but 99 percent of the time I am working with a great group of people who really care about doing something cool for higher education in this region.

And that, you see, is where my dilemma enters from stage left.

I have been a big advocate of blogging and using the Internet here on campus. In some cases I have even used this blog as an example of how to do it. But that means I have to tell colleagues and administrators that I, in fact, own this garbage. It also means, that many of them started reading through some of this garbage.

As you all know, I've used this trash can as pretty much an open journal since 2004. When Deans and and Vice Chancellors started making comments here, I knew the jig was up.

No one got mad or offended. If anything, everyone was supportive and encouraging (except for Mom who thinks I need to tone down the swearing, damnit!). But I worried. I did not want to run wild like an animal defecating on all the goodwill I had built up or find myself on the wrong end of a Hostile Workplace lawsuit all in the name of good humor.

So, we tapered off and then eventually stopped blogging all together. Two moths went by - an eternity in web time. I started taking a graphic design class instead to bone up (heh) on a few new skills. The class, though, served as good catalyst for getting me back here ultimately.

With a bit of a redesign (to coincide with a class project) I think I might be happier with this look and the new mission of the blog that I was ever before.

Now keep your dress on, team, this is not going to become some cluster of a marketing or public relations blog. Nor is it going to become a pulpit for higher education or the liberal socialist agenda I am subliminally pushing through my work...

No, I still have no flipping clue what this blog will be about, I just know it was time to get back at the helm and steer it right toward our next big disaster just beyond the horizon.

Onward, captain! Until the break of dawn.

Wait for the credits...

2011-01-25T15:04:00.000-06:00

Cheap and shameless self-promotion. You know you want to share it too...but seriously, check out the production credits at the end. I did not even tell them to do that... I am JUST. THAT. AWESOME.

A joke...

2011-01-21T10:33:00.001-06:00

So, U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia), Katy Perry and Mark Zuckerberg all walk into a bar...

Wait, what the fishpurse?!

Original from Facebook itself.

(Side note: This photo is from a whole gallery put out by Facebook when Katy Perry stopped by their offices in California - still does not explain Warner ... from looking at all the photos I have come to the conclusion that Facebook nerd are super short... only one other person - aside from Warner - was taller than Perry and it was a chef in the cafeteria...).

Here is the full story from Mediate

Snowed in

2011-01-20T17:06:00.003-06:00

Sweet jebus it SNOWED! Call it Snowmageddon... snowpocalypse... a snowgasm or just snOMG it is still a pain in my ass...

But, it makes for good video makin' and when campus closes due to the weather it leaves me with a lot of time to do things... like upload half a dozen videos to YouTube.

See, I finally get around to even posting the videos from the family Christmas party. Like the video of the KU engineering professor facing off the with Zumba instructor as they attempt to jingle their bells in a minute-to-win it style compeition.

Or maybe you are more interested in a video that is more than a year old from the last Mavericks hockey game I went to:

It was a good productive day, but I still have not even gotten to the videos from my Vegas trip or even the videos I took of Max from this past summer...

Christ, I suppose I'll just let them continue to wallow on my harddrive until it crashes or until the next snow day, which is probably going to be Monday or Tuesday..

The zenith in my PR career

2011-01-18T09:05:00.000-06:00

And it is all down hill from here.

A new LEGO convert.

2011-01-14T13:16:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine at work just discovered the magic of Lego...

Yes, JUST. DISCOVERED. LEGO.

When she finally told me I knew it was going to be a thrilling experience to talk Lego seriously with another fan ... well, let me rephrase... It was going to be thrilling to talk Lego seriously with another fan who is over the age of 5.

To make up for her lost time with Lego bricks she has been taking photos of her two new sets and even produced/directed/wrote a high-drama film staring Lego Man 1 and Lego Man 2.

This clip is a Lego buddy road-trip movie where two Lego friends search for coffee. But what they discover in the end really lies within their Lego hearts.

With a new adult fan running around at work, I am going to have to revisit my old policy of not letting girls play with my own Lego sets, but that is a policy that has not been seriously enforced since 1989.

OMG Snow!!!!11!!!11!!#$

2011-01-12T11:29:00.000-06:00

It makes everything in my neighborhood look a little less dead and lifeless.

It also reminds me that my house is as drafty as a knit tent in Siberia...

Hell yeah VEGAS...

2011-01-11T14:43:00.003-06:00

The photos have been posted... the memories recounted... the tears have been wiped away as I remember the good times in Las Vegas with The Librarian.

The whole trip was a damned hoot and I am already saving up to head back... and then promptly lose it all on Pat Sajack's evil excuse for a game called Wheel of Fortune.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Sure, it is no double rainbow... but ... you know what? "Ooooooohhhhh Yeeeeeah! What does it all mean?!" It means I am about to lose several hundred dollars by putting all my money on Black... Gah such a terrible bet!

Hell, yeah we are awesome. You don't have to tell me twice.

Check out the rest of the gallery over on the Flickrs.

Happy New Year, you miserable bastards.

2011-01-03T13:02:00.000-06:00

And so that just happened...

Well, it looks like you bastards finally got me back. For weeks I had been snapping photos of people sleeping in the car as we jaunted from one Missouri Valley location to another. The one above showed up as we were headed to BloNo this past week... it was a hard night apparently.

But I would assume the unwashed masses that read this perverted filth would understand that a man needs his unbridled, dead-weight sleep from time to time...

Also, kids, remember to buckle up when riding in a car. You never know when it will prevent you from sliding down onto the floor of the car while asleep.

And knowing is half the battle.

.
.
.

Still here, eh? I guess you want to know more about New Year's Eve and how our Cup of Silly runneth over into the streets... I bet you are all also waiting for those elusive photos from Vegas... well, stop bitching and wait longer.

I can tell you right now that The Librarian and I spent much of our time in Vegas eating healthy, drinking lots of water and studying the bible like all the other tourists in town...

Yeah. That's how it happened.

And that was Vegas...

2010-12-20T16:36:00.001-06:00

Like a hazy fever dream, there are things that make no sense when we think back to them. Photos and foggy memories from endless buffets and Vanna White haunt us.

Maybe that is just the residual effect from the city. Maybe there is actually a rift in the space time continuum that causes this sideways alteration of the human mind...

Or maybe there was just the right amount of alcohol and excessive celebration to facilitate a successful weekend with my Official Librarian.

I suppose I should let Carl Ferris and the Freedom Dancers explain my weekend in Vegas.

More photos and video coming tomorrow...

Fever dreaming

2010-12-10T09:34:00.000-06:00

There is no way to explain what the hell is going on in my mind as it slowly cooks itself in my skull. Flashes of images and voices is like some kind of terrible drug flashback that grounds me only when it's over and I have to question: "Did that dog really just talk to me?"

The random firings of my brain are a strange place to dwell, so enjoy:

Fever dream The First: My family and I decide to go to a basketball game, but for some reason we are wearing all of our Redbird gear. Fan recognize it and begin jeering and booing.

Fever Dream The Second: I am standing in front of several of my old college professors, editors and girlfriends. They are going over paperwork and reviewing how my life has turned out this far. They realize I am now working for another college and that displeases them. After some questions about career decisions and personal trivia they decide to revoke my college experience and tell me I am not allowed to claim I went to school there.

Fever Dream The Second and a 1/2: I run out of the Journalism building and I am standing in the middle of a street. A black sedan with tinted windows pulls up next to me and the drive tells me to get in. I slide into the back seat and Max is sitting there... and then he begins to speak. But not some wailing bark... no, he speaks with the voice of Cameron Diaz.

We talk for a while. It was nice. Then he says he has to go and tells me to get out.

Fever Dream The Third: My boss decides she wants me to take photos at a new sporting event in Boston. We go there and I run into all the other PR people from my college. Because of the trip, I am perpetually one minute behind everyone so I miss the press conferences and the start of the game and crowd sing along.

Fever Dream The Third and a 1/2: The game starts with a Donkey kicking off what looks like a football. But everyone starts booing because the elk on the receiving team fumbled the ball and the donkey recovered it in his mouth.

Fever Dream The Fourth: I am back at my Mom's house playing the piano, which has been moved upstairs from the basement. As I am playing, my brother and his girlfriend are arguing on the couch behind me about something. FInally he stands up and says he wants to break up with her. They seem to struggle, but eventually he pushes her down and she sinks into the couch eventually disappearing into the cushions and even further below.

I head upstairs to my room when I discover someone has smeared the everything in the room with their own shit. Every wall, corner of the floor and piece of furniture is covered. Geoff walks in and starts screaming.

His scream wakes me up around 4:15 a.m.

Rather than go back to sleep , I decide to check e-mail and find out how early the Urgent Care doctor is open.

YouTubin' it

2010-12-08T08:48:00.000-06:00

Super lazy post today. Since writing for work non-stop has absorbed most of my creative brain power, you get a piece I did for work... because, honestly, do any of us really care?

Not even the freezing temperatures could keep Sean Beaver, president of the KC Kite Club from flying his kites over the open lawn at MCC-Longview this past weekend.

A part of the KC Kite Club's winter business meeting, some of the members decided to brave the 32-degree winds and fly a few kites. Among the kite club members, there were about a dozen kite (some small, some as large as a basketball court) flying above Longview.

The KC Kite Club provides some of the most amazing mega kites that fill the sky during the MCC-Longview Flights of Fancy kite festival.

Don't miss the Flights of Fancy kite festival on April 16, 2011

Advent Calendars of awesome

2010-12-02T12:37:00.000-06:00

Angry Bird advent calendar vs. Lego City advent calendar; GO!

Really, with gifts like these, you can go ahead and just cancel X-mas.

Headed to BloNo, Illinois

2010-11-25T16:07:00.002-06:00

Grab a turkey leg and get ready for some freakin' basketball.

Angry Bird Day!

2010-11-24T10:58:00.000-06:00

Because nothing says cool like meeting up with strangers to talk about video games and drink.

That is why I am pleased to announce Kansas City's participation in ANGRY BIRD DAY on Dec. 11.

You can use your Facebook account to log in and RSVP. So far the plans are pretty much to just meet up and ... well, drink and talk Angry Bird.

I am open to suggestions and if anyone of you bastards want to move this location, let me know.

Maybe we can spend that afternoon talking over a bit of a strategy... for, you know, knocking over bricks and destroying pigs.

Ka-KAW!

2010-11-24T08:48:00.001-06:00

I have never watched an episode of James Fallon - ever. This, however, was what I needed this week... Some Neil Young (sort of) and The Boss (weird...) letting it lose for the kids over on NBC.

"Don't let the haters keep me off my grind."

And so we move on to our next adventure...

Goodbye.

2010-11-22T22:37:00.001-06:00

The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things...The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant.

- The Doctor

Headed to Arkansas

2010-11-20T08:54:00.000-06:00

Headed to Little Rock, Arkansas, for some good old fashion Baskets Ball by Illinois State.

Wanted to post this photo of something I ran across on the Illinois State Team Shop... you know, if anyone is doing early X-mas shopping for me... Just, you know, throwing that out there.

The silent game

2010-11-19T15:29:00.001-06:00

I have a pretty good track record of being the least quoted PR person ever. It's not that I am hiding from reporters in a cocoon of silence under my desk. No, that is just for mid-afternoon naps.

Really, I just prefer to connect reporters with a faculty person, student or administrator. Not to sound trite (too late) but that just makes for better stories. It always did for me, anyway...

So I was a little surprised when a reporter called me Friday afternoon INSISTING to talk to me.

"Let me get you connected with the dean or president to answer these questions..." I said.

"No, I would prefer an answer from you today..." he said.

Ok, I'll bite.

"Well, why was [policy X] not a part of the campus PRPs earlier..."

"There was no need for it before [situation Y]" I said... and then silence.

There was tactic they taught us back in the old newspaper 101 days where the reporter was supposed to ask a question and then remain silent for long periods of time. The hope was the person being interviewed would get so uncomfortable by the silence over the phone that they would being spouting out confessions and quotes and secrets that implicated them in the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby... or some other terrible travesty against humanity.

Don't get me wrong, the silent treatment works. I've used it many times (even in person) and found sources will give up just about anything if I stay silent long enough...

The reporter fired off his second question - a yes or no question. And then we sat in silence. That's when I saw what was going to happen.

My cell phone was sitting next to me on the desk so I pushed on the clock app and started timing the silence.

How long would this go on? How long could I keep the phone at my ear before one of us... either of us... said ANYTHING.

It was brutal. Was he thinking? I checked what song I was missing on Pandora since I did not have the foresight to push pause quick enough.

Was he organizing his thoughts?

Was he going to hit me with something big? Did he have some compromising photos of me he was trying to arrange before describing them over the phone?

My gawd what is happening?!! Just ask something!

2 minutes, 47 seconds and 14 tenths of pure unadulterated silence later I blinked.

"Well, guess I better hit the old dusty trails..."

Almost three minutes... and then I caved.

Maybe next time.

Wednesday...

2010-11-17T16:18:00.003-06:00

It's cold, rainy and miserable...

But it is also Wednesday, which means Tater and The Gravy Train at Harry's...and Redbirds on the TV

Tater and The Gravy Train from Mike Ekey on Vimeo.

You're Welcome, internet.

Ekey 2: Pig in the City

2010-11-16T12:27:00.001-06:00

Much like myself, the second installment in the Ekey Sibling Epic Novel enjoys an educational challenge.

Back around 2002 I started my degree in journalism. Keeping with the theme of exploring booming industries, I also minored in saddle making and typewriter maintenance.

Keeping that same spirit alive, Brother The Deux decided to spend five years getting a degree in architecture dreaming to one day lead an elderly tour group around KC accurately naming all of the building undulations and columns.

This week, though, Ekey 2.0 was picked out of several hundred architecture students to help design and build a green roof structure on top of one of the buildings there at K-State. The goal, it sounds like, is to create a garden-like undulation on top of one of the buildings to help reduce water runoff and other environmental things.

In all honesty, though, since it is a bunch of college kids building this rooftop garden, I assume it is just a ruse to build a big pot farm right in the middle of campus... or worse, some kind of hippie all-natural tomato planter... blech...

It's tough being the middle child... it's going to be even tougher now that he is a hippie...

Blocked

2010-11-15T14:23:00.001-06:00

It has been a tough Monday.

We started with some light press materials, a fun e-mail exchange and even a negotiation for sponsorships for the Kite Festival in the spring...

But right now I am having the freaking hardest time putting nouns and verbs in an order that is pleasing to me about a student who would take a bullet for the scholarship foundation that sent him to school here.

Good kid. Great story, but the damned words will not get in line. So, instead, I check Redbird Fourm... then Google Reader... then The Walking Dead forums... then ESPN U... then back to the story...

I wrote down a quote and then re-typed it. Still, nothing good.

Back to the forums... back to ESPN U...

Still nothing.

Christ - what I need now is a shot of wordy fiber to the old system...

Rocking the Nelson

2010-11-14T18:58:00.000-06:00

A day at the Nelson.

Huzzah Fall! the Gallery was great, but I am a bit more enthralled with the fall colors outside.

One cool exhibit was the Forever Cups in the Bloch Building. The artist created 1,300 cups that she is giving away to random people with one stipulation: that you keep the cup FOREVER... FOR-EV-ER!

You have to fill out a deed, make a promise, slaughter a goat in a ceremony and then pinky swear over a stack of various religious texts.

Check out the rest of the photos from the day.

Happy Friday, you miserable bastards

2010-11-12T10:52:00.000-06:00

It's miserable out. A perfect day for a whiskey at lunch.

Movie time from MCC

2010-11-09T15:55:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I finally upgraded and got myself a new computer. (Yay toys!)

In all honesty, it actually was just an excuse to dramatically increased the amount of time I spend playing ESPNU's version of FarmVille.

Along with the new hardware, I also picked up my first copy of Final Cut Express.

This is the first time I have used the video editing program and its been an interesting ride trying to teach myself how to use it properly. My videos still come out a bit grainy, but I am not sure if that is how I'm editing them or something I am doing when I export them...mystery mystery

This means one day I will have to finally put together all the endless hours of video I shot following my dog around... and not to mention the hours of video I took at Roller Derby Games. If you are lucky, you might even get to see the the first ever END OF THE YEAR MONTAGE!

The new toys have also inspired me to try to get a few more PR projects finished to dump here in this litter box. So far, I have gone through these two fairly simple ones.

For all my friends at The Paragraph Factory

2010-11-08T17:17:00.008-06:00

"Linotype: The Film" Teaser from Linotype: The Film on Vimeo.

I used to have an old typewriter that I salvaged from the dumpster and fixed up.

It was a fantastic Smith-Corona from the late 60s that was being held together with new string and duct tape.

I think I still have just about every page that I typed out. Most of the time it was for fun and was never used for any serious business

No, serious business was reserved for the glowing computer at my desk. My resident deep thought-ologist and I were talking about how we used love the old Apple computers that still had the hard, plastic keyboards that clicked with each finger stroke.

Each of remember sitting in our old newsrooms seeking the loudest, clicky-ist computer keyboard and then would declare it ours.

Ah, nostalgia and technology.

The neurotic dog sleeps

2010-11-07T23:25:00.000-06:00

The dog came by for a visit last weekend and was in top neurotic form. He sniffed everything and paced from room to room for hours looking for something - probably a way out.

He zigged and zagged slowly in the yard sniffing every new leaf that fell from the trees while he was there attempting to find the ultimate spot to finally poop.

This was one of the rare moments in his 48 hours at my house that he actually settled down and slept.

Got to get my hit of Birds for the afternoon...

2010-11-05T15:55:00.000-05:00

The first step in recovering from addiction is admitting you have a problem.

It knew it was becoming a problem when every so often I would sneak into the bathroom just so I can play some Birds - just for a few minutes.

It gets me through the afternoon, man. Just a little bit here and there... get off my back!

Photos

2010-11-02T16:37:00.000-05:00

Trying - oh so desperately - to get back into taking photos and posting them here in this dump.

Vote

2010-11-01T16:20:00.000-05:00

"There is no better economic elevator than an education."

Hossein Bahmaie

MCC-Longview economics instructor

Political endorsements are stupid. They are stupid for newspapers to do and they are stupid for blogs to probably do to.

So, instead of an endorsement I am going to implore you to just vote.

Vote smart.

Vote for the person who you think will bolster education initiatives in your community and state.

Vote for the person who sees the department of education at the state and national level as a vital part of what government can do right sometimes.

Vote for the person who will stop cutting away at higher education funding.

Vote for someone who isn't going to use their office as a pulpit to fire professors, discredit instructors or eliminate entire departments because they perceive them to be controversial.

Vote for the person that will fight to ensure that grants, scholarships and loans will still send millions of kids to college across the country.

Vote for someone who supports smart sex education that is based on mentoring and leadership not religious writing that make you fear your body.

Vote for the person who who is not afraid of science, but embraces its nuances and challenges.

Vote for the person that will realize free and reduced lunches are a big part of a successful education policy AND that those programs should not stop after a student's senior year.

Vote for someone who sees education as a pathway to citizenship.

Other than that, I really don't care who the hell you vote for.

Ye old (jr.) Varsity.

2010-10-21T15:04:00.000-05:00

Congratulations, Michael!

You have been accepted to Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City (Blue River, Business and Technology, Longview, Maple Woods and Penn Valley).

Huzzah! Today I got my automated form e-mail announcing that I had been accepted to the arts program at MCC. That's right, graphic arts, web development, design classes...

Break out the sweat pants and limber up for beer pong, we are going back to college! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S...

Wait...what do you mean this is for professional development at work? Well, at least we will have co-eds, questionable drugs, terrible life decisions and limited adult supervision?

No? Not at all?! Oh good lord, I need to consult my attorney before I go do anything else.

Let's just hope I am more like Joel McHale and not Chevy Chase when I head back into the classroom.

Noun-ing the Verb.

2010-10-20T15:42:00.001-05:00

I have been noun-ing my way through writing for years.

Awesome at 88 mph

2010-10-14T16:12:00.000-05:00

If you were unawares, this is the 25th Anniversary for the GREATEST. MOVIE. EVER... Back To the Future.

As such, there is a lot of fanfare and celebration around the trilogy and its promises of hoverboards and flying cars by the year 2015.

(Come on Doc, you got 5 years to wow me)

In the meantime enjoy this awesome photo shoot with M.J. Fox and Lea Thompson for Entertainment Weekly with my favorite character in the whole trilogy - The Delorean.

woot!

Performance rider for The Wednesday Weekly

2010-10-12T14:29:00.001-05:00

TO: Chairman of meeting requesting Mike Ekey's attendance
FROM: The department of legal (and extramarital) affairs
RE: Your meeting

Dear ___________,

We are thrilled that you, hereto referred to as THE CHAIRMAN, has requested Mike Ekey, hereto referred to as THE ARTIST, to attend your meeting to discuss matters related to: Marketing, public relations, bartending, and/or the breeding of small goats.

As per the Outlook Calendar notification, THE ARTIST will arrive at your meeting on time and will be present for the duration only if the room get adequate cellular or Wi-Fi service compatible with THE ARTISTS current phone/device. If this is not possible, then expect THE ARTIST to leave periodically to check his Words With Friends account and random text messages.

Also, to accommodate THE ARTIST, our team has made several non-negotiable, requests before we can proceed:

I) Craft Table:
   A) Morning meeting - If the meeting is to begin before NOON then THE CHAIRMAN will provide a breakfast spread consisting of doughnuts, bagels and/or fresh fruit. Three varieties of bagel smear will also be available. Beverages will consist of fresh fruit juice (absolutely no juices from concentrate), Coca Cola products and water. No Coffee.

   1) If the meeting is to take place before 9 A.M., then THE CHAIRMAN must provide a hot breakfast spread of ham and egg sandwiches on wheat bread or croissant. Heinz Ketchup must also be available along with fresh fruit and an assortment of juices (see above). Whether you serve bacon or sausage is entirely up to you, but one must be present.

   2) Coffee - Although THE ARTIST does not drink coffee, there must be some readily available so the artist can instead request hot water for his Green Tea, which will be provided by you. Do not prepare the hot water ahead of time as this request is made at the meeting only to delay THE CHAIRMAN and the meeting itself.

   B) Afternoon meeting - If the meeting is to take place after NOON then THE CHAIRMAN will provide at least three types of savory snacks including, but not limited too: Cashews, almonds, potato chips (kettle cooked only), pub mix (Costco only), Chex Mix, trail mix, etc.

   1) Beverages - A variety of Coca Cola products must be available along with various waters from differing regions.

II) Meeting length:
   A) While it is possible for the meeting to last more than an hour it is highly discouraged. If it must last more than an hour the following items must be present for the entertainment of THE ARTIST:

   1) Lego bricks - At least two sets of Lego bricks must ready to be given once THE ARTIST looses interest in your presentation. Once opened, the Lego sets will become the property of THE ARTIST.
   2) Board Games - A variety of board games including, but not limited to: Scrabble, Risk, Stratego, etc. must be present as well. Once opened the games also become property of THE ARTIST.

III) Other items that will be on hand and given to THE ARTIST
1. All relevant points from the presentation will be printed and bound before meal service at the meeting.
2. All notes that need to be taken during the meeting should be pre-written
3. Any e-mails referenced in the meeting will be printed and bound in chronological order
4. Meeting notes from all previous meetings that might be referenced or talk about in this meeting
5. A package of fresh white socks and t-shirts
6. A liter of Old Crow Bourbon

Halloween is approaching.

2010-09-26T19:21:00.002-05:00

He is the best at hiding and finding him just pisses him off.

Getting the band back together

2010-09-20T12:27:00.000-05:00

For a brief 48 hours one of my old co-workers from the Old Paragraph Factory blew through KC in an extended layover as he returned home to Beijing from a business trip in Boston.

He was only here for two nights, but it was long enough for us to break out the liquor and the loud talk for a celebration until five in the morning with a group of folks that I used to share a newsroom with at the The Star.

Some have remained great friends while I have lost touch with others (but have now vowed to remain internet "best-ies", right J-Bar?), so it was great to get the chance to just catch up to see where they have gone in the world and what they are doing.

But the night was also a stark reminder that the factory does not run on friendship. No, it runs on money. And its lord overseers seem to think it is not printing enough of it.

A blog post does not do justice to the level of respect I hold for these folks and the work we used to do on the old verb-noun line at the Paragraph Factory.

2010-09-10T11:33:00.000-05:00

"What is your night worth without a story to tell?"

I love this clip because Shane is able to talk about faith, God, hope and goodness without having to burn a book or shout down anyone in the crowd. Do I necessarily believe in all those things? Not at all. But it is always encouraging to see others who do - and do so passionately.

A good friend of mine once told me: "Keep fighting the good fight against your enemies - both real and imagined. Sometimes the imagined ones are worse."

Onward into the somber and terrifying weekend.

The official weigh in.

2010-09-09T21:48:00.000-05:00

287 lbs.

But at 6-foot-6, my mom says I carry it well.

I guess I could either start losing weight again or just shoot for the moon and go for 300+.

The moveable feast that was Labor Day weekend

2010-09-06T20:27:00.001-05:00

From Santa-Cali-Gon to Irishfest to cocktails at the Temple with friends in from Columbia; we did not waste a second of our holiday weekend.

This was a great weekend to break out the new kilt... warm and breezy... Although, I need to learn more about my Tartan choice. The woman at the St. Peter's beer booth looked at my kilt and instantly assumed I was a supporter of St. Teresa's...

I was far too interested in my tall beer she was holding to start any kind of Q & A. So I agreed and she jeered me as I walked away.

Then, a real live Irish woman asked me who my Tartan was representing... I suppose saying "No one, I just wanted an excuse to not wear pants in public..." would have been a bit crass. Instead I continued the lie and said it was St. Teresa's

Dear, St. Teresa's... I'm sorry. I am pretty confident you are an all-girls school and this is not even close to representing your school or institution or saint of choice.

But we digress.

From the booze soaked streets of Crown Center and Irishfest, we then moved to the Craft booths and cross stations of Santa-Cali-Gon.

Yee-haw!

For 26 years I have taken this annual mullet hunting expedition in IndepMo, and usually it never disappoints. However the number of mullets was dramatically lower than previous years... I blame the economy...

For more photos from the wild weekend. Click on through to the other side.

Arg...

2010-08-27T14:06:00.000-05:00

My computer today is begging to be tossed out the window of my office. The fan on the motherboard has started to rattle and grind on what I can only assume is the tender thorax of a misguided bug trapped forever in the this hellish merry-go-round of an exhaust fan...

But it is not like it is a constant grinding noise echoing though my hollow office. No, that would be too easy to tune out. This comes and goes as the fan kicks from high to low trying to keep the computer cool. This means I am constantly reminded of how noisy it is as my office sits silent for about 30 seconds... and then it continues to chew on what sounds like a 47 cents in change.

We packed the important things.

2010-08-26T23:03:00.001-05:00

The boxes are unpacked. The booze has been arranged for ease of drinking and the bookshelves have been built according to the Swedish directions... sort of... eh, screw it - close enough.

Part of my desire to get a house was to show it was time to grow up and become an adult. A house with a proper yard and a garage means Grown Up, right?

Well, I think my choices and in art...

and Ice trays...

beg to differ on that level of adulthood...

Two nerds in a pod

2010-08-24T15:04:00.000-05:00

As with any new hire to an organization there is always the inevitable learning curve that takes place.

For our new Deep Thoughtologist at the Temple of Gonzo-Waldo, this means recapping 5 seasons of Doctor Who in single a week.

We have to get the man up to speed, of course, before I can proudly display my cardboard TARDIS next to the Ghostbuster art...

What the hell do you mean 20-somethings have a difficult time "growing up". Screw you New York Times!

I will... (stop being such a creative downer)

2010-08-20T10:16:00.001-05:00

Well crap... not even 24 hours after I talk about my big push into video projects in the office here, my partner at the Blue River Campus goes and freaking knocks one out of the park with his video assignment...

It is everything I keep telling people we need to be creating... it's simple... it's emotional... it's easy to connect with whether you went to college or not.

My therapist says I show anger and frustration quicker than I show happiness. So, I don't want my jealousy for his project to show through (too much). I blame the creative drought on the move to a new house and the fact that I don't yet have cable (where I steal most of my ideas...).

But kudos to Blue River's people for getting this together and creating a neat introduction to the school year here from our students.

Look at me! I'm a real live TV reporter, ma!

2010-08-19T16:17:00.001-05:00

The voice over was done in my truck... The script was scrawled on the back of a recipt from a bar... and the camera work is shakey...

But hey! I got to tour the inside of the Kauffman Center for the performing art - so suck it.

I'm trying to convince the top brass at work that video projects can be "professioanl" (ie - look like a news segment) as well as be fun and easy to produce... eh, two out of three ain't bad.

Well, until work buys me a professioanl camera with sound equiment and editing bay... you get my very best produced on a FlipCam and the best editing my lunch break will allow...

Also, if you have not gotten a chance to check out the work blog, consider this my shameless plug: http://www.insidemcc.blogspot.com/

It has been an interesting process getting some of our old skool PR folks to embrace the Blog style of the online conversation. Slowly but surely we are getting there. We are getting some great feedback from our own faculty as we are slowly publicizing it before school starts next week.

Take a look and tell me what you think.

Plus, now we can also show LOTS videos, which as you can tell from above, is what I am strongest at... : /

South Side Relocation

2010-08-16T16:31:00.001-05:00

TO: The Gonzo Nation
FROM: Director of External Affairs and Booze Acquisition
INRE: New offices and homecomings.

The Old Crow does not last long when left unattended in the newest House of the Rising Sun. Yes, my eclectic electorate, we are gathered here today to commemorate the opening of the newest office in the Temple of Gonzo's widening network of washouts.

Break out the bunting and the 3-foot-long scissors as we christen the new Waldo Neighborhood HQ.At dawn I will be smashing a bottle of the finest Andre's Champagne against the side of this behemoth house in preparation to send her to sea to fight off the hoards of enemies - both real and imagined. Sometimes the imagined ones are worse.

From our new Waldo HQ we can stretch our legs and demanded the waitress bring us another round.

Along with the physical relocation, the ToG HQ is also welcoming back our Chief Deep Thoughtologist and Curator of Gin Libations to the ranks. It's been a while since we have gotten the chance to do some serious 3 a.m. drinking with accelerated mind exercises, but that is a story we will leave to our legal offices to tell.

Today, though, is for greeting the new neighborhood and making a good first impression - presumably by firing a cannon packed with figs and cookies declaring our arrival...

Today is for eating fatted meats on the grill and taking an evening constitution around the palatial gardens and grounds, which we plan on keeping trimmed and pristine through a series of controlled burns...

Today is about celebrating new beginnings with enough wine and soaring moon beams that even Hedonismbot would be proud.

If the heat has not yet melted your pickled brains yet, then scrape yourself off the pavement and come take a tour of our Living Room, which features windows.

Sensing the excitement from across the globe, our Correspondent from the Far East will be making his way home to the Temple of Gonzo HQ on Sept. 17 - where I am sure he will give the place a white glove inspection and then soil our fine carpets with his Corona... the bastard...

The details of that Homecoming and your invitation will arrive via and armed courier swinging wildly from tree to tree on a zipline..

- 30 -

p.s. Send more fruit.