Mar 21

The Overnight Website Challenge


Posted: under Fun Stuff, General, Praise.

I cannot remember the last time I stayed up for 24 hours straight.  It certainly hasn’t happened since I moved to Minnesota, and if I had to tell you, upon penalty of death, the year it last happened when no alcohol was involved, I would be dead.  Last night, I got the chance to do that very thing, all in the name of a great cause.

The Nerdery, a web/marketing firm in Minnesota, has for the 3rd year, put on a great event called “The Overnight Website Challenge“.  The idea is to pair up non-profit companies with teams of local volunteer teams of developers, designers, and business people to create professional web sites for the non-profits, all in a single 24 hour period.  It’s a really great program if you consider the importance of a web site to a small cash-strapped organization.  With the right web site and suite of related online applications, a business can literally save thousands of precious dollars and man-hours.  Of course, professional web services are not cheap, so many organizations rely on the sometimes not-so-efficient web sites that are created by friends, family, or other inexperienced but well-intended individuals.

I helped assemble a team of people to join in on the fun from my company, Dolan Media Co.  We arrived yesterday morning at the venue at around 8AM for setup.  We did not know who our non-profit was until 9AM, thereby all but eliminating the preparation we could really do prior to the event.  We were then given 24 hours to vet out business rules, site structure, identify problem areas, come up with a scope of work, make a design, and then develop the site’s code.  Even in theory, this was a big mountain to climb.  I like to think our team, including our non-profit, Kinship of Greater Minnesota, did a great job.  We will proudly be launching a new site for them tomorrow (due to hosting company problems – they are not working over the weekend).

I won’t go into the details of the project itself, but the night was quite an interesting time.  I’m glad we have a good group of co-workers, or we might not have made the full 24 hours together.  But we did, with many laughs and hardly any casualties.

I’m off to take my nap now, since I have been awake for over 30 hours.  I would like to thank my personal sponsors, Red Bull (drank about 9-10 of them) and 5 Hour Energy Shots (2 drank).  This probably will make no sense when I wake up, due to my slappiness, but I wanted to get it out anyway.  A couple of random shots of me and other co-workers during the ordeal – see more at my co-worker’s Picasa page – he took pictures every hour:

Me hard at work - 3AMish?

In the "wire pit" - not sure how we didn't short out the entire building.

Nice photo-bomb by me. About 1AM, our boss brought by some snacks. I guess I wanted to profess my love of Bugles. (They are AWESOME)

Surprise! Stretching it out and opening yet another Red Bull. So glad that they were sponsors.

Kristin and I at around 4-5AM. I may have been a little hopped up on caffeine. Maybe?

Co-workers Brent and Dave toasting the Red Bulls. Note the ominous countdown on the screen behind them. This would have put us at around 3:30AM.

The DMC team posing for the obligatory zombie pic with 1:27:39 to go. Aren't we a chipper bunch?


Red Bull! 5AM!!! Exclamation Points!!!!!!

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Aug 16

Why has it taken me 34 years to do this?


Posted: under Fun Stuff, General, NHRA, Praise, family.
Tags: , ,

I’m sure that people who follow me on Twitter and Facebook already are well aware of this, but I’m posting it here ’cause I want to remember my feelings later on when I ego search myself and read my old posts.  (BTW, for those that are reading this on Facebook, do me a favor and click here to read the rest of this – my blog looks better and has pretty pictures you can look at..  :) )

Anyway, today, after 34 years of being an auto racing fan, following everything from F1 to WRC, I attended my first NHRA drag racing event.  Lori was away for the weekend, and the Lucas Oil Nationals were being held in Brainerd, MN, only a 2 hour drive from here.  As an added bonus, Lori got me tickets through her job, so the only thing I had to spend on it was gas money.  For about 30 bucks, this was a no-brainer for me.

I have been saying for years that I needed to get over to one of these, but never went, even when I had a venue in my backyard in NH.  And I am SO glad I did.  It’s hard to put into words what being at the event is like.  Tuning in on TV doesn’t do it any justice.  That is mostly true for any racing venue, but this is extra-true for NHRA.

I got to the track early, since Lori’s tickets included a pit pass and VIP tickets to the Fram/U.S. Army tent, and I wanted to soak it all in before actually watching some racing.  A few random thoughts and observations from the day:

  • NHRA does a GREAT job giving the fans the opportunity to really get full-access to the total experience.  I stepped onto pit road and was immediately surprised to see that spectators are allowed to go just about anywhere.  From watching the crews work on the cars, to the listening to the roar of engine-testing right up close, to the drivers and crew wandering the pits and signing autographs, there is virtually nothing that you aren’t allowed to see or do.
  • The wrench-head in me loves a good, loud, horsepower-laden motor.  A few feet into the pits, a crew fired one up and started revving it.  I am not going to lie when I say that it was so loud it scared the beejesus out of me.  There’s loud, then there’s 8000 horsepower loud.  Like nothing I have ever heard before, and probably never ever will again.  It’s pretty scary, and this was only a little “vroom-vroom”.  Little did I know at the time, this was nothing compared to what the on-track experience is like.
  • A tip for anyone that ever goes to a race: when wandering the pit lane, if you see a bunch of crew members start up an engine, then don full-face gas masks, don’t stand anywhere near the exhaust.  These cars burn nitrous for fuel, and when it comes out the pipes, it’s a little, um, caustic.  I quickly realized that I couldn’t breathe due to the intense burning in my mouth, nose, and throat.  Trying to quickly leave an area is pretty difficult too when your eyes are burning and watering so bad you cannot see.  Oddly enough, I was more excited about this than I should have been.  When I’m 85, and I wonder why I am not going to live to see 86, I will look back to this day and wonder.
  • It has been super-dry in Minnesota this summer, with only a couple of inches of rain in like 3 months.  Of course, since I decided to do something today where rain cripples all activities, it poured all morning.  This was the perfect time to check out the VIP tent, I figured.  Once in the tent, I was pleasantly surprised to see that on either side I was flanked by two actual racecars, to the right was Cory Mac’s Top Fuel dragster, to the left was 6-time world champ (1999,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008) Tony Schmacher’s.  Topping it off, the crews were assembling a bunch of parts on them, and I was allowed to watch from about 4 feet away.  I was channeling Tim Allen in my head with the man-grunts.
  • At 11, it was clear they were not going to start the racing anytime soon.  So, they brought out the two drivers to talk to the small crowd of about 20 people that had VIP tickets.  We all got to ask them questions, shoot the bull, etc.  Unfettered access to world-class drivers is truly the best medicine for a rain delay.  And as everyone who has talked to any driver from any racing class knows, they really are the best story-tellers.  I mean, who else can tell you “this one time when I flipped my dragster at 330MPH, I got hit by the other car, breaking my car into 20 pieces, broke both my legs, then got into the helicopter, which came 10 feet from crashing into power lines when we took off…” and then laugh their asses off?
  • Come 12PM, it was time for lunch.  The menu?  Filet Mignon with all the fixins.  And I mean *good* filet, not that rubbery crap you’d expect.  And to top it all off, Tony Schumacher himself joined our table for lunch.  Everyone gets to talk to him, ask more questions, whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t involve autograph requests or pictures.  I asked about the first time he drove an 8000 HP car at 330+.  He basically said he was “scared shitless”.  This was another in a line of awesome, awe-inspiring things I got to see today.  Not every day you get to lunch with the guy who has won 6 world championships in the past ten years, and on track to win the 7th.
  • Finally, belly full, my PGA fix satisfied (there were two 60 inch plasmas broadcasting the Hazeltine event in the tent), it was time to race.  I was somewhat disappointed in the seating.  We were about 50 yards or so from the start line.  I thought, based on everything else I saw, we’d be truly trackside.  After I saw the first top-fuel run, I saw that I was PLENTY close.  And even thought we were maybe too close.
  • I’ll try to explain an entire run.  First, the cars fire up (they are pushed/pulled to the line powerless).  That is loud.  Then they drive over some water sprayed down to get the tires wet for the burnout.  Then they go about half throttle and “burn” the tires to get them nice and hot and sticky for the run.  That is extremely loud, prompting me to reach for the free earplugs (something I have never used at a racing event).  It hurt my eardrums – literally.  They then back up and “stage”, meaning they pull up as close to the line as possible.  Then the really good stuff happens.  To call the launch off the starting line “explosive” is not doing it any justice whatsoever.  I read somewhere the description of a top fuel run as “feeling as though the entire drag strip is being bombed”.  That’s probably the best description.  There is lots of fire, a shit-ton of noise (120DB, louder than a Boeing 747 jet airliner at take-off power), and the cars leave the line so fast they are quite literally a vibrating blur.  It’s almost surreal.  The aluminum stands vibrate like an earthquake, your insides vibrate, and your eyeballs struggle to focus on what you are seeing – 16,000+ horsepower being unleashed all at once.  And then, in under 4 seconds, it’s all over.  The adrenaline rush is just insane.  You cannot wait for the next pair to start it all over again.
  • I wondered why no one was trying to take pictures after I picked my jaw up from under the stands.  I pulled out my fancy new camera, figuring I could get a shot or two of them launching off the start.  Talk about your exercise in futility.  Every shot I got was too early or too late.  My reaction time was no match for these guys.

All in all, this was an eye-opening experience that I am so glad to have been a part of.  I highly encourage anyone who has the opportunity to go and check it out. Even if you are not a fan of racing, it’s just something that you need to do at least once.  I have boatloads more respect to every one of those drivers who I used to laugh at for “just driving in a straight line”.  To my New England friends, get a ticket to the Epping Dragway the next time these guys come around.  Send me the bill if you are disappointed.

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Apr 09

Thanks, Rainn!


Posted: under Fun Stuff, General, Praise, Rants.
Tags: , ,

I have been kicked squarely in the balls.  And it is forcing me to rethink this blog and my lack of involvement in it.

Let me explain a little.  Those that read this blog regularly (thanks Mom!) may or may not know that I am on Twitter, a kind of mini-blogging social network app that allows you to blurt out random crap via your mobile phone, computer, typewriter, fax, and morse code.   (Ok, maybe not that last one, but I’m sticking with at least the first two).  People who “follow” you can read whatever you decide to write.  If you’re funny/interesting enough, you gain followers like the Pied Piper.  If you are boring enough, they will stop following you shortly after they start following.   I usually fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.

Celebrities, on the other hand, get hundreds of thousands of dedicated followers. Most of us follow like sheep, just loving the fact that we get to peer ever so slightly into their personal life.  The results are sometimes disappointing when we find out that they are just as boring as us, but with more money.  

Today, I had had enough of Rainn Wilson (“Dwight” from The Office)’s repeated re-tweets and constant product pitches, and told him so by Tweeting

“@rainnwilson I’m sorry, but we need to break up. I don’t follow celebtwits for RT’s and product endorsements all day. GL in The Office, tho!

The response from Rainn:

“Check out Rays blog! RT @raychampagne Im sorry, but we need to break up.I don’t follow celebtwits for RTs and product endorsements all day.”

So far, I have been inundated with reponses from his followers, most who actually agree with me.  Which makes me wonder, is it too harsh to knock down a celebrity for something I get for free, without any contract or expectance of what I’m going to get out of it?  

I have had about as many hits on this blog in the past hour as I have had all time.  And I haven’t updated in over a month.  And before that it was spotty at best.  I have been thinking lately that it’s time to get back on the horse, I guess this was the boot in the ass I needed.  

Twitterati, if you’re reading this, add my RSS feed to your iGoogle, I’ll try and mildly entertain more frequently.

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Feb 25

Skiing…finally.


Posted: under Fun Stuff, General, Praise.
Tags: , , ,

After 2 years of not being able to go skiing, like I had been used to doing a lot when living in New England, I finally got to scratch the itch again this weekend by visiting the biggest ski resort in Minnesota, Lutsen Mountain.  It was a great feeling to get back on the planks and do a little shusshing down a mountain again.

Lutsen Mountain is a resort about 4 hours north of the Twin Cities, located right on the banks of Lake Superior in Northern Minnesota.  Driving up was a little weird, scenery-wise, comparing to what I was used to.  When driving to a ski resort in New England, you are accustomed to maneuvering windy hills on your way to a mountain-fun-filled weekend.  In Minnesota, you pass many, many fields of last year’s corn and wheat, then find yourself in a vast wilderness of trees and hills on your left, with an ocean-like Lake Superior on your right.  Then, all of a sudden, there is an entrance to a Midwest skiing mecca that pops up.  No mountain views leading up to that point, just trees and deer and a lot of supporting cast in the form of lodges and restaurants.  At this point, I had very little hope of what this long trek had promised in the brochures.

We settled in to our ski-in, ski-out condo on Friday night, under the darkness, me with little hope of finding a great ski hill, and with Lori totally excited about the full hour of foot massage goodness she was scheduled to get the next day.  One thing about foot massages is that it doesn’t take mother nature to form a backdrop to make it blissful.  At least one of us was not feeling cautiously optimistic.

Fast forward to Saturday.  I bought my lift ticket and hit the slopes, iPod in hand.  My first ride up the lift was truly awesome.  Looking over my shoulder, I saw something that I never thought possible, having skied in New England (and once in CO) my whole life.  My view was filled with trees and snowy slopes, followed by a backdrop of a huge, expansive, ocean-like blue of Lake Superior.  As far as I could see, I saw water and ice.  It was amazing to see that kind of scenery.  I was in awe almost all day long.  I took pictures and videos until the batteries ran out in the camera.  It was just way too cool.

My reviews of the mountain itself are somewhat mixed.  The terrain was pretty good, but the length of the runs were disappointing, considering the amount of time it took to get up.  The lifts were very antiquated and slow, but the feeling of being “home” outweighed any real complaints that I had of them.  Plus, I have been out of the game for 2 years, so the recovery time between runs was welcome.  I actually found some great tree runs on the vastly unused side of the mountain, which were a godsend to someone like me, who likes to run in the trees, but doesn’t possess the ability to do trees + steeps.  The snow was soft in the interior, mostly unused, and very peaceful.  I saw only one other person in there, and that was a ski patrol guy who skied with me and shared a dearth of knowledge of wildlife that I found fascinating.

Lastly, speaking of wildlife, I have to mention the deer.  From Duluth forward, we were both amazed at both the population of and the tameness of the deer.  They were literally everywhere, in people’s driveways, yards, the road, and side of the road.  When you stopped to take pictures of them, they hardly even noticed.  We even ate at a general store/diner for breakfast, and they were just hanging out, looking for food.  For two people who are used to only seeing deer as they flee your headlights, that was really cool.  Lori was counting, and she saw at least 48 deer within 48 hours.

All in all, it was a great long weekend getaway, and for a 4 hour car ride, both Lori and I found it well worth the trip.  It was just what was needed to stave off the toils of the day-to-day life for a little while.  Libby and Eddie even had what seemed to be a great time, given the snoring away that both of them are doing right next to me right now.

Anyway, check out my Facebook page and my Flickr page to see some shots of the weekend.

Maybe I’ll get my Dad out here yet…

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Jan 15

You know you are in Minnesota when…


Posted: under Fun Stuff, General, Praise, Rants, WTF is wrong with people?.
Tags: , , ,

…your garage door freezes to the ground overnight, and when you go to open it the next morning, it rips the 2X4 supporting the track right off the wall….this happened to me this week…twice.

Last night was officially the coldest that I have seen it here yet.  It never went above -1 in the city yesterday, and by the time I had taken the dog out when I got home, it was -7 in the ‘burbs.  Predictions were for the temp to drop and the wind to pick up, with an ambient temperature of -21 and a wind chill in the -40 to -45 range.  Balmy!

Around 7:00, I stepped out to grab something at the grocery store for dinner.  Glancing at the temp on my way out, I saw that it had dropped to -11 in a matter of an hour.  I regretted even having to make the walk from the car to the grocery store door.  Luckily, on this end of the trip, I had the relative protection of the garage to look forward to.  

While waiting in line to pay for my goods, I couldn’t help but notice the woman in front of me.  She was holding just a single box of popsicles.  I wrestled back in forth in my head whether I should ask why popsicles in January in Minnesota, and when she finally glanced back in my directtion, I spoke up.

“Popsicles?  Really?” I said.

She laughed.  ”Yeah, my husband called me at work and said ‘pick up some popsicles!’.  I told him he’s crazy.  So now he’s at home, sitting outside by the fireplace, waiting for some popsicles”.

I laughed – a little – while I digested what I just heard.  Good thing it was her turn to check out, ’cause I really had nothing else to say. 

Welcome to Minnesota indeed.

 

At -21.8 the weather station took itself offline (OFL). Smart machines know when to call it quits, unlike some dumb humans.

At -21.8 the weather station took itself offline (OFL). Smart machines know when to call it quits, unlike some dumb humans.

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Dec 24

Update on Annie the Dog


Posted: under General, Praise, WTF is wrong with people?.
Tags: , ,

WCCO.com is now reporting that Annie the dog (the one spoken of in my previous post) is doing well, considering all she has been through.  There have been multiple offers to adopt her, which is always a nice thing to hear, and she will be in a home in time for Christmas.  There are still many bills that need to be paid for her $13,000 stay at the U, and they are taking up donations here.

Merry Christmas Annie!

Annie resting up

Annie resting up

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Nov 05

Hooray for OBAMA!!!!


Posted: under Fun Stuff, General, Praise.
Tags: ,

As every corner of the world knows by now, Barack Obama won the presidential race in the US last night, and I couldn’t be happier.  No matter what you may think of the Democratic Party, or Obama in particular, you have to admit the man can rally a group of people together like no one we’ve seen in the past few presidential runoffs.  I like to think of myself of more of a moderate Republican, but it was just too hard to not get on board with the proposed platform of change and unity.  Of course, the proof is still in the pudding, and I look forward to hopefully seeing him succeed to bring us together as a nation and make the US something to be proud of again.

It doesn’t hurt that President-elect Obama has some of the best speeches and delivery we’ve seen this side of Dr. King and JFK.  If he is one iota as successful as either of those two were with backing up words with actions, we are in for a treat come Jan 20th and beyond.

And to all the naysayers and McCain supporters out there, all I can ask is give it a chance.  Please.

I’ve watched this speech about 5 times on TV and on the web.  Can’t even imagine how it can be topped.  Damn, I am proud to be an American right now.  Yes, we can.

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Nov 05

World’s most wanted weiner


Posted: under Fun Stuff, Praise.
Tags: , , ,

This has probably already made around the internets a couple times, but I still love it enough to post it here.  And like the blog byline says “stuff I want to keep”.  How could I not want to save this one?

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Oct 27

Wassup 2008


Posted: under Fun Stuff, Praise, Rants.

I’m probably not doing a great job of keeping who I am voting for close to my vest (chest?  what the hell is that saying?), but this video is too much to not publicize.  I don’t really want to give too much away, but do yourself a favor and watch the whole thing to the very end.  

YouTube Preview Image

UPDATE: good writeup on the creativity that inspired the “new” commercial:http://creativity-online.com/?action=news:article&newsId=132047 

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Oct 25

I’m an Uncle! (again)


Posted: under Fun Stuff, General, Praise, family.

Congratulations to Lorinda and Chris – they just hatched the family’s newest grandchild, William, on Wednesday.  I can’t wait to meet him and Mikayla sometime soon!  Some pictures of the baby boy, Mikayla and Mikayla’s big sis Leighanne:

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