The T3sk3y Defenestrator

So Mark.. how did YOU spend your summer vacation?

Well – I spent the end of my July the same way I’ve spent the three before it.� That would be eating pork, looking at cornfields, and biking across Iowa.� What I’m trying to say is that I just got back from RAGBRAI – the Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.� It’s seven days long – but I only did the last four.� It still turned out to be about 275 miles of biking in four days – and that should be enough for anyone.

The 75-mile long pelaton

The usual zaniness of crazy costumes, beer tents, ‘stereo trailers’, and gastronomic delights was in full force.� I’d equate it to Sturgis, the State Fair, and the Tour de France all rolled into one.

I don't know who they are - but they are the kings of RAGBRAI in my book!

I’ve been preparing for several months now – you can’t just hop on and ride that many miles cold.� Well, I can’t at least.� It’s a good thing I prepared, too – the route was the toughest I’ve seen.� Each day had more climbing than I did in all of RAGBRAI 2007.� To add to the fun, there were strong headwinds and rain on a couple of the days.� It made for a real grind sometimes.

Like last year, I rode with Team Balance Fitness – a local bike club that I belong to.� There were 45 in our group – almost double the size of last year.

In the end, I made it to the Mississippi River at about 11:30 AM on Saturday morning.� I dipped my wheel into the water with several thousand others, and loaded up for a long ride home.

Team Balance Fitness finishes RAGBRAI

Until next year – all of my (and all of the team’s) pictures are right here: RAGBRAI 2008

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I finally was able to finish putting up all of my pictures from our 4th of July trip to Whidbey Island.� It took a really long time to weed through the 500ish pictures I ended up with – even with Photoshop Lightroom.

Here’s one made possible by 6fps + 340mm:

Elbow Yolk Yuck

Heh – egg yolk from the 4th of July egg toss caught mid-air.� Sweet.� Sorry about the mess, Beth!

Check out the rest of the pictures over at my SmugMug account: Whidbey Island 2008

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I really hope the Vikings sign this guy right now:

Number Four at Eighteen

Oh, don’t get me wrong.� I hate him as much as any red blooded Vikings fan goes.� Why then am I so excited about having him play for the ‘Queens?

See – it’s like this.� Several years ago – and my wife will vouch for this – I predicted he would end his career with the Vikings.� When I made this rash prediction, I was told in no uncertain terms that I was nuts and that he’d finish his career with the team he led to the Super Bowl.

I disagreed, and explained one simple fact.

All great quarterbacks come to Minnesota to die.

Let’s look at the list:

• Archie Manning
• Jim McMahon
• Randall Cunningham
• Warren Moon
• Jeff George
• Brad Johnson

.. and so forth.

Anyway, I swore it would happen someday – and when it did, all would fall to the ground professing my genius.� Actually, I’m not looking for anything other than acknowledgement of having called it back when nobody would believe me.

Imagine my surprise when the rumors started that he wanted to come out of retirement and perhaps wanted to play for the Vikes.� Of course, it really wasn’t that much of a surprise.. I *knew* it was going to come to pass.

Who is that fella?� It’s Brett Fahvvvv-reh.� Faaaav-rah.� Faaaahhhv-reee.. ah, whatever.

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H3th3r, Wi11iam, 31izab3th and I spent the 4th of July on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound this year.� It was the classic ‘small town’ 4th with parades, three-legged races, and lots of fireworks.� I love fireworks.� I’m gradually getting the 600-odd photos I took during the trip sorted and edited (it’s quite a job) – so as a teaser, here’s a couple of fireworks shots that I took:

A Lovely Bouquet

Photographically, I shot a 4-5 sec. exposure on f/11 at about a 50mm focal length.� I set the focus to Manual and focused at infinity.� When I heard the mortar, I clicked the shutter.

A daisy for you?

You can see the rest of my fireworks photos here: Fireworks Photos

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be continuously updating my gallery from the trip to Whidbey Island.� If you can’t wait until they are done, check back frequently on my SmugMug page.� The quick link to the photos is here: Whidbey Island 2008

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For those checking here for Teskey family updates..

I’ve got a couple of new galleries online for your viewing pleasure.

Grandma Fran’s 90th Birthday in Waseca, MN

Jay and Chris’ wedding in Albert Lea, MN

Check out the entire 90th birthday party gallery here: (link)

The gallery from Jay and Chris’ wedding is here: (link)

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Willy Wonka: Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple.
Mrs. Teevee: That’s 105 percent.

It’s always a little sad when a project goes live.� On one hand, you’re thrilled to have it see the light of day – but on the other hand, it’s all over.� The latest iteration of the Minneathlon was like that for me.� I sort of felt like Willy Wonka on Friday, showing all the holders of the “golden tickets” the Chocolate Factory that we call the Minneathlon.

(a little background for those not in the know – the Minneathlon is an Urban Race – similar to “The Amazing Race” that my company (Logic Product Development) does a couple of times per year.� As a former finalist, I got the opportunity to coordinate this race)

Willy Wonka: Little surprises around every corner, but nothing dangerous.

It was great fun planning the route.� Along with the committee, I had to dream up a route and populate it with interesting challenges, puzzles, dead ends, trap doors, and other ‘points of interest’.� In the end, I thought we had a doozie of a route that included everything from Diltoids to Altoids.

Willy Wonka: This little piece of gum is a three course dinner.
Mr. Salt: Bull.
Willy Wonka: No, roast beef. But I haven’t got it quite right yet.

All in all, the race went great.� The 8.75-mile course ended up deciding the winners on brain rather than brawn.� The real differentiator was the challenge that we had in Loring Park, where you had to spell letters in the ground by connecting unique words on the poem benches.� Half the teams got it – the others didn’t.

Charlie Bucket: Mr. Wonka, they won’t really be burned in the furnace, will they?
Willy Wonka: Well, I think that furnace is only lit every other day, so they have a good sporting chance, haven’t they?

In the end, a big congratulations goes out to Team Lefty and Skinny for winning the big prize.� They finished the course in 3:15, or about :15 faster than our test runs.

Oompa Loompas: / Oompa loompa doompadee doo / I’ve got another puzzle for you / Oompa loompa doompadah dee / If you are wise you’ll listen to me

As for Minneathlon 3.0?� I want to run again..

Check out the official website (as featured on Wired.com) at: Minneathlon.com

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