A photo I shot/made of Jeff Pulver

I just spoke at the 140Conf – here’s my presentation (with lots of pics), followed by how I got there, and an insane amount of serendipity that follows:

In the presentation I mention how Brandie connected me with Jeff Pulver.  Here is what she wrote!  I am so flattered (and realize why Jeff contacted me to have me speak):

Hi Jeff,

I am so loving watching you travel the country with the 140Conf!! It is sooo amazing what you are doing.  I am hoping to make it to LA, if I can swing it with my school schedule and my kids.  I learned so much from the SF conf.  Anyway, I think that I have someone that I know will add a definite value and illustrate the real-time of Twitter.  You may have already seen him on Twitter.  Honestly, I am not even sure how you find your speakers or what the process is, so if I am overstepping please, let me know.

The gentleman that I am speaking of is Ori Bengal.  He is more infamously known as CouchSurfingOri.  He has spent the last 3 years traveling the country, going from couch to couch, adventure to adventure.  He is in the process of writing a book on his adventures, along with other projects. I have included the link to his first chapter below.  I recently met him, via Twitter and then in person when he “surfed” in Sacramento.  He is so passionate about life, finding the joy out of everyday.  He really embraces the nomadic lifestyle and sharing his passion with people that he meets over Twitter.  He calls it Serendipity.  The process of connecting with people and the opportunites that become of those meetings.  His passion is such that he is willing to step up whenever needed, no matter what the situation.  He is living in the “real time”.  He has taken technology( twitter & facebook) and is using it to explore the world, to get close and personal with people, to separate out the technology. He has taken his passion for exploring and used “real time” technology to discover humanity and helping people discover their passion along the way.   As an amazing photographer, he captures his adventures or may just provide new candid pics of the people that he meets.  He captures the world around him and shows his passion with pictures and his words.

I would love it if you would take a look at his site, maybe peruse a his first chapter of his book.  Again, I am not sure how you decide on your speakers.  I would love for you guys to meet, to chat with each other.  I think that you both have such passion and such value to be shared.  Yes, I am pitching him to you, he does know.  It was my idea.  I spent the better part of two days with him, talking and sharing information about our lives.  I took him to the Zoo with my son.  I don’t normally let random people spend time with my child, yet, Ori was so excited, so passionate and took such pleasure at seeing the Zoo and meeting my son, that I was able to see things differently. He was able to share with me a different perception and for that I will always be grateful.  I believe that the Zoo pics are up on his website, under photographs.  If they aren’t yet then I will shoot you a link tonite!!

http://www.couchsurfingori.com/
http://www.couchsurfingori.com/the-book/

Of course you can find him on Twitter and Facebook as CouchSurfingOri

Thanks Jeff, I really appreciate your willingness and openness to suggestions.

Brandie

Wow, what a great writer!  No wonder Jeff messaged me on Twitter a mere 2 hours later asking if I want to speak.

I gotta tell you, the 140 conf was awesome!  I got to meet brilliant people!  I really enjoyed the crowd as much as the speakers.  Being stimulated by intellect, this was like a playground for me.

People were sharing about everything from Autism to Cattle Ranching to Film Making to Rapping to using social media for good.  There were many stars there (like Chamillionaire, Michelle Branch, Nick Cannon), and of course Jeff Pulver himself, and the person I’m couch surfing with tonight, John Draper, AKA Crunchman – the man who discovered that you can make free phone calls on a payphone by using a whistle from a box of Capn Crunch Cereal.

Back in the day I used to be into hacking and such.  In 6th grade I was using hex editors to take out copy protection from video games.  In 9th grade I used computer software to figure out calling card codes, so I could be on the phone during lunch to my friends around the nation.  This guy’s a legend though.

It’s just fascinating though that in my presentation I talk about Serendipity, and I even trace how I got to speak at the event.  I was limited to 10 minutes though, and I left off the part about how it started with listening to Audio Books, and because of that I got invited to a T. Harv Ecker seminar by a friend.  Coincidentally, the day before that event, my older brother told me I should hire a coach, and then I got there, and they were selling coaching.

Now, I did fire T. Harv’s coach quickly.  I don’t think they gave me a good match… but that doesn’t matter- I’m just pointing out coincidences), but at the same time I bought a ticket to Guerilla Business School, where they teach you all sorts of neat negotiating and business secrets.  It was a pretty rad event… and one of the speakers was Armand Morin who had a product called Internet Marketing Explained… which I bought.  It made so much sense to me, and when I consumed it, I was blown away.  I had a blast at his Big Seminar event, and met many cool people.

So, that’s how I got into internet marketing, which is why I went to Yanik’s Underground, and met Dori Friend, whom I was the pool boy for, and when going to her birthday party I stayed with Rich , and thus met Brandie who sent that awesome letter to Jeff.

More serendipity, Jeff was awesome, and put me up at the Doubletree Hotel where he was staying. The hotel was mindblowing.  Clean, friendly staff, tons of pillows, comfy bed, decent internet speed (but unlike many hotels, is free with the room).  Parking kind of sucked– Valet only, but a parking garage across the street that charges you $9 per day (but with no re-entry), but the hotel did also give warm cookies!

So.. I’m at the hotel, and we get back from this incredible post-event dinner at Shiloh’s (though our waiter had a major attitude… the food was amazing, and unique).  My intention was not only to speak at the event, but to get involved with Jeff and his organization in some way, because after speaking to Jeff the day before the event, I was so blown away by him!  He is genuinely one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, he’s doing so much, and in fact.. he’s the reason that you can make internet based (and voip) calls without being billed for it…. google Jeff and the Pulver Decision.  Anyways…  so I wanted to get involved, and they needed their footage backed up.

Turns out it’s on a Newtek Tricaster, and the High Def MPEG files wouldn’t open on the Mac or PC by default.  I happen to have a background in Video, and in PCs, and hacking around.. so… I quickly figured out how to back the stuff up, transcode it to the right formats, and so by 1AM I was busy saving the day (or.. night?), now Jeff has invited me to come out to his next couple of events.  I predict we’ll be in heavy communication by then.  But, what luck that I just happened to be staying at the hotel, and just happened to have gone to dinner with them, so I knew about the backing up, and was there when it needed to happen.

More insane serendipity!  I was really excited to hear that John Draper was on the last panel.  So excited, that I left the open bar to sit in the very front to be able to hear every word. Afterwards, I went up to get my picture with John, and he (apparently had heard about me and my presentation, and skills), invited me to couchsurf, said he wanted to pick my brain some, etc..

We chatted for a bit, and he said he’d call today.  Which he did…. but a mere 4 minutes after I hung up with Kristen, who’s couch 14 on my journey… When I spoke to her, I asked what she’s up to, and it turns out that she’s working for the History Channel, and doing casting for a new pilot, “Off the Grid”.

That pilot is about hackers and trackers… people who can live in a major city, and hide off the grid… and the people that can find them.  So I said “No kidding?  You’ll never guess who I made friends with last night!”  Turns out John is perfect for them…. so, as soon as I hang up, he calls.  Will he be on the show? I don’t know… but now they are connected!

I just couldn’t believe the level of serendipity involved!

So… I wrote this blog post in Long Beach.  Both to write, and both to pass time until traffic passed.

I sat in a Starbucks and wrote… but this is a small Starbucks, so I asked this guy if I can share his table. (near an outlet).  He said Sure.  Then I got a call, and while on my call, he was on the phone and said that he’s putting resumes out.  So, when I came back, I asked for what kind of job is he putting things out.  He said OSHA Safety Director type work…..

So… I bought him his name as a domain, set up an email account on it, and installed a WordPress Blog.  Tonight when he forwards me his resume, I’ll post it.  So… if you have a need for an OSHA safety director in LA / Hollywood, let me know.  I’ll connect you!

What’d you think of the presentation?

Snow Leopards at The Sacramento Zoo

This isn’t the story on why I was in Sacramento, and what happened there… that’s a fun story I’ll post later.  But, the Sacramento Zoo is helping the community, by offering discounts for people who bring school supplies.  This day, it was free if you bring school supplies.

Brandie (you’ll have to read the other post to see who this other person is), brought her son, and some school supplies, and invited me to join.  Many exhibits close at 3:30, and we got there at 4.  Here are the photos I shot at the zoo for your enjoyment.  I know I never post enough of my photography, but I love taking photos of exotic animals so much, and I know it shows… so…  I just had to make time to share these.

Jaime is the Web and Social Media director at the Zoo

Is that not an awesome outfit for the airport?

(I’m writing this one on a plane- dumbass (me) didn’t check the flights, just clicked… and ended up getting a flight from the OC to Austin, by flying from California, to Atlanta, and THEN to Austin… nice one)
“Are you gonna make it out to our event?”
“I’m not sure…”
“Well, of course you’d be our VIP guest.”
“I’m pretty booked, and I’m not sure about flight funds right now. You guys need a photographer?”
“I don’t know… you’d have to talk to Larry about that.”

That was the conversation on Skype with one of my awesome couches, Caleb Jennings.

The next day the phone rings, “You’re NOT going to believe this! I woke up at noon, and had a Skype from Larry, ‘Can Ori shoot our event? How much?’ – I hadn’t even talked to him”

I spoke to Larry, we ironed out the details, and it was on.

If that serendipity hadn’t been enough, check this out:
I was supposed to be at a 10 day silent meditation (Vipassana) center during these times. I got put on the waiting list because I waited too long. They called me up the day before, and said I can go… but I was already booked with projects.

My flight was Thursday at 6:30am. That means I need to be at the airport at 5:30am. It’s about a 20 minute drive (there’s no traffic in Austin at 5am), so we figured we’d leave at 5am.

I figured I’d stay up all night, and just sleep on the flight.

At 10pm (CST) on Wednesday, I tweeted that I needed a place to crash, and by 2am I got a text from Angel- compliments of Aron Bender. I now feel like Angel and I are old buddies, even though we barely spent time together. That’s one beautiful aspect of Couch Surfing by the way. (You can see our photo shoot at the bottom of this blog post)

4am… I’m starting to drift off, or display symptoms of what I like to call “Keyboard Head” (’cause you fall down, and your head hits the keyboard, leaving imprints of the keys in your forehead).

“I’ll just take a small nap. It will be fine, ’cause I set my alarm, and Craig set his alarm, and he’s responsible….”
“We’re not going to make it.”
“Huh?”
“It’s 6am.”

Oh crap… guess my alarm didn’t wake me after all. *sigh* Well, no reason to stress. It was $150 for a new ticket to California for the same day. Back to sleep.

Now, instead of arriving at noon, I would arrive at 7:30pm (PT). Angel was fine with that.

This gave me time to ride with Craig to his office, pick up a paycheck for some of the recent web and design projects I did for them, and even do a quick product shoot for them. No problem on making it to the airport on time at 2pm (as compared to 6am).

The Best Part

Angel came and got me. We’ve never met. How would she find me? The traditional approach “I’m wearing a brown and white striped shirt” didn’t seem like it would make it fast enough. Angel joked around that I should be doing jumping jacks between 7:45 and 7:55. I did, and she found me very easily!

I gotta tell you, that was semi embarassing. I was nervous about doing it, being concerned about “What would people think?” and “I’ll look like an asshole”- which are great reasons to do something! In fact, the jumping jacks warmed me up, as the outside air was getting frigid. Most importantly, Angel will never forget me, and I have a funny story now!

We made it home, ate some dinner, I got my ass kicked in Super Smash Bros on the Nintendo WII by her 12 year old, and then Angel and I just sat around until 2am (4am for me) exchanging travel and adventure stories. Angel has been around the world too.

The next day was amazing, and unexpected.

I had no car. Registration for the event begins at 4:30pm. I like being early, and scoping out the scene. The Hilton (where the event woas taking place), was out of the way for Angel, as her job (Massage therapist) is the other direction.

I had Angel drop me off at “The Corner Bakery” – a coffee shop/restaurant that was near her home. There would be internet there.

The weather was so nice out! Cloudless blue sky, a high 60′s, a cool breeze, and plenty of shade from Palm trees (the only downside, the breeze kept knocking small flowers from the trees, and into my hair).

The bench I was on had WiFi reaching it in full strength. I was Facebooking, when Adriana realized that I was in California. We connected, and she figured out that I was in the OC, a few minutes from her job. She was going to meet me for lunch… ‘cept that she already ate lunch, and I wasn’t hungry.

I had already moved inside The Corner Bakery, and gotten a coffee before Adriana showed up. That would be all that I ordered from there. I got a text from Angel (who was supposed to be working until 4pm), asking if I’d like to meet up for lunch at the beach.

How perfect?! I was thinking about what a shame it is that I’m in California, at the OC, and will not be hitting the beach. Here was my opportunity.

Angel showed up, and I introduced her to Adriana (who had to go back to work) — they’ve hung out since then (I would’ve gone with, but my phone broke later in the trip, and I could not call or text).

Angel took me to her favorite beach. We had the most amazing Ahi-Tuna Sandwiches with a Wasabi Mayo sauce, and Pineaple. The view was spectacular, and I spent most of lunch doing the consulting thing, telling her the steps she can use to get many more clients,as well as raise her price.

We then went down the stairs to the beach. The tide was low, and we were walking (barefoot) along the rocks and the sand, checking out crabs, shells, and tidal pools. I even got to play with a sea snaemone (which was kind of creepy– little bugger latches on to your fingers, and tries to eat you).

Angel wanted to show me her other favorite beach, and we drove there… but I wa sgetting antsy about the time.

It was almost 4pm, and I wanted to be punctual.

We got to the Hilton.

“Do you have to go right now, or can you stick around a few minutes?” I wanted to introduce her to some of my other couches who were there– Craig Allen, Caleb Jennings, and Jason Moffatt. I called Craig, and they were at a restaurant near by called 118 Degrees.

118 is a raw food restaurant that’s upscale, and wonderful. When we arrived, our Clan (people attending the Longevity Conference) had taken up a majority of the restaurant.

The food was delightful, and very healthy. I (and most people) had ordered a coconut. The Miso soup was the best I’ve ver had. The various drinks were delicious, and the conversation was a trip. I even videotaped a light-sabre (app) battle between Steve Pavlina and Caleb Jennings, as one was on an iPhone, and one was on an a Droid.

I made sure to get a photo of Craig, Caleb, and Angel — 3 of my couches from across the country (Orange County, Las Vegas, and Austin), in one place. The energy was great- we rearranged the restaurant, and even invited people from other tables to come join us. That was because we’re talking about Twitter technologies, web trends, and marketing, while someone 2 tables away was reading a book on using twitter.

“Come, join us, I have 11,000 followers.”

I was bummed, ’cause Angel couldn’t stay– but she had already gotten a new client because of joining me…. Craig… who reported that his massage on Sunday was absolutely amazing.

The even was packed! I believe there were 500 people in attendance, and many crew. Even the internet broadcast was sold out at 500 seats. Apparently, many people care about living a long time, and David Wolfe is the industry leader.

I put my bags up in Caleb and Adam’s room. I met Adam for the 1st time at 118 Degrees, but he was one of the few people I hung out with this weekend, and before lunch was up, he had already invited me to couchsurf in Vegas. We may be doing a roadtrip to Sedona, AZ.

We checked out Larry’s room, the presidential suite. Don’t you think that it looks like Craig is peeing on the door? (he’s not)

Hanging out is fun, but I take my work seriously… so, surprisingly, I did not make a scene, wear my furry hat, or tell too many jokes (In fact, as we said our goodbye, Larry said “It sucks! We didn’t get to spend more than 2 minutes, and you didn’t get to make me laugh once!” — which is not true, ’cause I did make him laugh once, to get a nice smile from him and his stunningly hot girlfriend, Oksana, as I took their photo).

Small note- Caleb went to his first Burning Man, as did Larry and Oksana, and that’s where I met Larry and Oksana…. That’s how they knew my photography skills are so great, and that my humor so corny, witty, and mildly entertaining.

I was in professional mode. I skipped some meals, I skipped going to Au Lac (which is this amazing Vietnamese / Raw restaurant, where the head chef, Chef Ito, has taken a vow of silence, and has not spoken in 10 years. He would rather communicate what he communicates with words, with his amazing foods) multiple times, while all my friends did go.

I can not emphasize enough the importance of going to events…. they are a great way to learn what’s going on in a particular industry, but more importantly, a great way to meet like-minded individuals that can become friends, or business associates. I did not get to network too much this time, as I was way more concerned about doing a kick-ass job.

How kick-ass of a job did I do? More than 4,000 photos! Sure… some of them are blurry (I did not use a flash 98% of the time), and some are of repetitive content, but the event organizers were certainly thrilled! I got all the speakers, all the exhibitors, all the logos, all the standing ovations, all the hugs, the pushups, the book signings, the tastings, the lines out the door for the tonic bar, the folks at the tonic bar making their tonics, the production crew, the giveaways, and of course, people mingling. I was not afraid to cut through the crowd to get the shot I needed. I used my collection of lenses to get closeups when needed, and a wide-fisheye view to show what a sold-out room standing ovation looks like (Larry’s comment when seeing that photo, “Holy crap dude, it looks like there’s 5,000 people here!”– isn’t that the point? ).

I’m jumping around of course.

The days were long. began from 7:30-8:30am. I did not photograph that. I slept. I was pretty tired, as the doors opened at 9am, and the lectures went on until 10:30-11pm. People stayed for the whole thing.

Day number one, one of the first things that were lectured about was the importance of grounding. The short version is that shoes are the most lethal invention that humans have made. Basically, as humans, we’ve done everything we can to block ourselves from the Earth’s energy, which regulates a lot of our biology. We insulate ourselves from the ground by wearing rubber soled shoes most of the day and night. We have windows to block us from the good radiation from the sun (UVB, which helps the skin create Vitamin D), but does not prevent UVA, which causes cancer. Funny enough, until recently, that’s what sunscreen did… block out healthy radiation, but let in the bad stuff. So, by grounding yourself (walking barefoot, amongst other things), you are shielding yourself from solar and electronic radiation. They actually took some blood samples from these 4 ladies, and showed how blood clumps together when it is not grounded… but when you are grounded, blood flows better. They had scientific charts showing all sorts of other things that happen when you are grounded. Let’s say it this way— I want to be grounded! Of course, they sold grounding kits- bed sheets that are interwoven with silver fabric… wristbands… stomach bands… a ground pad for your feet. Many different products that you can use to ground yourself.

There were many speakers who spoke on many topics. Vitamins, Minerals, Probiotics and fermented foods, mushrooms for immunity boosts, the digestive brain vs the cerebral brain, and much more….

Since I was there shooting, I didn’t get to mingle as much as I normally do at events, but I’m cool with that. I feel great about a job well done. The event organizers love the photos, and I do feel a sense of purpose at a job well done.

— writing from the ground now –

Since my phone broke, I couldn’t text people, or call people. I didn’t even have everyone’s numbers! Since I introduced Craig and Angel, I was able to contact her through Craig’s phone on occasion. We decided that after Monday’s Elixir Masters class, I’d get a ride, and we’d do a shoot Monday morning, and then she’d take me to the airport.

The ride I got was from Carlo. Who’s Carlo? He’s my new buddy. We met recently through Facebook / Twitter– he had found me through the LiveOffGroupon contest… he made an entry, saw mine, and was sure I’d win (as was I). We chatted about it a bit, but I can not emphasize how much easier it is to get to know someone in person than over Twitter. Use social media to open doors, but then talk to people on the phone, or meet up with them.

It was really neat… we had a lot in common, and he’s just an interesting fellow. The funny thing was that he’s got this beard, and this long dreaded hair… and he felt a bit odd, as his normally odd looks blended right in at the conference.

If I hadn’t said it– this was the best looking crowd I’ve ever seen at any event… and I attend any events. I suppose it’s ’cause they all do what the speakers say, take good supplements, take a barefoot walk, exercise, watch what they eat…. and of course, now, ground themselves.

Being there certainly inspired me to eat healthier, and exercise some. But it also inspired me to focus on my goals… which are not so much business as they are travel and adventure. I thrive on consulting. I am wired for it. But, exploring new places, doing death-defying things, having new experiences… that’s what really lights me up…. so… I’m looking for travel opportunities that will inspire me. Since I realized that, there’s already talks of me going to document someone’s humanitarian efforts in Uganda. More on that when I know more.

The Elixir Masters workshop was mindblowing. It’s amazing how many herbs people can fit into a smoothie… and they know exactly what each does… you had to see all the things that these people have cured with just a good diet, and herbal drinks. This guy Truth Calkins was constantly citing Doctors, and research, and studies… He owns http://www.erewhonmarket.com/ – where they make these drinks and foods all the time, and of course the supplements and herbs that people need to make this stuff at home. I spoke to Truth, asked how he got started, and it was an amazing story. This wasn’t just a smoothie maker… this was a guy that nearly killed himself (literally) with junk food.

His parents were health nuts, and as a child he wasn’t allowed to eat processed foods (smart!). He later made up for that, by piling it on…. he got fat, ran low on energy, and suffered from depression, candida, and all sorts of other things…. he was just waiting to die– actually trying to do it by overeating the worst kind of food. He had also burnt out from being an actor and a graphic designer…. and then realized it was all in the knowledge….

Truth read everything he could… over and over… he cut out his sugars, he ate fermented foods…. let’s say it this way, he’s now 40, and I bet he gets carded for alcohol.

After the Elixir Masters, Carlo dropped me off at Angels. Seth was there, Angel was there, her kids were there….. we had dinner, and then just sat around chatting. I made Seth (Angel’s boyfriend) a website, and demonstrated how easy a WordPress site is to control. It already looks better- he took to it like a fish to water.

The next morning we did our shoot… in a very little bit of time.

I’ve been really productive about catching up on work. Perhaps that healthy food has me thinking more clearly?

—

Crap…. forgot to hit Publish… ’cause I wanted to add the gallery… lots of separate projects, aka.. distractions.  So, here’s the gallery– and I’ve lost a few pounds already by just eating healthy again, jogging a tiny bit, and I feel great.  When I did my 30 day raw, I also made sure to get a full night’s sleep each night (Which is generally not the norm for me).

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After enough Margaritas I started hoolahooping in the middle of a bar.  In case you’re thinking that it’s unprofessional to go out for Margaritas the day before the project is due, know that my client insisted on it, and bought the first few rounds.  Got the project done, and on time.  Worked till the very last minute… got it to FedEx with a whole 3 minutes left!  Hooray teamwork!

Notice a difference between these photos?

“Ori is the first photographer to get pictures of me that actually look like me. #onereasonheisawesome” Elizabeth Potts Weinstein wrote this after seeing the first photo I sent her from our weekend’s shoot.

I had promised her that I would give her a different look.  Maybe I’m a photo elitist, but I thought her old photos were pretty generic, and certainly did not capture her personality.

The outfits were corporate (turns out she didn’t even own a tshirt, and hasn’t worn one in about 10 years), the smiles seemed fake.  These photos did not say to me “I am adventurous, like to enjoy life, and even used to go spelunking!”

When I found out that EPW didn’t even own a tshirt, I immediately made sure that all our shots were in tshirts…. which led to an interesting phenomenon… Elizabeth actually had an awkward moment… she has not worn a tshirt in so long, that it felt alien to her.  She even looked different.

Once we got past outfits, I rummaged through my stuff… what would be different than corporate looking pics?  How about swords, helmets, skateboards, vodka, and wearing silly hats?  Oh yeah, let’s not forget Ziplining. 

I had to coach EPW through making faces, being more expressive, helping the camera capture that you’re having fun.  What do you think? Is there a difference between the two slideshows (other than my logo) ?

Since then, EPW has purchased 3 fun tshirts.  I also gave her other homework, such as practicing expressions in the mirror.  This is something I recommend you try as well, especially if you do video, or are in photos often.

Fun photos are one of the benefits of having me couchsurf with you, or coming to adventure with me.

This first slideshow shows you Elizabeth’s “Before” photos…

This slideshow shows you pictures that I took.

This normal for Burning Man

Everyone always asks me about Burning Man.  It’s a whole other world.  Here’s a glimpse into a normal moment at Burning Man.  You wake up (if you’ve gone to sleep), you wonder where the giant cannon that was next to your tent has gone.  There’s the usual people biking by in their costumes, the music coming from all directions as mutant vehicles drive by, and then you see a bunch of people from camp walking hurriedly to the next camp.  Something is up! You investigate.

Our camp was “Lego Land” – titled so because we had a house that looked like it was made of Legos, and a whole bunch of “life-size” Legos for people to come and build with (they took days and day to build!) – and it had an awesome location: 9  o’clock and Esplanade (right on the playa). I walked past the Lego house (which I was camped directly behind), and voila… there’s the cannon! With a big group of people smiling from ear to ear.  Oh yes, this was going to be good.  I forgot that I was tired and had just woken up. Cannon, Flame Thrower, Smiles….

I don’t really need to get to descriptive with the process- the photos will do a much better job telling the story, though… if you must ask:

• The cannon is built on the same technology as a potato gun.
• The flame thrower is hooked up to a propane tank.
• The Cabbage Patch Kids light up MUCH better after you douse them in Kerosene….
• You don’t want to do this at home

Enjoy the photos, and leave some comments.

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Meet Ingrid Vanderveldt: she’s hot, she races motorcycles, she starts companies, she jumps out of planes, she interviews famous entrepreneurs (like me   ), she laughs at my jokes!  What else can you ask for?  I got it– she gives great interview!  I learned that when you get along with your interviewer, you have a fun interview!  This is my most fun (set of) interview(s) thus far.Part 1: How to be a professional Couch Surfer

Part 2: CouchSurfingOri – The most highly skilled hobo in history.

Part 3: CouchSurfingOri “You can never fail, you can only quit!”

Part 4: Bonus, with slightly crappy audio, but pretty fun / funny!

The great thing is…. I was interviewed by IV while I was Couch Surfing at Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos.com)’s house.  He was supposd to be on her show but had to cancel.  She was interviewing Peter Shankman right before me, and I was supposed to crash on his couch when in NY, but I had to cancel.  So… we need to swap!  Additional coolness from the universe, IV and I were BOTH going to be in Austin, TX the next week!  So…. we actually got to meet, and I did an interview with her!  She is so cool!  Just as fun in person as on her show.   You can follow Ingrid on twitter at:  http://www.Twitter.com/OnTheRoadWithIV

I have to admit, I was smiling from ear to ear! This was nothing like seeing it on TV. You could feel the cold (trust me!) — it even started to snow on us! Across from us were the VIP’s, they certainly got good seats, as all the performances were right in front of them… but we were on the opposite side of the streets, got to move around, and had all the performers facing us. It was totally worth facing the cold. I did have to bear a little more cold than usually, in that I was shooting so much, that I filled up 16GB of memory in no time. I was shooting on two cameras, one wide-angle, and one telephoto. I was forced to “juggle” cards… i.e. move one card that had some space on it between the two cameras- depending on the shot I needed… while deleting shots that were not necessarily keepers on the other camera. Oh yeah… I guess I forgot to mention that to juggle, I had taken off my gloves.

I marked this entry in the “Good deeds” category, and here’s why: After the Plain White Tees rehearsed, we got them to call Couch #4, Delilah, and leave her a “Happy Thanksgiving, apparently we wrote a song about you” voicemail. We invited them back to the suite if they wanted to do a photoshoot… sounds a little creepy, but you don’t know if you don’t ask. They were swamped with their schedule. I appreciate life on the road, but then again, I make my own schedule.

I could not stop smiling when the Ringling Brothers circus came out — especially since they did the practice twice, then did the in-costume presentation. I was 2 feet from the back-flipping dogs! I was running through the clown, talking to the ring leader, having some clowns pose for me…. not to mention the show itself was highly entertaining! It was a preview of their live show at the United Center: Bellobration! It’s called that, because the show’s written around the antics of the head clown, Bello Nock (google him, this guy is amazing!). He is not just a clown, and can (and does) perform amazing feats of acrobatics, physical comedy, and much more.

There were clips performed from Phantom of the Opera, Scrooged… er… the movie it was based on (christmas past, etc), the charleston, some singing about Chicago, Soviet dancing, spirit squads, and then there were many other performances performed as floats or marching groups went by… such as poi, and rock-bands. Jessie White’s Tumblers were awesome! I gotta learn how to do the stuff they do!

Here’s some slideshows for you. Just know that we went back to the hotel for a nice hot Jacuzzi session after all that snow!

Since it was the Ronald McDonald Thanksgiving Day Parade, here’s the pics I took of that clown.

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Since they were kind enough to call Delilah and leave a voicemail for me, I’ll give the Plain White Tees their own section. Thanks guys!

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Performances:

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Circus:

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Banners:

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Marchers and interesting people:

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Floats:

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A tiny bit behind the scenes:

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And.. what parade is complete without a crowd?

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