5/31/2007: Marianne Assigns "Mailbox Critic" to ToddO

You are to find six random mailboxes. Attached to three of these mailboxes you will leave a note describing why you love their mailbox…and attached to the other three mailboxes you will leave a note saying why you don’t like their mailbox.
Requirements: You must either write a copy of your six letters and then post them or video/audio of yourself reading the note as you place it on the boxes. The letters must be fastened where the homeowner will find it. And you must either have pictures or video of you with each mailbox.

5/31/2007: Marianne Has Completed "Homemade Auto"

Today I started out shopping for my supplies and calling friends and family for the things on the list that couldn’t be bought. Not one of my friends had a shrunken voodoo head though. So I was stuck not knowing what I was going to hang from the rearview mirror. I needed to get into MacGyver mode if I wanted to finish this task so I started rummaging around my house and garage and surprisingly came up with a good bit of things from the list.

Here’s what I used:

An action figure (1)
A Frisbee (4)
A shoe (2)
A banana peel (1)
A kitchen chair (1)
A rug (1)
A used syringe (10)
An umbrella (1)
A vase (1)
A potted plant (1)
A roll of electrical tape (6)
A length of rope (1 foot)
A printed copy of this task (1)
An 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper (2)
A leprechaun (1)
A box of Lucky Charms (1)
A pack of firecrackers (1)
A wagon (1)
A cardboard box (1)
A package of markers (1)


Here I am eating the banana so I can use the peel:




























I was pretty naive when I started this task. Did you know that the axles aren’t directly fastened to the base of an auto? I wish I would have known this before I wasted the 2x4’s. I decided that I would ask my father, who’s a mechanic, for some tips. I felt as though I was more than prepared to do this task.



Here are some things I learned today:
The planning and construction of an auto may be approached in many ways. The experienced wood craftsman will find the experience a great project and people who know nothing about autos (like me), may find it just a little challenging.

When I started out I had a good plan, however, cutting the pieces was a pain and just plain wrong for anyone to ever have to do. Had I thought of using a pencil to draw an outline, I might have had this one.

It’s been discovered over the years that autos with a longer wheelbase can be faster than shorter wheelbase autos. Had people not kept this a secret from me my auto would be faster.
Here’s a picture of me putting the tailpipe on:

It’s a delicate balance to keep your auto upright and through trial and error I have discovered that a helmet is an important element when test driving your auto.

The wheels are an important element in the auto. The biggest problem is that you must insure that the wheels roll smoothly, in a straight line and roll very easily. There isn’t much you can do to correct a bad wheel when there’s a time constraint. I have given up all hope and settled for roundish.
It is necessary to have a way to stop your auto something I did not think about until I was rolling.
Having used all newly acquired auto-making skills, this is what I came up with in this video clip:

Homemade Auto (Very High: 105.6 MB)

5/30/2007: Marianne Accepts "Homemade Auto"

Plywood and I don't get along too well but there's something to be said about Tim Duncan's rookie card. I will do my best to get this rolling and hopefully not lose any kids while I'm at it.

5/30/2007: Stephen Assigns "Homemade Auto" To Marianne

Your task is to build a homemade automobile, using items from a list that I will supply you.
Requirements: You must build an automobile out of the list of items that I am going to supply you. It needs to be as life-sized as you can get it. You must try to make it really function as much as possible, though I think we'll all be happy if you can just make it look halfway decent and maybe roll. You need to fully describe the process of building the auto and what you used. You also need to provide plenty of pictures of the construction process and the final product and, if possible, a video of you trying to drive it. Here are the items you can use. The number in parentheses to the right indicates how many of that item that you can use. You can use any tools to alter these materials.

A bed mattress (1)
A sheet of plywood (2)
A (up to) 10 foot 2x4 (8)
A lawn chair (2)
A 5 gallon bucket (4)
A broomstick (2)
A metal bar (up to) 10 foot long (2)
An old tire (4)
An action figure (1)
A frisbee (4)
A shoe (2)
A backpack (1)
A banana peel (2)
A sofa (1)
A kitchen chair (2)
A rug (1)
A taxidermied animal (17)
A used syringe (48)
A venetian blind (2)
A piece of plexiglass (2)
An umbrella (6)
A microphone stand (2)
A screw (50)
A nail (50)
A shrunken voodoo head (50)
A painting (1)
A vase (4)
A potted plant (2)
A garden hose (1)
A length of rope (up to) 100 feet long (1)
A box of dental floss (2)
A roll of electrical tape (10)
A tube of caulk (10)
A Tim Duncan rookie card (1)
A printed copy of this task (1)
An 8.5x11 sheet of paper (500)
An old telephone (1)
An empty medicine bottle (40)
A bottle of glue of any kind (2)
A coupon for Shake And Bake (1)
A packet of mild sauce from Taco Bell (7500)
A leprechaun (1)
A box of lucky charms (2)
A four leaf clover (4)
A pot of gold (1)
A rainbow (1)
A trophy (4)
A door (2)
A window (4)
A titmouse (9)
A small length of white string (9)
A pack of firecrackers (9)

In addition, you may use 3 items not listed, but you can only use one of each of these items.

5/30/2007: Stephen Has Completed "Penny For Your Food"

Ok, this was a pretty crazy task. I put what I thought was $5.50 of pennies in a ziploc bag.


Then I went to New China restaurant in Morganton. Tyson met me there to help out. I ordered the Chicken Chow Mein. It came to $5.30


The cashier girl was as nice as she could be about it. Tyson and I started stacking pennies on the counter, while customers came and went. Somehow I badly miscounted when putting the pennies in my bag, as I was 14 cents short, so I pulled the classic run out to the car and grab more pennies. The pennies can be seen on the right side of the counter in this pic.


I don't know what she did with the pennies afterwards, cause she did not start picking them up before we left. Here's a better closeup shot of most of them.


Here's a shot of Tyson and I afterwards, as I held the empty ziploc bag and my take out order.


I also had a first. My fortune cookie was empty. What does that mean? :(


But that's not all. I have, for you, the uncut audio from the entire transaction. It is around 15 minutes long, so load it up and listen along while you are surfing the net.
Pennies For Your Food (6.7 MB)

5/29/2007: Stephen Accepts "Penny For Your Food"

Wow, that's a mean task! I will give it a shot though. Forgive me for not being more timely or eloquent, as I just spent the last 7 hours dancing with photoshop.

5/29/07: Allison assigns "Penny for your food" to Stephen

Stephen, your task is to go to a gas station, eatery or just anywhere where you have to buy something, and spend $5.00 or more on something, but paying with pennies only.

Requirements: Spend $5.00 or more using pennies only, and the pennies can not be in rolls. To get 500 pennies, you may have to go to a bank, but that shouldn't be too hard. Tell us how the cashier reacted, and how the people behind you in line (if there were any) reacted.

Be sure to count slow so you don't have to start over counting..

5/29/07: Allison has completed "Perfect Hair"

In doing today's task I have come to two realizations. One: people at my office do not pay near enough attention to my hair. Two: my hair sucks for playing around with because it's too thick.

From 12 to 1 I was at home for lunch, and the cats didn't seem to care too much what my hair looked like.
12:00-(click for larger)


At one I went back to work with the pigtails and got a "Hey, you weren't wearing pigtails earlier!" But that was all the comment I got for that.
1:00-


No one paid any attention to the 2:00 except for an odd glance here and there..
2:00-


The 3:00 hairstyle was the oddest I had, with a "Nice hair" and few second glances..
3:00-


The 4:00 started out as a few random bobs but as time wore on, one of the bobs fell making it look more like a fullet (fake mullet). I had a 20 minute conversation with a coworker during this time who did not notice the hair. Either that or she didn't care. Another of coworkers giggled at me, and someone asked me why I kept changing my hair..
4:00-

and then-


When I got home a got a "what the hell did you do to your hair?" from my boyfriend. That was nice. :)

All in all it's fun to wear hairstyles I don't normally wear. The half braid, half knot at 3:00 was my favorite, so maybe I'll wear that one again!

529/07: Allison Accepts "Perfect Hair"

I'm glad you put 12 to 5 because I didn't see this post until this morning at work and I didn't have my camera with me, but since I can go home at lunch, I will definitely be able to take pictures of this task. Sounds like fun, I hope I can get some good reactions.

5/29/2007: Nathan Assigns "Perfect Hair" to Allison

Todays task is for you to change you hairstyle in crazy ways each hour on the hour.

Requirements: You will need to change you hairstyle each hour on the hour starting at 12 noon and going to 5:00 PM. Try to think of unusual hairstyles that you really don't think you would ever wear. Take a picture each time you have a different hairstyle. I detail explain how people reacted, what was in your hair, and the style and how long it took to fix.

Remember to have fun and "Work It Girl!"

P.S. I am sorry to inform you that this will be my last task for a while. I am getting married and will need some time to do married life things. I will be back in July if you still need someone. If not then let the person that fills in finish out the season, so they can have as much fun as I have had with you guys. Thanks for all the laughs, Nathan.

5/28/2007: Nathan has Completed" Mr Owl Discovers the Truth"

I kinda had to hurry with this one and really didn't give my best effort. I had to help the parents open the pool today and do a bunch of yard work on top of that. I did manage to get the task done. I went to the store and picked up three tootsie pops, red, blue, and orange. I took the blue one out of the package and started to lick. I got about half way through it and I had to go out and help with the pool. I came back in and finished the job. I got to the center in about 250 licks, give or take about 3. The sucker middle still wasn't truly in the middle either. That might be a factor to question. I then too out the red one and started in on it, only this time I went for the bigger ring on the outside of the sucker. I picked the deepest part of the candy, because it took an amazing 650 licks to get to the center. My tongue by this time was pretty dang sore. Plus my mouth was dry from all the yard work. I still had the orange one to go I thought I would try something to ease the soreness of my tongue. I put cube of ice on it for like and hour till I couldn't feel my tongue then started in on the sucker. After about 100 licks I could see a dent, after 200 the numbness started to wear off, and finally the end was in site. 363 licks later I tasted the chocolate center.
I had a good time with this one, but I will have to let my tongue heal before I get another food one. Yall have a good time while I am off becoming a man.
P.S. sorry no pictures really didn't have time to with all that was going on.

5/28/2007: Nathan Accepts "Mr. Owl Discovers the Truth"

This is going to make my tongue bleed. I have always seen the commercials, but never had the desire to really try this, but I guess I do now. I will give it my best without cheating and see what happens.

Cast Order For The Week Of 5/28/2007

As you can see, we took on a 6th cast member during the last week and she did a fantastic job on her first task. In fact, I now have the videos processed and up on the site. Here are the links. They are also linked on her original post.
On Safari! (High Quality)
On Safari! (Low Quality)
And of course, here is the cast order for the next week. We will be needing a replacement for about a month for Nathan, as he is getting married this coming Saturday.
Monday: Nathan
Tuesday: Allison
Wednesday: Stephen
Thursday: Marianne
Friday: Todd
Saturday: Brad

5/26/2007: Marianne Assigns "Mr. Owl Discovers The Truth" To ?

Today you’re going to help everyone answer the question: How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?
Requirements: No cheating! If you bite, lose count, or suck instead of lick, you need to start all over. You need to have variables of course, so use the average of three. That means you will have to lick three suckers without any oops. Tell us in full detail how many suckers you used, why you needed to start over and of course how many licks it takes. Pictures or video would be nice but not required.

5/26/2007: Marianne Has Completed "On Safari!"

It sure was an interesting day to say the least. If the people in my town don’t think I’m nuts than they’re nuts! I started off trying to observe people in regular places like gas stations and grocery stores but it didn’t work because people weren’t standing around long enough for me to capture them on film. I ended up filming at a park next to the zoo.
I dressed in my finest safari clothes and set off to watch an interesting mix of people. You can’t tell by the video but people stopped to watch at each location. You can hear them in the background and you can see me trying to get out of each location pretty fast, since I don’t know all the technicalities on stalking laws.
Filming five people was harder than I thought it would be. People move way too fast for me to be able to comment on their behaviors. In most pictures I just let their actions speak for themselves.
Here is the video:
On Safari! (High: 21.3 MB)
On Safari! (Low: 6.4 MB)

5/25/2007: Marianne Accepts "On Safari!"

Crickey! This sounds like a lot of fun. Those poor unsuspecting people! Thanks for a fun one to start me off. I'm looking forward to many more.

5/25/2007: Nathan Assigns "On Safari!" To Marianne

You must film a documentary safari style.
Requirements: You must go around your local community/town/city and find various people to film (at least 5). You should pretend to hide from them (behind bushes, walls, etc.) like a nature documentarian and describe these people/their habitat/their habits/what they are doing (stuff a nature documentarian would talk about when referring to animals). If possible, dress up in safari gear, but it is not required. When done, describe the experience in your post and include a link to your video.

Have fun on this first task and remember to think "What would Steve Irwin Do?".

5/25/2007: Nathan Has Completed "You Wanna Trade?"

I started out the day wandering what in the world I was going to be able too start trading to people that they would actually want. I was going to start with the rubber band, but thought that if they wanted a rubber band they could just go get one. after thinking a little I thought what better thing to start with than a simple penny.

Then I traded that to a guy that had a pocket full of change for a nickel.





Then I went to a woman the vending machine a asked if she would trade the nickel for a dime. She thought what the heck, but she agreed.




Then I went to the back of the plant to a guy that I knew would love to have the dime to buy him a cup of coffee, so I traded him the dime for a quarter.




Then I went out and saw a lady with some Pop Tarts To Go, so i traded the quarter for one of her pop tarts.





Then I went to a guy that I knew loved to eat. I saw that he had a half empty bottle of Dasani drinking water, so I traded the water for the pop tart.




Then I thought I know a guy that recycles, so I will see what he would trade me. I went to him and he had a pen laying on his desk, so I told him that the bottle emptied could be his for the pen. Wouldn't you know it he jumped all over that trade.




So I ended up with a pen with like one hour left to work. I knew I had enough time for one more trade. I saw a guy working with a calculator and thought I wonder if he knows how to write out the things he is typing in. I went for the opportunity. I told him I would trade the nice looking pen for the calculator. Like a sucker I reeled him into the deal.


This is where I stand with one calculator. I know that I could have went bigger, but when you work in a place like I do you will take what you get.

I liked the task, but really didn't have the resources to go bigger, who knows I might take what I ended up with and go out and see what the world has to offer.

Thanks Todd for getting ME out of the rut of my daily routine at work.

5/25/2007: Nathan Accepts "You Wanna Trade?"

I am going to give this my all. I will probably end up with only small things since I will be at work and the people here are like the stingiest people I have ever meet. I am still excited about getting to see what I can get when starting from something small.

5/24/2007: Todd Assigns "You wanna trade?" to Nathan

Nathan, you may have heard of OneRedPaperClip (oneredpaperclip.com). Kyle Macdonald started with a red paper clip and over the course of a year, he traded that paperclip and kept trading until he finally traded for a house.

Your task for the day is to begin with a small item around your house/office (a rubber band would work well) and trade as many times as you can during the day. Each trade should be a trade to get something better than what you had before. Let's see what you can get by the end of the day!

I'd like you to document each trade by taking a picture of the item that you are trading for. So you should have a picture of the beginning item and then all the items you acquired in your trades.



Post your pictures and description of the day's activities.



..and Have fun!

5/24/2007: Todd Has Completed "Photo Scavenger Hunt"

This task was fun!
(Click for larger images)
I started out the day searching for things to take pictures of. On my way to work, I came across this sign and thought it was kinda funny.
Really who do these people honestly think they are calling these kids "slow"!





The next thing that I found was the yellow car/truck. The first one I saw was a yellow hummer, I thought to myself "Sweet! A perfect opportunity!" But then the light changed before I could get the camera out and I missed it.
This car was driving around some time yesterday afternoon, so I settled for it:





There is a family in my neighborhood that let their kids ride around the streets in a golf cart. I was hoping they'd be out today when I was on the way home. As I came to the cul de sac where they lived, the kids were in the front yard and I quickly drove by and snapped a shot of the golf cart. The woman standing in the front door gave me a suspicious look, but nobody followed me home so I think I'm safe!





I had to go to Wal-Mart (and I can go to Wal-Mart since I'm not banned for life), so I figured that would be a great place to get alot of this done. I hope the security cameras don't flag me as suspicious!
On the way to Wal-Mart we made a stop at Little Caesar's. I told the guy what I was doing and asked if I could take a picture of just a pizza box. He looked at me funny and said "Uuhh, surrrre!" So here's a hot-n-ready in all its glory.





So we got to Wal-Mart and headed for the electronics. I knew I could find an Xbox 360 there since we only have a PS2 at home. Lookie what I found:





Next stop was the toy aisle where I came across these gems:



And idn't he soo cute?





Then we left wal-Mart and headed home. I found a home plate from a TBall set that we bought the kids a few years ago.





And last, but not least, this lucky rabbits foot was a christmas gift for my wife (from my son I should add) a few years ago. The school let them earn money to buy christmas gifts for their parents from the school gift shop. She got a lucky rabbits foot and I got a dinosaur fossil stuck in some kind of green goop.

Those were some of the best gifts we ever got, seriously!

5/24/2007: Todd Chooses "Photo Scavenger Hunt" from the Refusal Pool

I am going to choose "Photo Scavenger Hunt" from the refusal pool.

I was already looking for things to take pictures of on my way to work this morning. I'll have to go out on my lunch break and see if I can find 7 of the 10 items.

I hope you're doing O.K., Brad!

5/23/2007: Brad Cannot Complete "Braveheart Reencatment"

Wasn't completed due to sickness, but never made up.

5/22/2007: Stephen Assigns "Braveheart Reenactment" To Brad

Reenact the major battle scene from Braveheart.
Requirements: Gather as many friends or people as you can to a field or park. You will be William Wallace and they will be your army. Give a speech, paint your face, throw a "sword", etc. Try to reenact the famous battle scene of the movie as best you can. Obviously, you need to try to post video if at all possible. Otherwise, multiple pictures will be ok.

5/22/2007: Stephen Has Completed "Bad British Accent"

Ello mates. Stephen here with me task. Well I spoke with me bad accent to a few diamond geezers around the office today, but it wasn't to eventful friends. You can check out a sound byte I recorded here, I did:
Stephen's Bad British Accent (715 KB)

5/21/2007: Stephen Accepts "Bad British Accent"

Ello, ello my loves. I do accept this task on behaf of me wounded brotha I doeth.
That dose-ent make any sense it don't.

5/21/07: Allison assigns "Bad British Accent" to Stephen

Stephen, I know you do a smashing British accent, but tomorrow you need to spend the day doing a bad British accent.
Requirements: Provide video or sound proof of yourself speaking in a bad british accent. You must speak this way until 4:30 pm. I know you'll be at the office and there will be instances when it just wouldn't be prudent to use this accent, so you must at least speak this way to 5 different people. Tell us who, and how they reacted.
Pip Pip, cheerio, and all that.

5/21/07: Allison has Completed "What 'Chu Talkin' Bout Rutless"

Well, this task wasn't too difficult. I was at my office all day and most of the people at my office are pretty relaxed when it comes to Stephen and I doing weird things, like saying "What chu talkin bout Willis?" all day. I made a pretty mosaic of pictures of Gary to hang on my cubicle wall, and I had a cool picture from his governor campaign (when he ran for governor of California). There is a video of me saying the phrase to one of my coworkers (who can't actually be seen :( ). I called Stephen to leave a voice mail proclaiming my thoughts about Gary. Hopefully, he'll be able to upload that soundbite for ya. Until then, here are my pictures and video!




Video

5/21/07: Allison Accepts "What Chu' Talkin' Bout Rutless?"

It may be tough to get audio since I don't have any sort of audio equipment, but I'll take a picture of my computer background and my office wall. My coworkers will have to give an account on whether I actually said these things :).

Cast Order For The Week Of 5/21/2007

Here's the order for the next week:
Monday: Allison
Tuesday: Stephen
Wednesday: Brad
Thursday: Todd
Friday: Nathan
Saturday: 6th Spot?

5/18/2007: Stephen Assigns "What Chu' Talkin' Bout Rutless?" To ?

You must pretend to have an unhealthy obsession with Gary Coleman for the day.
Requirements: You must play the role of someone who is obsessed with Gary Coleman until at least 4:30pm. You must do the following things, at a minimum, to meet this requirement: 1 - You must try to add Gary Coleman into all of your conversations today. Talk about him and use his signature catch phrase "What chu' talkin' bout -insert name here- ?" as much as possible. In your post, describe ways in which you worked Gary Coleman and his phrase into your day to day conversations. You are also welcome to post audio for this, if you are able. 2 - You must set your computer wallpaper to a picture of Gary Coleman and leave it set as such until the time is up. Take a picture of your computer with this new wallpaper and show it in your post. 3 - You must create a collage of images, articles, etc. related to Gary Coleman on either your office or bedroom wall. You need to use at least 15 such items in your collage. Leave the collage up until the time is up. Take a picture of the collage and show it in your post. 4 - Finally, we want to hear you say it. You must record yourself saying "What chu' talkin' bout Willis?" and post the audio file in your post. Here is the wikipedia article for Gary Coleman, just to get you started: Gary Coleman Wikipedia Article.

5/18/2007: Stephen Has Completed "Handicap Concert"

This one turned out to not be all that difficult. After lunch with the gang from work, Allison accompanied me to a handicap spot in front of Steinmart and she filmed the video of me singing "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (I had a karaoke CD of it). I did it in the original key and it was hard on my voice, but that was for the good since it projected well. While you don't see many people looking at me on the video, off to the viewer's left, there were about 8 people over the course of the song that stopped to listen, including one black guy who stood there for a large part of the song listening. I actually quite enjoyed doing this one. Here's the video:
Handicap Concert (High: 11.2 MB)

5/18/2007: Update: Nathan's "Fountain of Youth" Video Is Up

Nathan's fountain of youth video is finally edited and is now up up. Click the link below to see it:
"Fountain of Youth" (Medium)

5/17/2007: Stephen Chooses "Handicap Concert" From The Refusal Pool

Ok here is the one I am picking.

7. "Handicap Concert"
Pull into a handicap spot, sit there, with all windows rolled all the way down, and sing a song that is at least 3 minutes long, then leave.
Requirements: Video of the skit.

This should be fun; I've just got to pick a good location.

5/17/2007: Brad Cannot Complete "Jedi Mind Trick"

This task, sadly, wasn't posted until sometime this morning. I've been on the go (left the house at 6am to goto court with my sister, went directly to school 4 hours later, went directly to work 5 hours later, and just got home. I wish I would have received it last night. Today would have been a great day to do this. I have to be up early for a flight to Atlanta for training, so I am headed to bed. Looks like you get to pick something from the refusal pool. I am a sad Brad. :,-(

5/17/2007: Todd Assigns "Jedi Mind Trick" To Brad

I'm in a Star Wars mood, so... Bradi Wan, Today your task is to be a Jedi.

If anyone asks, your name today is Bradi Wan Kenubi. You should use a Jedi mind trick as often as possible.
If the waitress tells you your bill is $5.00, convince her that it's really $3.50 and so on.
You should tell of at least 3 definite times that you used the mind trick on a weak minded fool. (Insert Jabba laugh)

Take this as far as you want, but make sure to take pictures and or video of your mind tricks in progress if at all possible.
Give a recount of what people thought of your new name and how they responded to your mind tricks!

..and may the force be with you!