7/22/2007: Stephen Assigns "This Is... Bill" To The Cast of Rutless

Your task is to film a stunt/skit for "This Is... Bill".
Just in case you have never watched This Is... Bill, here is the link to the videos: This Is... Bill Videos
This Is... Bill is the flagship of the Billtvshow.com website and original reason for the site. It is a Jackass style show that we produced back in the early 2000's. We have been talking about doing a third season for a long time and we even have filmed some good stuff for a third season, but we need a lot more and things have grown stagnant. Thus, I am throwing this task out there. Everyone on the cast must film a This Is... Bill style skit or stunt. If it is good enough, it could be featured in the third season. Suggestions: Public pranks, physical harm, hilarious acting. Watch the videos for ideas. (We've got eating skits covered for this season btw ;P)
Try not to duplicate or imitate our old ideas and try to be fresh and original, but within the Bill style. All submissions obviously must be video. Don't do anything to risk your well-being or life and we are not responsible for any injuries, the decision on what you do is ultimately up to you. All individuals involved must submit a video in which they are a star of the stunt or skit. Therefore, if you happen to film this along with other Rutless cast members, you will need to film a skit/stunt for each of you, so we should end up with 6 videos in the end. Have fun and don't die! You have two weeks to complete this one (August 4th).

7/22/2007: Todd completes "Telephone, Telly Font".... sort of..

I had 21 teenagers on Friday night for a Youth Lock-in. We had a blast and we played quite a few games. I was going to insert this game in the place of one of the other games we had planned, however they didn't want to play "Telephone"... try as I may.
It's my own fault really, I let them play a game called "Underground church" where there were 4 teens who were the "cops" and the rest of the group were christians. The cops were trying to keep the christians from getting into their church (which was one room in the actual church building). They chased each other and dragged each other to "jail" all night long. Little did I know how popular this game would be! Some of these kids had some repressed anger/cruelty to release. Whenever one of the christians would get thrown in jail, they were tortured by having to sing a song out of tune or stand on their head or say the alphabet backwards (fun toture!).

We also played a game called "Spew" with Alka-Seltzer and Ginger ale. Put the two in your mouth together and the last one to spew wins! Hilarious!

Another game we played was "Cracker ping-pong". You put a ping-pong ball in the middle of a table and two contestants on opposite sides of the table. When I said go, each contestant would put a cracker in their mouth and the first one to blow the ping-pong ball off of the other side of the table won. Needless to say, they probably spit more cracker on their opponent than they ended up eating!

All in all, it was a very fun and tiring night. I had no idea how old I had gotten until I tried chasing 21 teenagers around the church building. I'm actually surprised that I could almost keep up with them speed-wise, but I paid the price for it yesterday afternoon. I had more muscles hurting than I knew I had.

I didn't get to play the "telephone" game, but they wanted to play underground church about 5 times. So, this night was definitely out of my rut and that's the point, isn't it!? :D

7/20/2007: Stephen Assigns "Telephone, Telly Font" To Todd

You must play a game of telephone with at least 6 people, including yourself.
The game is telephone. All the players get in a circle. The first person has a phrase and they whisper it to the next person and it continues around the circle until it gets to the last person and they must then say the phrase out loud. Odds are, it will have changed since the start and that is the fun of the game. You must use the 5 phrases that I provide you. A few things to remember: Whispers only. Only whisper the phrase once to the next person. Be ready to write down the resulting phrase so that you can post it here for us later. Post reactions and possibly audio if you can.
The 5 phrases you must use:
1. Mahogany tables don't look good painted fuschia.
2. Canteloupes are good for you in the morning.
3. Storm surge is up to over sixteen feet.
4. Cabin fever is contagious in many parts of the southeast.
5. My midichlorian count is well over a thousand parts per million.

7/20/2007: Stephen Has Completed "Trick This!"

Well, when I started out, this seemed near impossible to do. I started out trying to do it off of the ground and then off a tee. I looked like a duck flailing as it was mauled by a wolverine. Then I tried hitting the ball off of the driving range mat, with a slight incline in it. I kept going under the ball and it would simply roll backwards. Then I put Tyson's wallet in front of it and tried that and eventually I got it to flop backwards just a few feet. But, overall, up to that point, it was a failure. Little did I know the kid in the video had actually stacked two balls on top of each other. This is exactly what the driving range owner suggested, so I did that and that worked fantastically. In fact, all 3 were higher than the kid's shot in the video. I didn't even think about him catching it in the video until after I just rewatched it. That wouldn't have been hard to do either, I just wasn't trying to. Anyways, check out the video.
Golf Trick (Medium: 3.97 MB)

7/20/2007: Nathan Assigns "Trick This" To Stephen

Your task is to try to recreate a golf trick shot I saw on YouTube.

Requirements: Video yourself trying to recreate this golf trick shot. GOLF TRICK SHOT I might suggest trying it with plastic balls instead of real ones, so not to loose any balls in the process. If your get good at it then try to do it with real golf balls and film that for a later post if you want to.

Have fun with this and I want to see it next time on the course.

7/19/2007: Nathan Has Completed "Micheal Vick"

This was the craziest thing I have done yet. I think the people around here think I am crazy now. I tried to explain myself to a couple of the people, but they didn't want to hear it.

I went first to the local park and started to hand them out to people that were walking around the walking park. I got a couple of no think yous and one or two "Is this for real". I did happen to get one teenager to take it and said that he would come. I had to explain myself then. I told him that if he could fine the place then he could come, but don't expect me there. I put one up on the bathrooms at the park just to say I was there.

I then went to a grocery store and went around the parking lot putting them on windows of cars. I got a old man mad and he told me I better get out of here and not to come back with crap like this.

So I finally went to the local Burger King and asked the guy behind the cash register to put one up in the restaurant. He went and got the manager and she told me that if this was for real then she was going to commit me to Broughton. I finally had to confess that I was doing it for a task on a website and she laughed and tried to play along the best she could.

In all the task was interesting to see how people reacted when a normal guy went and handed out what would be a crime in this town. I am glad that I won't see these people to much or they would start spreading a rumor about me.

Here is the flyer:

7/19/2007: Nathand Accepts "Micheal Vick"

I think this will be an easy one that I can do with the wife away on in service. I hope that I can make it unbelievable enough where people won't really take me for real.

7/18/07: Allison Assigns "Michael Vick" to Nathan

Your task is to make a fictional animal fight at a fictional location in Hudson, and to pass out fliers to a few people to let them know about your fictional fight. Michael Vick was recently indicted for owning a house where dog fighting took place, so it inspired me.

Your animals can be anything you want. Cats, Zebras, Ligers, or something you make up will do just fine. Just make sure you use a fictional location in Hudson (the town where Nathan lives) so that people don't try to arrest anyone :)

Post a copy of your flier for us to see and tell us people's reactions to this animal fight.

7/18/07: Allison Completes "Puppet Paparazzi"

Today I followed Blipple, the sock puppet. She was made from my boyfriend's sock and some Sharpies. She is named Blipple because when her arms were drawn on, they looked more like blue nipples rather than arms.

Blipple is a socialite movie star who is 21. She just turned 21 after having complete a 45 day stint in rehab for drunk driving.

First Blipple woke up and hung around with her on again boyfriend Beefcake for a while:


Then we followed her to the Ivy, where she had some nachos and water for lunch. And a cigarette, because that's what socialites eat.


Then she talked on the phone for a while:


After a pretty productive day of being a socialite, Blipple then decided to go the Pure Nightclub. Considering she just got out of Alcohol Rehab, we were shocked and appalled to see the 21 year old drinking beer!!


OH the scandal! Someone call Perez Hilton!!

7/17/2007: Marianne Assigns “Puppet Paparazzi” to Allison

You can make a puppet out of a sock, paper bag, or whatever but try to make it with eyes, nose, mouth, hair, etc. You may opt to make it glamorous because this puppet is going to have the paparazzi (you) tailing it all day.

Requirements: Make the puppet, give it a name, a story why the paparazzi are interested in it and take pictures of the puppet all day. Post the story and pictures with captions. The pictures should be like 'a day in the life of'.

Hint: Think- US Weekly, In Touch, and Star.

7/17/2007: Marianne Completes "Pete and Repeat"

Well, I started this one with the first child I saw after learning I was going today. Lucky for him, my 14 year old was the closest person to me. I told him I had a riddle for him and then said the riddle. He said “Oh, I get it.” then walked away. Oh to be 14 again and know everything. Anyway, that’s where I’m sure he would have liked the fun to stop but like any good mom, I wouldn’t let it go. I followed him around and said it a few more times to get some kind of reaction but the only reaction I got was from my 4 year old, who by the way, did not get the answer right and thought Pete was in the boat. I told her a few more times (changing it slightly so she could figure it out on her own) and when she finally got it and said “Repeat” I repeated it. By repeating it, she thought she got it wrong again and just confused her and I started to worry she’d have learning problems so I gave up and told her it was a riddle and that repeat meant ‘to say it again’ and that’s the joke. She caught on a little, thank goodness, and we went in to tell my husband our funny riddle. He caught on right away and played along for the 4 year olds sake and I am happy to say she laughed and thought it was funny as can be and is now still repeating this riddle, over and over and over again. Fun stuff.
Having had enough torturing my 14 year old and my 4 year old busy torturing my husband, I set off to find my 16 year old, after all no sense he shouldn’t be part of this. I called him away from his video game by stomping on the floor. We have a system around here, when we can’t find the teenagers, we stomp on the floor and they magically appear from the cave they have in the basement. (It took training but works like a charm.) When he came up the stairs, I didn’t tell him I had a riddle, I just socked it to him. He fell for it and said “Repeat” so I did, and then he answered again “Repeat” so I did, and then he said “Repeat” and I started to say it again but he interrupted and asked “How many times can you do this?” So I finished the riddle without answering his question and he tried to answer me by spelling the answer this time but didn’t do too well because he said, ”R-E-P-E-T-E”; that’s when the mocking started and he tried to quickly correct himself by saying, “R-E-P-E-A-T”, but it was too late, we all heard it and continued mocking him. He said “Did you call me up here for this, I’m controlling the room for Call of Duty, there’s something wrong with all of you”. I asked him to spell ‘Call of Duty’ and we laughed some more and then he went back down to the cave.

He would like me to clarify for all of you that he DOES know how to spell repeat but that he was trying to joke and spell Pete by saying r-e-p-e-t-e. By including this sentence he said it does not change the fact that I’m writing it and still doesn’t like it.

One of my sisters stopped over and the timing couldn’t have been any better because the only one left in this house to tell the riddle to was the baby. I told her the riddle and she said “Repeat” and I did, then she said “How many times are you going to do this? Dad used to say that riddle all the time. ” I don’t recall my dad saying this riddle but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were true because I am MUCH younger than her and she probably remembers things more clearly than I, the MUCH younger sister.

Her son, who is 15, had come with her and it was around this time that he decided to pipe in and ask “What?” Fool. I then told him the riddle and with a very confused look answered “Repeat?” Then I repeated the riddle and he said,”Ah. I get cha” then waved me off.
This wasn’t so bad, it was actually pretty fun. I don’t have any pics because for one I don’t really want to post my kids on the web and two, they wouldn’t let me.

7/17/207: Marianne Accepts "Pete and Repeat"

Hey, I know this one.

Cast Order For The Week Of 7/16/2007

This will be the last week of individual tasks for Season 2 of Rutless and we will be concluding Season 2 next week with a big bang, as we will be doing a 6 person team task. That task will be posted by me later this week.
For this week:

Monday: N/A
Tuesday: Marianne
Wednesday: Allison
Thursday: Nathan
Friday: Stephen
Saturday: Todd

7/17/2007: Nathan Assigns "Pete and Repeat" To ?

Find out who will fall for the riddle the most.
Your task is to go around and ask at least 5 people of all age groups the riddle " Pete and Repeat were in a boat, Pete fell out, who was left?" and if they say repeat say it again till they get the joke. Try to remember the number of times and post each on the blog. Also include the person's picture if allowed and maybe a hidden video of you playing the joke on some one. Post the reactions of the people and don't stop at 5 if you have time.

Have fun and be careful of who you ask.

7/16/2007: Nathan Has Completed "Paper Planes"

This was a fun task that took a while to download the pictures off my camera, but a fun one at that. I took a sample of 5 different planes that I found the design for at Alex's Paper Planes. I laid down a tape measure down the hall and let the best design win. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

This is all the planes laid out from right to left of how they were flown.


#1: Amanda's Special

12'3"


#2: The Classic Dart

15'8.5"


#3: Origami Paper Airplane 3

13'9"


#4: Second Origami Plane

15'3.5"


#5: Flying Fish

17"


As you can see the Flying Fish out flew the competition. I might suggest that each of you try to go to the site and fly your own creation and try some of the designs on the site to see if yours can outlast the best.

7/16/2007: Nathan Accepts "Paper Planes"

Sorry for the Late post, but I had the In-Laws in from out of town and the little wife was watching me like a hawk. I will have this task done and posted by tonight if that is cool. Sorry for the inconvenience, but like I said the wife was watching me like a hawk and life would be rough if anything happened to ruin the weekend.

This will be an easy one since there are like only a million different types of planes to make out of paper. I will fly them on my lunch break and post after I get back from lunch.

7/14/2007: Marianne Assigns "Paper Planes" to Nathan

Make different model paper airplanes and fly them for distance records.
Requirements: You will need to make different model paper airplanes and record their distance. I don't know how many different models there are but try to get a good variety and plenty of pictures or recordings. Let us know which ones fly best and which ones are useless.

7/14/2007: Marianne Completes "Print it!"

There is not a PaintShop on this computer but there is a paint. So this will probably take all day to download but that's an even trade because it took me all day to do this task. It's not that it was hard, I just don't know how to do a whole lot of stuff on this new computer yet. It's a pain and I did three pages which is a great feat (you have no idea how great) if it doesn't load...maybe I'll care by Tuesday.

7/14/2007: Marianne Accepts "Print It!"

Shouldn't be that hard.

7/12/2007: Stephen Assigns "Print It!" To Marianne

You must create a fake, sensational newspaper today.
You must design and create a two or more page fake, sensational newspaper with ridiculous stories in it. Refer to The Onion online fake newspaper for ideas. Please provide us with images, scans, whatever so that we can see and read your paper.

7/12/2007: Stephen Has Completed "Thing In A Jar"

This was a pretty fun task actually. You can view the flickr images below by clicking on the pics below. Here is the description of what happened:
I realized it would be way too hard to try and build a model like the guy did on the website, so I improvised and carved a monkey fetus looking thing out of a potato, with two peppercorns for eyes. Then I made the liquid concoction for the jar. I started with tea and BBQ sauce and then added in more buttermilk that gave it a nice haze and finished it off with water. Then I plopped the monkey fetus into the jar and added a weird label. I took it with me to Tyson's house and convinced his grandma that it was a real monkey fetus. The haziness of the liquid really helped in shielding it from being seen for what it really was. Tyson and I went to play golf and I took it with me there. On returning, Tyson's grandma wanted to see if again to show it to her friend. After leading them on about it for awhile, I revealed what it really was by pouring it all out and then destroyed the potato fetus with a 4 iron.

7/12/2007: Stephen Chooses "Thing In A Jar" From The Refusal Pool

From the refusal pool:
Today you must carry around a thing in a jar with you.
Requirements: Go to this site: http://www.traipse.com/thing_in_a_jar/
Now you know what you need to do. Create a thing in a jar and carry it with you today. Take some pics for us so we can see it. Let us know if people asked about it and if so, what they thought it was.

I'm gonna try to do this one. Marianne also knows her task, so we should be able to get things rolling along again.

7/11/2007: Brad Cannot Complete "Town Hall Hunt"

Even if Brad had completed this task over the weekend and his previously assigned Deff Comp 3 task, he had already accumulated 3 prior refusal points this season and thus will be leaving Rutless. We thank him for helping out at the end of Season 1 and through this Season.

Cast Order For The Week Of 7/9/2007

Allison's grandmother died and she will not be with us this week and will be in Georgia. I'm sure the cast of rutless can echo me in sending her our deepest condolences. We will start this week's tasks off on Tuesday. The order is:

Monday: N/A
Tuesday: Todd
Wednesday: Brad
Thursday: Stephen
Friday: Marianne
Saturday: Nathan

7/8/07: Allison Assigns "Harry Potter and the Two Towers" to ?

Whomever you are, your task is to go around on Monday telling people that you know the secret of the last Harry Potter book, which comes out later this month. You can tell them that you are J.K. Rowling's second cousin and that she told you the secret. Tell people you are charging and see if anyone will pay you money to learn who dies in the last book.

If anyone does pay, you must tell them that Bilbo Baggins dies. This is the great secret you have and that is what you must tell people. If you must, you can make up something else completely different, as long as it's not the real truth... which I guess we'll all find out later. :)

Requirements: Tell us if anyone fell for your trick and paid you money. Also, tell us what story you came up with as the secret.

7/7/07: Allison Completes "Fruit of Your Loom"

Strangely enough, no one that I asked this question to gave me the correct answer. Of course, I didn't realize it until later when I looked up the actual answer myself, on the Fruit of the Loom Website.

Most people said apple, banana, pear and grape. I myself thought apple, banana, orange and grape. I asked about 20 people, and most of them responded with some variation of these few fruits.

The fact is that the real fruit of the loom only has an apple, green grapes, purple grapes, and a leaf. That's it. Check out the commercials from the link on the website.

7/7/2007: Brad Cannot Complete "Deff Comp 3"

Just never completed.

7/6/2007: Nathan Assigns "Deff Comp 3" To Brad

Today you must build 3 computers with a limited budget.

Requirements: You must build three different computers to sever three different functions with a limited budget. Don't get your panties in a bunch. You will visit Tigerdirect.com and find the parts to build the computers and post the prices and why you picked the parts to build that particular computer. Here are you three computers and their budgets:

1. A family computer that needs to be able to burn DVD/CD and need to be able to upload pictures off media cards.
Budget: $600

2. The ultimate gaming computer that has everything that you will need to do both online gaming and network party gaming.
Budget: $900

3. A personal business computer that you will need to run your at home business that you can take images or powerpoint presentations to outside business to sell your product. This will have to include either a blueberry or other form of traveling device.
Budget:$1250

Have fun and don't forget that you will need everything from tower to screen.

7/6/2007: Nathan Has Completed "Digg This!"

This was great getting to read different things about what people post and other stories. I actually loved the site and will plan on using it at least once a day to see what stories (mostly sports) will be posted. Well here are the stories in no particular order.

1. http://blog.yourminis.com/2007/07/a-better-digg-t.html

This was a pretty cool page that I thought was a cool idea for a new digg button. I don't think people actualy appreciate the old school Mario anymore. I would make it a little more like Mario jumping on a turtle or kicking Bowser's anus or something.

2. http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=66434CA6FE6500D6A04B9F946D779145?contentId=3641729&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

How freaking stupid can you be? A lady walks up with $16,000 and expects to buy all of the iphones. I don't think she actually reads the fine print of adds in the newspaper. I know that I read all the print when there is sales to see actually if I can get enough to do whatever with. The other fact is she actually has that much money and walks around with it. I thought she would have got jumped and robbed. For that much money I would have done it in the middle of Central Park for all I care.

3. http://consumerist.com/consumer/investigations/video-consumerist-catches-geek-squad-stealing-porn-from-customers-computer-271963.php

This creaps me out. To know that all my stuff off my computer can be snagged by a stranger when he or she fixes my computer. I know that I won't be taking my computer to anyone other than who I know for now. That is the only way I know that my personal stuff will be safe.

4. http://youtube.com/watch?v=hvNujZ3ZDKs

Dang that would suck to pay that much money and watch it hit the ground. This guy is a clumsy moron in my books. How do you just fling the box open without first making it safe to take it out of the box.

5. http://www.fazed.org/content/clock_spider/

This would freak me out to come home and find that sitting behind my clock. I am surprised we didn't see a video of the thing jumping on the guy's face and like sucking his eyes out.

6. http://www.spinwall.com/funny/croceatdog.html

This is one of those "lmao" when you see it. I can't believe that a guy would make his dog do this. I bet the croc's stomach was filled with so much crap that it stunk for a week.

7. http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=10626

This is another picture of a dumb animal trying to show its dominance over another species. The would be like me trying to knock out Chuck Lidell in the octogon.

8. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070222-squid-pictures.html?source=G1902

That thing is like freaking huge. I would loved to catch him or her on a rod and like had the fight of my life. I wounder if they took it back and ate it?

9. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070701/ap_on_bi_ge/7_eleven_kwik_e_mart;_ylt=AtfqSv0GxYvei3wi0HJBVCSb.HQA

Finally they get the clue that more and more americans like the Simpson's and will be shopping there just to say they drank or ate the same stuff and the real characters. I am waiting for one around here and some special guest appearances to open the store with.

10. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1432/719426704_02518807b9_b.jpg

How freaking stupid can the witch be. American wearing British shirt gets gang beat at a Independence Day Parade is what the caption should say. Come on we kick their butt and took their name and sent them back to mommy and she wears that crap. I am disgusted.

There they are in no random order. I liked the site and will visit it back for more news on stupid crap that happens or gets caught on tape. I suggest anyone go to it and digg up your own news.

7/6/2007: Nathan accepts "Digg This!"

This is going to be sweet. Since Stephen showed me Stumbleupon.com I have been looking for a new site to find other stuff on the net other than what I am used to. I think I am going to like this task, because I get to read what is going on throughout the world.

7/4/2007: Stephen Assigns "Digg This!" To Nathan

Today you must sign up on Digg.com and starting digging some stories.
Requirements: Being a good net citizen, I like to show people places where they can get the full experience of the internet. This is very much like Brad's StumbleUpon task, however you will be looking at a slightly different website. First of all, you must go to digg.com and sign up for an account. Then you must visit the following two pages:
Most Popular News Stories In The Last Week
Most Popular Videos In The Last Week
Look thoroughly through those stories and use your account to "digg" at least 10 of them and then link to your favorite ten stories or videos in your post.

7/4/2007: Stephen Has Completed "Slogan Slinger"

Ok, sorry for the late posting on this, however, I think it was worth the wait. While I think this was one of the harder tasks I've ever had to do, it turned out to probably be one of the best. I went into the local Ingles and looked for like 30 minutes for everything on the list, except for Calgon. I didn't even bother looking for it, as I have never even really heard of it. I just got a Sunkist and made up a slogan for it, which I think most should find quite amusing. Anyways, the checkout process was horribly embarrassing, but in the end it turned out for the best. I have recorded audio of the encounter. The sound is a bit muffled, as the recorder was in my pocket. You should be able to make out most of the slogans though. Here is the audio file:
Slogan Slinger (96 kbps)

Also, here are a few pics:

Outside Ingles

Rice Krispies & Frosted Flakes

Sunkist: It's F--king Sunkist.

7/3/2007: Marianne Assigns "Slogan Slinger" To Stephen

Today you’re going to purchase items with famous slogan lines and as they are scanned at the store, say them to the cashier.
Requirements: A list of national products are given below, the slogan for those products are in parenthesis next to it. You need to shop for these products and then get in line to check out. As each item is passed over the scanner you need to say the slogan that goes with the product to the cashier. You need to describe the cashier’s reaction, the reaction of the people around you and what everyone said. A video would be great but will settle for audio and pictures.

Campbell’s Soup (M’mm Good)
Kraft Macaroni N Cheese (It’s the cheesiest)
Frosted Flakes (They’re Grrreat!)
Bounty (The Quicker Picker Upper)
Alka Seltzer (Plop Plop Fizz Fizz Oh What A Relief It Is)
Calgon (Calgon Take Me Away)
Rice Krispies (Snap! Crackle! Pop!)
M&M’s (The chocolate melts in your mouth not in your hands.)
Kool-Aide (Hey Kool-Aide!)
Milk (Got Milk?)
Almond Joy/Mounds (Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t)
Sure (Raise your hand if you’re sure)
You can take two of the given off the list but you need to add two of your own back on because you need to do a total of twelve products.

7/3/2007: Marianne Completes "Futile Fishing"

After having discovered I had no fishing license, I headed to the nearest sewer drain. I almost really caught a few frogs. They were lounging around eating bugs in what my husband tells me is a storm drain not a sewer. If I had caught any of those frogs I would have freaked 'cause that's just gross.

I guess this should be something I shouldn't show people....but hey I'm a busy mom and it doesn't take long for pool water to turn green when you don't put chemicals in the water. So here I am fishing in the kiddie pool, if I would have caught something in here I wouldn't have been that surprised.

And I am very happy to report that I definitely did not catch anything in here!

7/2/2007: Stephen Assigns "Futile Fishing" To Marianne

You must go fishing in places where there are no fish to catch.
Requirements: You must go to three different locations in public that have water, but no fish and then go fishing there. Some examples: Mudpuddles, water fountains, public swimming pools, etc. If possible, try to use actual equipment and provide either video or pictures.

7/2/2007: Stephen Has Completed "When I Was Your Age"

Here are the costs of some things in 1940:

Car: $800
Gasoline: 18 cents/gal
House: $6,550
Bread: 8 cents/loaf
Milk: 34 cents/gal
Postage Stamp: 3 cents
Stock Market: 131
Average Annual Salary: $1,900
Minimum Wage: 30 cents per hour
(Source)

That covers all the requirements except clothes.
Using interpolation from the other items, I estimate a shirt, pants, socks, and shoes would cost between $3 and $4.

7/2/2007: Stephen Accepts "When I Was Your Age"

This one should be pretty easy. ;P

Cast Order For The Week Of 7/2/2007

Ok, sorry for the late posting. Todd told me is on vacation this week, so I will do his as well. Here is the order for this week:
Monday: Stephen (In Place Of Todd)
Tuesday: Marianne
Wednesday: Stephen
Thursday: Nathan
Friday: Brad
Saturday: Allison

7/2/2007: Brad Assigns "When I Was Your Age" To ?

You task is to find out, either by interviewing an older person or doing some research online (or both and comparing what you find out), the price of bread, gas, milk, cars, and clothes in the 1940's.

6/30/2007:Marianne Completes "Artsitc Explosions"

Well, I hope this to be more interesting after the edit because all it is right now is fruit falling. I went to the top of my motor home (the tallest place I would climb) and dropped everything. I probably should have thrown it because some didn’t break and some broke very little. It was still pretty fun, pretty sticky and pretty messy. I will be cleaning the crud off the road tonight so the neighbors can stop giving me the evil-eye.
Here are the videos in high and low quality versions:
Artistic Fruit Explosions (High)
Artistic Fruit Explosions (Low)

6/29/07: Allison Assigns "Model Behavior" To Brad

Brad, your task is to create a model of yourself. You are to use items found around your house to create a life sized model of you. If you can, figure out a way to make it talk. Take pictures and/or video showing us your life-sized Brad statue. He can be sitting, standing, or laying, whichever you prefer. Tell us what you made him out of and how difficult it was. Have fun!

6/29/07: Allison has Completed "Logline Challenge"

I had a great time making my movie. It is my crowning achievment and I think I deserve an Oscar for Best Director, Best Movie, AND Best Actress.

I call it "Lotto Devorcees" (Creative, I know).

Here is the video in all of it's glory.
Here is the script to go along with it. (will be adding later)

I think you'll find that this is the best 2 minutes of your life. Really.

I had to use my regular digital picture camera to make this, as my camcorder is evil.

Jack is played by my coworker Daniel, Who has a hard time keeping a straight face.

Stephen was going to be my Jack, but something came up at the last moment and he had to turn down my script. You know those Hollywood types.

All in all, I think this is the best Rutless task I've ever done.
ruless%20lotto%20script.txt

6/28/2007: Todd completes "Lego Fever"

I made a short trip to the store and got a small K'Nex kit (not officially Legos, so sue me!).
Now, since I am a red-blooded american male, the first step in the process was to throw away the instructions.

Having done that, I was ready to begin.
Step 1


Step 2

I took everything out and surveyed the situation and came up with a game plan.

Step 3

Then I completely threw the game plan out the window and started working. The box said this thing was 38 pieces, but I think they threw in a few extra just to confuse me!

Step4

Ok, I've got this thing figured out! There's not stopping me now!

Step5

Wait... This is completely wrong! I've got to take it apart and start all over again.

Step6

Grrrr! This is not working out, but I am NOT looking at the directions!

Step7

I took the whole thing apart and put it back together again. Now it's starting to take shape!

Step8

A few more pieces here and a few more pieces there and VOILA! I did it!

Step9

First of all I'd like to thank the academy and my family, and a special thanks goes out to all my fans! You guys are great! And I did not look at the directions.

Having finished my build, I took the car back to my desk and Darthy immediately used his imperial connections to procure the vehicle and started chasing down Obi Wan!


I think this makes a nice addition to the decor already in my cube and I had a good time creating it!

6/28/2007: Todd chooses "Lego Fever" from the refusal pool

This is a quick one that I could get done before leaving on our trip to Florida. Kinda fun too!

6/28/2007: Nathan did not complete "Secret Admirer"

Sorry to say that I didn't get to finish the task and will accept the penalty for my failure. As they say when a cow is standing behind a fan "$#!T Hit the fan yesterday at work". I didn't get a chance to really get any pictures or finish what I started. I made the person a hand made card and put it on the desk, but also was going to provide a gift till my boss decided he wasn't going to do anything and just sit around and laid a crap load of work on me. To let you know how bad it was I was here almost three hours after my shift ended trying to finish the work I needed to do during my shift.

If the Rutless members will agree I can finish this when I return to work on Mon. and post Mon. night, but that is totally up to the members to decide.

Anyways, Todd can go ahead and pick his from the refusal pool and we can get back on schedule.

6/27/2007: Nathan Accepts "Secret Admirer"

I think this task will be pretty fun except around these parts we call having a secret admirer while married an affair. I will have to pick a guy that works at eh plant and do a kinda appreciation pal kinda thing. If this will be OK for the requirements the task will be completed, if not then I will need to do something else.

6/26/2007: Marianne Assigns"Secret Admirer" to Nathan

Today you need to pick someone either at work or wherever and be their secret admirer.

Requirements: It’s always nice to know you’re appreciated and even nicer when it’s anonymous. Today you need to let someone know how much they are appreciated by being their secret admirer. You can write notes, leave little gifts, or do one of their dreaded job requirements without them knowing who you are. Take pictures of the gifts, write description of the notes you left and tell us about your day. Tell us who you picked and why.

6/26/2007: Marianne Accepts "Artisitc Explosions"

This should be interesting. I think the hardest part is going to be the editing but I will do what I can.

6/25/2007: Stephen Assigns "Artistic Fruit Explosions" To Marianne

You must create an artistic video of fruit exploding.
Requirements: Basically, find the highest building that you can get permission to use, get a bunch of fruits: apples, melons, etc., then drop them off the building. Someone with a camera or a still camera should be filming a close up view of the fruit hitting the ground. You should then edit all of your footage into an artistic video showing the fruit exploding in slow motion and set it to the Blue Danube Waltz as the music for the video. All you need to do is post the video and perhaps a description of the experience.

6/25/2007: Stephen Has Completed "That's So Pizza"

Well, this was interesting. I had virtually no other human contact until I was called to come into Hickory today. Once I did, I was ready to let loose a barrage of sadistic, messed up stuff, and I did, but unfortunately my voice recorder batteries died. So I settled for a couple of recordings on the computer at work and then I spent an hour recording random crap on the computer once I got home. But I think you might enjoy it, perhaps as much as watching kayakers go over a waterfall and dumping 70 tons of jello mix into the water at the last second to cushion their fall, but not realizing that jello has to take a lot of time to set up and that you probably shouldn't have turned that sign backwards at the previous fork in the river, and getting that thrill of running from the cops through the wilderness for several years and combing ticks out of your beard with twigs. That kind of enjoyment.
Anyways, here is the audio:
That's So Pizza (1.45 MB)

Cast Order For The Week Of 6/25/2007

We had a good week doing team tasks! Thanks to Tyson for helping out. Nathan will be back with us this week, so here is the order:
Monday: Stephen
Tuesday: Marianne
Wednesday: Nathan
Thursday: Todd
Friday: Allison
Saturday: Brad

6/25/2007: Marianne Assigns "That's So Pizza" to ?

Today you need to misuse words and mixed metaphors all day.

Requirements: While talking to people today, you need to purposely use words incorrectly in sentences and use mixed-up metaphors. Technically they don’t have to be metaphors. They can be famous quotes, old sayings, similes, or whatever… just so we can recognize what it was supposed to be Something like: “When life gives you lemons be as gentle as a lamb.” Or “You look like you’re having a bad day. Can I help smack the dirt out of your eye?” You need to do 10 total and will have to be creative in how you’re going to capture this for us to see or hear because video or audio would be nice. A full description of your 10 conversations needs to be posted as well.
Have an open the door and close the window day!

6/23/2007: Marianne Completes "Grocery Scattergories"

We’ve been camping all week so I had to do this in a hurry so I can get back to the beach. BooHoo. You guys did a great job on the Iron Chef!! Loved it! Also thought the Sportgy was great too but will have to watch the long video later. I’m not sure how we’re supposed to assign the next task so let me know what’s up and what I should do.
An employee and the local Meijers store told me I couldn’t take pictures at the store unless I worked for the company…good thing I already had all these! Like I’m a grocery store spy or something.
Here’s my items:
1. Thousand Island Dressing
2. Tyson Roast Beef
3. Turkey Sausage
4. Turtle Cake
5. Tropical Sweet & Sour Chicken
6. Turtle Sundae Ice Cream
7. Toaster Strudel
8. Toaster Scrambles
9. Turnover
10. Tombstone Pizza
11. Tony’s Pizza
12. Tattoo – Captain Morgan’s
13. Turkey Jerky
14. Tostitos Tortilla Chips
15. Trail Mix
16. Trix
17. Tuna Fillets
18. Treet
19. Turkey –Spam
20. Teddy Grahms
21. Triscuit
22. Toasted Chips
23. Tam Tam
24. Tolema
25. Thai Sauce
26. Teriyaki Noodle Bowl
27. Thin Spaghetti
28. Tony Cherterrs –Coconut Breading
29. Tomato Sauce
30. Tortillas
31. Taco Sauce
32. Thick-n-chunky salsa
33. Taco shells
34. Taco Mix
35. Tamales
36. Turkey Gravy
37. Tomato Ketchup
38. Teryaki Rice
39. Tabasco
40. Tangy Tomato Bacon Dressing
41. Turmeric
42. Tenderizer
43. Thyme
44. Tarragon
45. Turtle Brownies
46. Tart Red Cherries
47. Tide
48. Top Job
49. Ty-D-Bol
50. Toothpicks
51. Trash Bags
52. Tropicana Apple Juice
53. Tomato Juice
54. Tropicana Fruit Juice
55. Transformers
56. TV Guide
57. Traditional Home
58. Topps Baseball Cards
59. Trident
60. Tic Tac
61. Take 5

The pictures are located here:
Click Here For Marianne's "Grocery Scattergories" Pics

6/23/2007: Marianne & Brad Accept "Grocery Scattergories"

I don't know if Brad accepts or not but I do.

6/22/2007: Update: Stephen & Tyson's "Sportgy" Video Is Up

It took quite awhile, but finally our video is done. The sports are shown in the order in which we filmed them.
Sportgy (Medium: 44.8 MB)

6/21/2007: Todd & Allison Assign "Grocery Scattergories" To Brad & Marianne

Ok, this is Allison's idea and a brilliant one at that!

This is called "Grocery Scattergories" and what you have to do is go to your local grocery store and take pictures of as many items as you can that start with a particular letter (you will get credit for either the name of item itself or the Brand name). For example: If the letter is "C", then Cereal would count as one point and "Count Chocula" as another point.
Now, if you both happen to get the same item, then they cancel each other out and noone is awarded a point for the item.

The person with the most points wins! The letter that you need to find is.... "T"!

Good luck!

6/21/2007: Tood & Allison Have Completed "Iron Chef"

Allison's Post:

For my food I decided to make:

Appetizer: Corn Dip with Corn Chips
Entree 1: Corn and Avacado Salad
Entree 2: Corn and Turkey Casserole
Dessert: Corn Cake

I got three of these recipes from allrecipes.com and another from a coworker. If anyone wants one of the recipes, feel free to leave me a comment.

To see all of my pictures, go here.

Cooking Process:





Plated Food:

Here you can see the casserole, the salad, and the corn dip with corn chips.

More Plated Food:



And The Cake:


For my evaluaters I used my neighbor Carmen, her husband Jon, and their two friends Tommy and Griffin. And also myself. I don't have pictures of them or the evaluation process because at that point I was so hungry I wanted to knaw my fingers off. But here are their evals:

Tommy:
Corn Dip: Thumbs Up.
Casserole: Thumbs up, but next time add some chopped onions or italian seasoning.
Corn Salad: Next time leave out the avacados.
Corn Cake: Awesome.

Griffin:
Corn Dip: Good, but might be better cold.
Casserole: Love it.
Corn Salad: Next time use better or no avacados.
Corn Cake: Delicious.

Carmen:
Corn Dip: Good consistency. Next time add more jalapenos.
Casserole: Add sour cream next time.
Corn Salad: Needed more dressing.
Corn Cake: The best thing so far!

Jon:
Corn Dip: MMmmmm.
Casserole: This is good.
Corn Salad: Pretty Effin Good.
Corn Cake: Corntastic.

On a personal note, I would like to say that I put forth a lot of effort and a lot of money into this task. I had a great time and everything here except the corn chips, was made from scratch, and with love. I feel I deserve to win because everthing here was so good it was corny. Wait, that doesn't make sense. Let's just say it was Corneriffic!

Todd's Post:

This task was a blast! The reactions to my concoctions was the best part!
I started out the morning by cooking everything before work and then brought the food in and set it out around 11:00 for everyone to dig in. The overall consensus was much better than I thought it would be since it's pretty hard to come up with dishes that include corn that are actually palatable.

The biggest surprise to me was the corn cheesecake. I took a box of quick cheesecake mix and added sweet creamed corn and it was actually not too bad.

So, here are the pics of my preparation and below is the video of the "Corn panel discussion". FIESTA!

The ingredients


Cornbread casserole in the making


Mexican Hamburger Corn "Surprise"


Corn Cheesecake


The spread before the vultures gathered


An actual plate of the goodies


After the vultures... They picked it clean!


And last but not least, here is the video of what we dubbed the "Corn Panel Discussion"
Here it is!

6/20/2007: Allison and Todd Accept "Iron Chef"

At least, I think Todd accepts. I know Allison does. Allison feels happy to cook but is not so sure how much like "Iron Chef" it will be. She has never seen the show and is too lazy to watch one. : )

6/19/2007: Stephen & Tyson Assign "Iron Chef" To Todd & Allison

You must compete against each other "Iron Chef style" in a cooking competition.
Requirements: Hopefully you have both seen the TV show "Iron Chef" before, but if not, there here is a bit of a back story for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_chef
For each of you: Your job is to create 4 dishes that are made from the ingredient of the day. You will create a starter/appetizer, 2 entrees, and a dessert. You must then "plate" and present these dishes to three people. They must then evaluate each dish, one by one. You need to provide video or photo evidence of the cooking, the final plated results, and the evaluation process. The more that you can show us, the better chance you have of winning the battle. If you cannot post video, you need extensive photos and full descriptions of the judges' evaluation of your food. If you have never seen an episode of "Iron Chef", then I strongly suggest that you watch one if at all possible to get a feel for what goes on. Once you have posted, Tyson and I will choose a champion. Without further ado, the ingredient of the day is: Corn.

6/19/2007: Stephen & Tyson Have Completed "Sportgy"

My goodness this was exceptionally time consuming. While we were able to successfully compete in 20 sports over the last 2 days, it took pretty much all of our free time. I just got all of the videos imported over the course of the last several hours. I hopefully can convert and edit them sometime before the end of the week and post it. The video should be pretty good! Here are the sports we chose:
Basketball
Baseball
Football
Soccer
Golf
Lacrosse
Tennis
Darts
Putt Putt
Billiards
Sprinting
Javelin Throw
Ultimate Frisbee
Kickball
Dodgeball
Skeeball
Air Hockey
The Caber Toss
Baseketball
Russian Roulette

Be on the lookout for the vid soon!

EDIT: Here is the video link!
Sportgy (Medium: 44.8 MB)

6/17/2007: Stephen & Tyson Accept "Sportgy"

Maybe we're not the best two people to get this in terms of the "rutless" concept, but I suppose it will give us an opportunity to play some sports that we wouldn't normally play or maybe even have never played? Should be fun.

Cast Order For The Week Of 6/18/2007

Tyson has agreed to help out for this week, so his name was thrown in the hat and drawn out promptly, along with mine. Next week it's back to individual tasks. Here is the order:
Monday & Tuesday: Stephen & Tyson
Wednesday & Thursday: Todd & Allison
Friday & Saturday: Marianne & Brad

6/15/2007: Stephen Assigns "Sportgy" To ? & ?

Between the two of you, you must compete in 20 different sports.
Now, remember, this is between two of you and you have two days. It doesn't have to be split evenly 10-10, but the person who does less, has to do at least 7. When you participate in the sports, if there is a specific "place" or "field of play" that the sport takes place on, then you must do it there. Don't just go out and do it in your front yard or something like that, unless it would normally be done there. You can choose from the following list and you must photograph or video (preferably) yourself for each one.
The "Sports":
Basketball
Baseball
Football
Soccer
Golf
Hockey
Field Hockey
Lacrosse
Tennis
Bowling
Darts
Putt Putt
Billiards
Swimming
Sprinting
Javelin Throw
Volleyball
Badminton
Curling
Handball
Racquet Ball
Cricket
Ping Pong
Croquet
Skateboarding
Cycling
Rugby
Ultimate Frisbee
Kickball
Dodgeball
Skeeball
Skeet Shooting
Air Hockey
The Caber Toss
Fencing
Baseketball
Boxing
Fishing
Wrestling
Competitive Eating
Motocross
Skiing
Shuffleboard
Diving
Horseback Riding
Chicken (Dodging Cars At The Last Second)
Russian Roulette

The makers/owners/people involved with Rutless are not responsible if the people who do this task get hurt or die. So be careful!

6/15/2007: Stephen Has Completed "Dream Vacation"

Ok this is a golf vacation primarily. So I will need a foursome. Ideally I could take my dad and brother, but knowing their time commitments with other stuff, they would never be able to take off for a vacation like this, though I don't think I would either. I would take Tyson, Braiden, and my cousin Nathan along.

Pregame: Edwin Watts Charlotte (June 30)
We start off by driving to Charlotte. We all buy our dream set of clubs and about 20 dozen golf balls each. I also must include gas in the cost.Estimated cost: $2500 per person for clubs/balls + $20 gas = $10020

First Stage: Kiawah Island Ocean Course (July 1-July 3)

Why not start off the trip with one of the hardest courses in the world? We will be purchasing this package: Villa Championship Summer Golf Packages
Starting from $323
Enjoy your stay in one of our spacious villas and play one round on the world renowned Ocean Course and two rounds at any of the resort’s other championship courses (based on a three night stay). Green fees, cart fees, range balls, daily breakfast and dinner at any resort restaurant that serves dinner, are also included.
Estimated Cost: $323 per person for golf + $40 gas = $1332

Stage 2: TPC @ Sawgrass (July 4-July 7)

Who can resist the chance at the island green? There are many packages with varying amenities, but I preferred this one, for the forecaddie experience.
THE PLAYERS Package
3 ROUNDS, 3 NIGHTS
From $886.00 /person
Book now and receive a FREE arrival round on Dye's Valley Course and a 1-hour lesson at the TOUR Academy TPC Sawgrass. (Tyson will need this badly before we continue any further ;P)
THE PLAYERS Package includes 3 nights accommodations at the Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Spa; Two rounds on THE PLAYERS Stadium course and one round on DYE'S Valley Course. Forecaddie experience included on Stadium round and seasonal on DYE's Valley Course.
After our free arrival round at the Valley Course, we will take a little trip to Disney World for some f--king awesome fireworks. Then we will head back and go Stadium, Valley, Stadium the final 3 days.
Estimated cost: $886 per person for golf + $112 per person for Disney + $80 gas = $4072

Stage 3: The Coves At Round Mountain (July 8)

How can we break with tradition? After finishing up on the 7th, we catch a jet home. I will pay some transient to drive my car back for me, part of the money now, most of the money later. We will be paying off the course's owner to have the course at our disposal and will be playing a twelve man captain's choice: Me, Tyson, Braiden, Nathan, Dad, Michael, John, Brandon W., Ray A., Brandon F., Mark P., and Scott M. We will all be in one group, it will take all day, and we will shoot better than 55 or suicide will be committed.
Estimated cost: $28 per person for golf + $5000 to buy the course out for the day + $340 per person for first class flight = $6696

Stage 4: The Pinehurst Experience (July 9-July 14)

Pinehurst? Why not? We will start with a drive down to Asheboro for Tot Hill Farm ($39 pp) followed by heading on down to Sanford for Tobacco Road ($59 pp). Days 2 and 3 would be Mid Pines and Pine Needles 2 times each ($270 pp). Days 4-6 would be Pinehurst #'s 4, 8, and 2 ($1235 pp). That package also comes with caddies, lessons, spa massages, etc. Altogether, a pretty expensive week!
Estimated cost: $6412 per person for golf + $80 gas = $6492

So just for the pregame and the first four stages the total cost is: $28,612

If I really had it my way, I would just keep on going until we hit about every course that I've ever wanted to play.
Bethpage Black, Blackwolf Run, Bandon Dunes, Couer D'Alene, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Cypress Point, Poppy Hills, Spanish Bay, TPC @ Scottsdale, The Prince Course, Kapalua, Carnoustie, St. Andrews, etc. etc. Then it would be entirely likely that I'd never want to play golf again or not for a couple of days anyways. So, I think, for now, I'm just gonna stick with the shorter vacation. That would be awesome.

6/14/2007: Stephen Accepts "Dream Vacation"

Obviously this is going to be centered around playing golf. Obviously.

6/14/07: Allison Assigns "Dream Vacation" to Stephen.

Stephen, your task is to tell us all about your dream vacation. Go online and plan your dream vacation. Find out prices for airplane tickets, hotel reservations, car rental, tours, etc. Be extravagant; money is no object in your dream vacation. Tell us where you'd go, what you'd want to see, and what you'd want to buy while you were there. If you can, give us a rough itenerary and a breakdown of how much you're going to spend. Have fun with it!

6/12/2007: Marianne Assigns “There’s A New Sheriff in Town” to Brad

There’s a shortage on superheros these days and we need you Brad.

Requirements: You need to make a costume, come up with a superhero name, and your superhuman abilities. You need to show us your heroism by helping someone in need while in your costume, using your superhuman abilities, telling them the name of their gallant champion. Capturing your kindly act on video is a must but as I said before I don’t know who can and can’t do video, if you aren’t capable of video then pictures will do. Posting to your inferior public how you became this superhero, what it’s like being a superhero, and the reaction to your superheroism is imperative as we will never be exalted like you.

6/12/2007: Marianne Completes "Yummy Landscape Artist"

Preparing for this task was the hardest part. After loading everything up in the car, unpacking everything, and then getting settled (which isn’t easy when having bottles and cartons in tow) I sat on a bench along a trail in a nature preserve. I decided it would be easiest for me to paint trees than anything else. I really wanted to go to Lake Michigan and spend the day at the beach but am much happier I ended up at the nature preserve because carrying all the supplies across the sand would have made a less than serene trek. This was actually pretty fun and very calming. It was nice to have some quiet time and reflect on nature something maybe I should do more of. No one walked by, I think maybe I was alone, always a safe thing being alone in the woods. The bugs however were more than enough company once I opened my supplies. The actually painting took about 10 minutes. I figured quick and painless.

This is what I used:

Melted Blue Moon ice cream
Spicy brown mustard
French dressing
Habanero Sauce
Tabasco
Green Taco Sauce
Ketchup
Soy Sauce (which drips worse than ice cream)
Yellow mustard
Yogurt

And here’s what happened:

This is what I was looking at:

This is a practice piece that I did with some markers:

This is something I just wanted to do because I didn’t want to go home just yet:

6/11/2007: Todd Assigns "Yummy Landscape Artist" To Marianne

Your task is to create a painting of a landscape such as a park near you. Now, you should actually go to the park for inspiration. If it's a nice day, then enjoy your time there and make a beautiful painting of what you see.

Here's the catch, you will be painting with food items/condiments. You can use any type canvas, but you have to use Mustard, Ketchup, Mayonaise, etc. for your creation. Whatever you feel like you need to use to capture the beauty of the moment. And you can use any style you see fit, it doesn't have to look good but it should taste delicious!

Requirements: Paint a landscape picture using food or condiments and take a picture of your work. Describe what happened and if anyone noticed you making your masterpiece.

6/11/2007: Todd Completes "Feng Shui"

Now that I am an expert in Feng Shui, I think I'm going to start charging for my services. As you will see, the results of my work speak for itself!

Here I came along these terribly drab and depressed people and just within a few minutes, their lives were never the same again! I told my co-workers that I had become an expert in Feng Shui and that I could greatly improve their outlook by just moving around some of the things in their cube. Ok, I didn't have much to work with but the look on their faces when I was done was priceless!

Here was one sullen worker, Preston, going about his drab day:


Well in just a few moments time, VOILA he was singing a different tune!


Next, I knew that I had to help Dorothy. I mean look at that bored, glazed look in her eyes. I just have to swoop in and provide her some relief:


Now, just a few tweaks of her workspace and look at Dorothy now:


These are just a few of the people that I could have helped. But there are millions of workers out there who NEED my assistance. If you know of any corporate sponsors who will bring me in to make their workplace a happy place, my fee will not be too much!

This was fun, and I think these folks had fun helping me out! They were laughing the whole time. Thanks uhh.. me, for assiging this task!

6/11/2007: Todd Accepts "Feng Shui"

This is a little strange doing my own task, but was a pretty good one if I do say so myself.

[Flips up collar and gives a Fonzy thumb's up.]

Cast Order For The Week Of 6/11/2007

Ok, since I was unable to find a replacement for Saturday, we will be using Todd's Feng Shui task for Monday. Also, next week, we will be engaging in two person team tasks for the first time this season. The person who goes last, whether it be myself or a replacement (if we find one by then) will assign a generic (something that could be done by two people in separate places) two person task:
Monday: Todd
Tuesday: Marianne
Wednesday: Brad
Thursday: Allison
Friday: Stephen
Saturday: Replacement?

6/8/2007: Todd assigns "Feng Shui" To ?

Feng Shui is, according to wikipedia, the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space to achieve harmony with the environment.

Your job today is to create a sense of balance in every room that you enter. In order to create this balance. You must move the furniture around until it is in it's proper place, creating the most balance and harmony.

Not your furniture? Even better, because you have now been named an expert in Feng Shui, so you have to educate the less fortunate folks who do not have your sense of style and "harmony with the universe".

Take pictures of any rooms that you have re-arranged, preferrably before and after. Detail why you made the decisions you made and what the reactions of those who the furniture belonged to. ...and Have fun with it!

6/8/2007: Todd fails to complete "Thing in a Jar"

Have you guys ever had one of those days where it seemed that nothing went right. Well that was my day today.

If possible, I'd like to postpone this task and finish it on Monday. If that's OK, then leave me a comment. Otherwise I'll go ahead and post the next task.

6/8/2007: Stephen Has Completed "Surprise! It's Your Birthday"

Sorry for the lateness. I am feeling a bit better now and I also won my h2h match, so woohoo! This was an interesting task, one that I took some liberties with. I don't know if it is exactly what you envisioned Marianne, as I put my own sick twist on it, but, anyways, I did this last night and have finished editing the video. Here it is:
Happy Birthday To Me (High: 15.9)
Happy Birthday To Me (Medium: 10.8)
Additionally, here is the Happy Birthday song in mp3 form:
Happy Birthday To Me (2.2 MB)

6/6/2007: Stephen Assigns "Stumble Upon Gasm" To Brad

Your task is to download the Stumbleupon toolbar and stumble upon and positively rate 50 sites. You must then post the top 10 sites that you found via SU.
I just found out today that I made the "Top Stumblers" page of Stumbleupon.com, one of the best websites ever conceived. Essentially, you download a toolbar to your web browser and you click a button and are sent to a random webpage within one of your specified areas of interest. Then you rate whether or not you liked that page and repeat. Your task is to go to Stumbleupon.com, download the toolbar, and sign up for an account. During the registration process you will be asked to check areas of interest. Be VERY liberal with this. Some areas that seem uninteresting are the most interesting ones. Once you begin to clicking the stumble button, you must rate the sites that you visit a thumbs up or thumbs down. Give it a thumbs up if you want to see more sites similar to that site and vice versa. If you go to your profile, you will see it lists your total pages liked. This is the number that you need to get to 50. Once it is there, your stumbling is done, unless of course you want to do more, feel free, that is kind of the point. Anyways, once you've "liked" 50 pages, choose the top 10 of those. In your rutless post, post the top ten links you stumbled upon and a little blurb about each and why you liked it. You must also post a link to your Stumbleupon profile.

6/6/2007: Stephen Cannot Complete "Surprise, It's Your Birthday"

Now don't get all riled up. I am going to claim the sickness clause of the rules on this:
Excuses/Postponement: In the event that a cast member cannot complete any tasks at all, due to sickness, death in the family, or anything along those lines, then that cast member will have their assigned task postponed. The cast member whose task is postponed must complete that task at some point within the next 4 weeks or suffer a penalty of one refusal point. If at all possible, the active cast member should try to post a task for the cast member who goes on the next day. However, if they cannot, the cast member going on the next day must choose a task from the refusal pool, without penalty.
I have had about 2 hours of sleep in the last 48 due to my participation in the PSC Head To Head Tourney. But more importantly I also do not want this fine task to be relegated to the refusal pool. I will complete it post haste.

6/5/2007: Marianne Assigns "Surprise! It's Your Birthday" To Stephen

Today you’re going to throw yourself a surprise birthday party.
Requirements: You need to decorate, get yourself presents (wrapped), a card, and a cake with candles. When you walk in the door, throw on the lights and yell “Surprise!” You have to actually look surprised in the video that’s required. Also in the video you need to show yourself opening the presents, singing “Happy Birthday” to yourself, and blowing out the candles. Inviting people to your surprise party is an option, not knowing the people you’re inviting, is even better. Providing a lot of party energy and enthusiasm is a must, after all, it is your birthday. Happy Birthday and I hope you get something you want.
P.S. I don’t know who is capable of video and who is not. If you’re not than pictures and audio will do.

Cast Order For The Week Of 6/4/2007

Nathan is off on his honeymoon. So, this week we'll only have 5 unless we can find a 6th by Saturday. Here's the order:
Monday: Allison
Tuesday: Marianne
Wednesday: Stephen
Thursday: Brad
Friday: Todd
Saturday: Replacement?

6/1/2007: Todd Completes "Mailbox Critic"

This task had me feeling like I was back in High School again.
"Ok, who is the most likely to succeed... most likely to end up in a junk yard..."

On my lunch break I came up with the six letters that I was going to post on the mailboxes. I came up with the fictitious name "Mailbox Inspectors of America" and made a document from said organization either congratulating the home owner or offering hints to improve on the mailbox. You know, all mailboxes now-a-days aren't made like they used to be. Well I remember back in my day... oh nevermind!

Here are the pics of the candidates with the categories above. At the end is a link to a Word Doc of all the letters I put on the mailboxes.

Here be the pix:
Most Unique




Most Beautiful




Most Colorful



Least Unique




Most in-need of repair




Least colorful



Here are the letters!

I don't want to see another mailbox again as long as I live! Just kidding, this task was fun!

6/1/2007: Todd Accepts "Mailbox Critic"

It's been a full day today, but I was able to manage some time to pull off this task.
Will post here comes the pics...

:D

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!

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.

5/23/2007: 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.