We have a Winner

Ryan Rojas is our winner in the first contest on both Rick Dancer.Com and Wired Oregon. Ryan guessed my favorite coffee drink which is a Soy Cappuccino and my favorite local beer is Ninkasi Oatis.  Thanks to everyone who participated and we’ll get back at you with another contest real soon. Ryan wins a $25 dollar gift certificate to Mazzi’s.

Rick Dancer.

Win $25 Dollars to Mazzi’s

Contest Win $25 Dollars to Mazzi’s
At Rick Dancer. Com and Wired Oregon we are all about giving stuff away. We have a few advertisers now and the way this works is we want you to benefit from our relationships with these businesses too.
So, this is our first of many contests where you can win something.
This will take a tiny bit of legwork.

There are two questions you have to answer to win.
The first is: What is Rick Dancer’s Drink of Choice at his second office?
So, you need to go to my second officer (13th and High) and ask the Barista there what my favorite coffee drink is. Once you do this, you will be given a clue to the next question. (Write down the drink you will need this.)
Have fun.
Oh, I didn’t forget to tell you the name of the business you have to figure that out too. Come on I gave you the basic address. This is to see how much you pay attention.
The contest starts on Monday December 6th 2010. It ends on Saturday the 11th. We’ll pick a winner on Monday the 12th.
Good Luck.

Rick, Kathy, Josh and Adam.

Peace: you won’t find it in the headlines.

I ended up on one of those political blogs I used to frequent as a candidate. I am reminded how easily we get sucked into arguments and conversations that take us nowhere.

During an interview with a reporter at KEZI the other day I was asked about the Eugene Downtown Mall. It’s a debate that’s been going on the entire time I’ve lived in this community.

The issues discussed in the media and on these political websites have value but do they have much relevance, really?

I wonder sometimes if people just talk to talk never meaning to really come to a conclusion or solution. It feels like the more we talk the more divided we become and the vicious circle grows larger and the divide deeper.

My answer to the Eugene Mall question went something like this: Perhaps the headlines and issues the city and media determine to be relevant really aren’t to most people. I think if you asked someone in Eugene what the top story is in his or her life the Mall would not stand out one bit.

The main story might be their job, their future, their kids’ future or their heath insurance, not the Mall.

I think that’s the problem with some of these political blogs too. The issues they discuss can be important but is anyone really looking for solutions or just a place to push their agenda. I look at the answers and remember throwing out my two-cents and find it sounds like a brag fest or a “who’s got the most information or the biggest one.”

As I pried my fingers away from the keyboard and my mind away from the conversation I remembered something someone told me after the campaign. They said, “Don’t allow anyone to rob you of your Peace.”

I guess that’s why I don’t hang out on those sites anymore and I pay very little attention to the headlines or the news.

Peace.

Now, that’s something worth talking about.

KUGN Radio Link for Movember Interview (Thursday November 4th)

20101104-pm-rick

Click here for KUGN Movember Interview.

Update Picture

Not My Game

Last night we went to a Baltimore Orioles Baseball Game. I’m not a huge baseball fan but when I was a kid my parents took me to a Washington Senators Game and I had a great time.

So for memory sake I thought I should do it. The crowd was……not a crowd. The Ravens also played last night and they played a great game. In Baltimore football rules.

We started our night at the Pickle Pub across the street from the stadium. $4 pulled pork sandwiches, $2 canned local beers and loud music.

As we arrived at the stadium a guy was standing there handing out free tickets to the game. I didn’t ask where he got them we just took the tickets and walked in (I think they were comp tickets).

We sat behind a group of guys from Canada who were drinking too much and were cheering on the Toronto Blue Jays. At first they were irritating but as the game dragged on they became almost more entertaining than the actual game. They were a group of high school friends on a “mancation” (man vacation). Several of the guys had wives who were about to have babies and they wanted to take one last trip before fatherhood sets in.

So what do I take from this adventure? You don’t have to over plan your life. You don’t have to do something you like to enjoy what you do. But you do need to do whatever it is with people you like.

Lights, Camera, Action.

Here’s a little behind the scenes look at a day in the life of a documentary film crew. The day starts with loading up equipment. We have lights, a very expensive camera, monitors, cords, computers, disks and a bunch of other stuff. We shove that and five half grown men in a mini-van and drive around D.C.

It’s sort of like going on a camping trip, but the trip only lasts a few hours and then you pack it up, put it away and start over the next day.

We also scout out locations for shoots scheduled for later in the week. We have some amazing places to film.

While Kevin, Devon and Ryan set up the room, Rick, that’s me, looks over last minute questions, checks out backgrounds of the interview subjects and Josh takes pictures and gets his still camera ready for extra shots as he prepares to put together a story about the film project for his web magazine Wired Oregon.

Once the interview starts it’s pure magic. Today we interviewed Jim Towey a former Hatfield Staffer who also worked for Mother Teresa.

The best quote of the day for me personally was when Towey spoke of what summed up Senator Hatfield.

This was his answer: “It was not the ballot box, but Judgment Day that guided Mark Hatfield’s life.”

Tomorrow we will conduct at least five interviews and I can’t wait to hear what they have to say.

The more we get involved in this project the more important it becomes.