Our Team Continues to Grow

Here's a photo from todays team member appreciation activities. Photos and video of the cakeplow to follow.

Would You Care For a Stick of Gum?

I stopped in at the neighborhood convenience store to buy a soda. On my way to the cash register I saw a fascinating display. "What is it?" I wondered. As I got closer I couldn't believe my eyes. Coffee flavored gum. Wow! My mouth began to water. I like coffee and I like gum. One would assume that I would therefore enjoy coffee flavored gum. I took a pack out of the completely full display. Did I get the first very pack of the newest "it" product? I couldn't wait to get back to the office and share my prize.
With great eagerness I made my way back to MindComet HQ. My mind was racing. Would I develop a pack a day habit? Would we chew coffee gum instead of brewing the much anticipated 3:00 PM carafe of java? Did my new gum come chock full of caffeine?
I got to my desk and took a few seconds to savor the moment. I carefully unwrapped the gum and started to chew. This was going to be so awesome!
Oh no! It was not good, not good at all. In fact, it was really really bad. I quickly spit the gum into the trash. One of the reasons coffee drinkers chew gum is to hide to potential offense odor coffee produces. It occurred to me that coffee gum will not mask, but simply add to the offensiveness.
My mood was dashed. There was no treasure to share. I sat crestfallen, thinking about my earlier, rather flip assumption. While I do like coffee and I do like gum, I do not like coffee gum.

"Red Eye Remix - To All the Airports"

Preface: Written while punch drunk on the way back to Orlando. Time check: 1:25 AM EST (wait - what time zone are we in again?)

To All the Airports: Red Eye Remix
(To the tune of ‘To All the Girls’ by Wyclef Jean)

Intro:

Yo, MindComet, It's time that I confess to all the airports
(Don't do it, don't do it)
*singing* To all the airports I loved before
*rapping* To all the airports I hated on before
*singing* To all the airports I loved before

Chorus:

To all the airports I hated on before, it's a new year
I got a new set of luggage, I swear
I can see clear now the clouds disappeared
You forgive but never forget, so my luggage reappears, uh huh
To all the airports I hated on before, it's a new year
I got a new change of clothes, I swear
I can see clear now my sleep disappeared
You forgive, but you still think that I'm full of joe

Break: (includes elements from Rapper's Delight)

Hotel, (I'm not a) motel, Holiday Inn (you don't believe me though)
And if you act up to the valet, then they take your keys
Hotel, (I'm not a) motel, Holiday Inn (you don't believe me though)
And if you act up to security, then they snatch your ID

Break it down right here

One flight, you're lucky to have one leg
It sounds ragged, eating goldfish from the little bag
One bag, one pillow, one soul
They ain't a gold digger, they don't care about your bank-roll
Keep your dvd player volume down, that make you look like a bother
All they want from me is respect like a pilot
Cooked me some hummus, stayed away from the shopping
Chilled in the chairs, now I'm gone 'til forever
Have you seen my luggage?
I think I did
But what I did wrong was take travel for granted

Cause first comes Orlando to Dulles, then comes LAX
Easier said than done, LAX than Denver than Orlando
Sleeping is a must, but then we start to drool
We was just going somewhere, now we tearing up the airport
Like a nerd, I’m looking around for an outlet
So feel the beat of the guy kicking on my seat

Clubs We'd Like to See

We at Mindcomet sometimes frequent local watering holes. These range from the upscale Blue Martini to the murky depths of the Red Fox Lounge in the Best Western on Mills. But what if we could make up our own watering holes? About five minutes ago, two of our creative team members did just that. And here are their ideas, in random order, mine first.

Prom:
-each night there's a new theme, complete with new streamers and balloon arches
-free photos of couples and groups in front of horrible high school backdrops
-slow dancing mixed with upbeat music
-kings and queens are elected (free bar tab to the winners)
-ugly corsages are available for purchase

Sigourney:
-a club for masculine women who don't neccesarily like women
-that's as far as we got before we cracked up

Something to tease your eyes...

This is something for everyone to enjoy.








This link: http://www.2loop.com/3drooms.html is a collection of images of rooms that are painted with designs that only come together from one angle. Move to the left or right and they become meaningless color but when viewed from that one sweet spot, everything comes together. Very cool. I believe I know how it is done. Do you?

It's Not Easy Being Green

Happy St. Patty's Day from the MindComet crew! Can you guess who's really Irish and who is an imposter? We won't tell, because today we were all celebrating!

Snowflake Steals Our Thunder!

On this warm spring day of March 16, 2006, the breeze blew just enough to spin my sister and I into uncharted territory. Accustomed to life together (living together, working together, dating best friends and sharing a car) we often ventured to lunch together. Ridiculed for partaking in what some have termed "Secret Lunches" we decided to venture outside of our comfort realm and take a stab at a new opportunity: We would invite the team to lunch!

Now that we had made our plan, it was time to execute. We engaged in a brief instant messenger session:

Nicole took the lead using her marketing expertise to our advantage. What email subject line would prompt the best open rate?

Thai for Lunch Train leaves at 11:42.

It was clear. It was concise. It would leave no mystery. Now that we had planned and executed, all we could do was wait. With sweaty, trembling palms I continued the chat with my sister, "Did anyone reply to your email?"
My head spun around in circles. Do people normally reply? Is an email too forward and abrasive? Does it act as another obligation if you commit in writing? Maybe people don't want to feel like they HAVE to do something on their lunch break. Maybe it just has to happen.

The clock strikes 11:26. Still no replies.

Maybe people will just start to gather around at our designated time.

But then! At approximately 11:28, much to our horror, we hear a loud voice shout across the office, "Who wants to go to Jason's Deli and get a potato?!"

It was Snowflake! She was undermining our lunch efforts and corralling a group for lunch! We've got no chance at this point. She's a seasoned professional. We are merely amateurs. With that, our efforts were spoiled as laughter and giggles paraded out the door.

Lunch planning clearly isn't for the weak.

Midway through our course at Pilan Thai, and much to our surprise, two stragglers (who asked to remain anonymous) showed up. Oh great. It's bad enough we went alone but to have witnesses to our publicly failed attempt is just humiliating.

The hour slowly disintegrated as we finished our meal and rode back to the office in silence. No words were spoken. Our efforts were a well-known disaster. Some time will need to pass before we can build up the strength, charisma and courage again to step outside the world we know as ours.

Until next time.

Ladies Getting Crazy

It was Saturday night and the MindComet ladies were going out for a night on the town!

The evening started rather tame...our small groups trickled in to Ybor's one by one. Some we didn't expect showed up, and some who were 'sure things' bailed. But we carried on - sipping martini's and chatting amongst ourselves. We even made some new
friends at the next table.

After a few martini's, we gathered our group, took an adventure to add coins to a car meter and headed to Antigua for ladies 80's night. That's when the party really got started...

The drinks were free, the music was pumping and we were dancing. Suddenly, one of my co-workers gave me a dollar..."I'm hot, she's tipping me?" I thought to myself. But no, my ego was dashed when she insisted the money was for the man dancer. (a 'man dancer' is a paid dancer on the stage at a club). We strolled on up, threw dollars at the man dancer and carried on. He looked so hot at the time, but I can tell you from the pictorial evidence that hot he was not!

Now, I'd love to say that the fun continued, but after only one yaggerbomb, my time there was done and the fun continued without me!

Cakeplow No. 6

The frosting hits the fan in this triple-dipper cakeplow. Enjoy the latest in delicious goodness on the Cakeplow History page.

The Maine Lobster Game

Just thought I'd share this experience with our faithful Cakeplow readers...

A few weekends ago I visited a friend of mine in Charlotte County for his birthday. Although you'd be hard-pressed to find anything that resembles a good time in fair Port Charlotte. Maybe Orlando has spoiled me but PC is in dire need of a fun-enema.

We met up at Boomers, a mild-mannered restaurant by day, half karaoke/half hip hop club by night. That should've been our first clue. Regardless, we entered this fine establishment, thinking our best bet would be to enter the hip hop side first. Oh, how wrong we were. Everyone was sitting at small tables dispersed around the room, watching MTV reruns projected on a wall while a DJ *attempted* to mix. Occasionaly a small group of people would get up and shake what their momma gave them while Steve-O made a jackass out of himself in the background. Now that, my friends, is what we call 'irony.'

We found ourselves a table to sit and watch TV (when in Rome) and bopped our heads along to the trainwreck that everyone else in the club mistook for music.

After a while we got up and ventured over to the karaoke side of the restaurant/club. How could we have known that this was when it was going to get interesting? Both of us stopped in our tracks as something simultaneously caught our eye. Tucked away in a corner was the "Maine Lobster Game." Picture the mechanical crane games that are usually found at your local Denny's, filled with stuffed animals and plastic watches, except this one was filled with water and about half a dozen Maine lobsters. No. Seriously. Picture it. In your head. Because once you have formed the visual and have realized how absurd it is, you probably won't believe me. But I have proof. Fortunately I had just gotten my new cell phone with a camera, and this was the perfect opportunity to break it in. Of course it isn't the best image because the lighting was low, but here's the shot I took...

Can you imagine the experience a person has operating this thing? You insert a quarter, pick a suitable lobster out of the bunch, then operate a joystick as you attempt to catch him in the mechanical claw. If you're lucky - success! The claw latches on to the unsuspecting lobster, pulls him from his watery, plexiglass-enclosed prison, and drops him down a chute where he lands with a satisfying "thud." Then you get the joy of retrieving your reward - usually a teddy bear, but in this case a live crustacean. You open the small metal door and pull out your soon-to-be dinner, then hand him to your waiter. Finally, he gets delivered to the chef for a date with a boiling pot of H2O and a side of melted butter. Sheer genius.

Has anyone seen any similar machines in their travels? What other animals could we throw in a box and catch with a mechanical crane... then eat for dinner? I see a large, untapped market here...