Ho Ho Hospital Holidays

Interesting events have transpired. Every year, my lovely wife, Stephanie, and I trade with the ex's on who gets the kids for the holidays. This year, we had no kids for Christmas. So our plan was to leave on a plane for Vegas on the morning of the 23rd. The two days before, Stephanie complained of stomach pains. She has suffered these pains for years, and we figured they would go away.

The night of the 22nd came and I already warned my parents what was going on. The next morning we skipped the flight, thinking we would maybe just go to the clinic and then surprise my parents the next day by just driving down. The weather was improving, we could stay an extra day on the back end of the trip, it seemed a perfect plan. The doctor would just give Steph some pills and we can go on our merry way... right?

Instead, the day of the 23rd started with a trip to the clinic, with a result of her white blood cells being a little too high. So we were ordered to another place for a CAT scan. After a few more hours there, it was revealed that Stephanie's gall bladder was about three times too big and that she was ordered to immediately go to get surgery. So we moved to Utah Valley Regional and started our new life in our 2 square-foot apartment. Steph went into surgery and I sat for hours, not ready to eat, couldn't start a book. Maybe got through a game of solitare on my phone. That's about it.

She came out and it went well, pulled out a few stones. But the doctor told me there was more in another part (don't remember what it's called, the place where stones would pass... you know, that place). I stayed with her till late at night and finally went home... alone. I slept in the next morning and missed Steph going in for the second operation, going to get the other stones. They were supposedly not easy, and they had to cut their way in. Poor girl.

When I met her the next morning, she was in a lot of pain. They continued to pump her with morphine. Still more pain. Finally, she has been able to sleep at the time I am writing this. She also hasn't been able to eat. They won't let her till she passes the gas she has inside. So it has been more then 36 hours since she has eaten.

And now I wait... on Christmas eve.

Seems like I remember several Christmas eves being this eventful. In fact, it came to me that 20 years ago, in this very hospital, my oldest son, Forrest, was born. And again, on Christmas eve, I went home empty handed and alone.

I have had other great Christmas eves. This has just been an interesting turn of events. And has given me a lot of time to reflect on the many things about to happen this next year. The Last Eagle Scout is the big one. The day before Thanksgiving, the hard drive to the film crashed, causing a major delay in it's release. I was able to retrieve about 95 percent of the film, but still have work ahead of me.

Also, I am looking at re-releasing Handcart this year, as well as produce a documentary on Will it Blend. Blendtec also has some big things planned this next year, including a possible big-budget infomercial. We shall see.

I also plan to keep people more up-to-date on things on this blog as well as The Last Eagle Scout blog.

Merry Christmas

WILL IT BLEND-DOCTOR WHO

Another blend came along last week in the form of Doctor Who. This is actually our friend David, who is known as Sebastian J Brook on the Doctor Who on-line site. It started as a fan site back in 1997, but it is the biggest Dr Who fan site in the world, to the point where it is sort of the official stop for Dr Who fans.

As a kid, I remember Doctor Who, but rarely watched episodes. The connection I did make was my neighbor from across the street, Tara Carstensen. Her and I were friends from the time I moved to Texas from Virginia in 1977, I was 10 years old. I started to get into Star Wars and Star Trek, and our friend, Rudy, started the Star Trek fan club down there.

South Texas was not exactly a hub of Science Fiction at the time, but there were those few fans who were faithful. Tara gained way into Doctor Who with the advent of cable television and she was on her way. She had curly hair, so she let it grow out to look like the Tom Baker Dr Who, so that is what I remember. She always walked around in the signature hat and scarf, knowing good and well that others around her (in South Texas in the early 80's) had no idea what she was trying to look like.

The only connection I had was I loved making movies. I was never a Trekkie in a sense where I spoke Klingon, but I became more and more a fan as the years went by.

So to dedicate to my friend Tara Carstensen, here is WILL IT BLEND-DOCTOR WHO.

WILL IT BLEND-OLD SPICE (LIVE)

So this morning I got up at 5:30 so Parke and I go on our workout (Blendtec has a gym, and we are usually there alone for the first little while). I get on my laptop and load the new WILL IT BLEND with a parody of the Old Spice ads.

As I spoke in my last entry, I was not very big on doing this one. One of the reasons is that for many people, the Old Spice ads are old and "done", but for many others it is still fresh in their minds. So making the video was rather fun and also very busy. It took longer then most, mostly because of the eye-popping effects (which were still cheesy, but fun).

As viral as things go, only hours after posting the videos and were were already a talk on many web sites' minds. Here are a few link to places that already had us up and we have only been up for about 6 hours.

I am not expecting you to go visit all these, most are crap and I don't really pay attention. Plus I have never heard of any of these sites. But it goes to show you how viral works.

TechCrunch

CrunchGear

Wikio

TrendingTube

ComeAtMeBro-Tech News

Cast TV

Others

WILL IT BLEND-OLD SPICE

We just had to do it!

I wasn't really a big fan of it at first (as usual, always the skeptic). But as time went on, we decided to make a WILL IT BLEND based on the Old Spice ads that have been riddling the internet like crazy.

What also caught on was the BYU parody of the commercial. The students at BYU made a commercial advertising the Harold B Lee Library using the Old Spice gags. They actually did a great job and it has gained a ton of views. Then, I was home teaching a family and they said that their daughter knew the guy who was the actor in the BYU ad. Simultaneously, our new marketing director at Blendtec, Spencer showed us being in the top of the list of viral campaigns (Old Spice being number 3).

His idea was to work with the other viral campaigns and raise ratings. So I decided to pipe up and get this guy from the BYU ad, Stephen Jones. At first I wasn't sure, he seemed a little cocky. But as I worked with him, I really got to like him and and he does a great job.

Also, with the re-innovation going on outside my office, it was a perfect time to possibly build a full-on set for the new WILL IT BLEND. I spent days building a break-away wall, a table that slides and a chair that breaks apart (you can see my assistant Ann Ross standing with an electric saw cutting the wicker chair in half). It actually turned out to be great.

In one part of the gag, I had two dollies on one track, one for my camera, the other for the actor to float over to the Will it Blend set (you'll have to see it). We also do an effect where an iPhone appears on his hand and then blends into his hand and turns into dust. It was a good thing it is close to Halloween! I found a hand and spray painted it green, so I can pour the iPhone remains onto basically "nothing", then add it to his real hand later.

I am currently editing the stuff and it will probably be on-line this Tuesday. This Will it Blend has allowed me to be the most creative I have been in a while.

BUILDING A NEW STAGE AT BLENDTEC

I guess the company found the need for me to have an updated facility with the success of WILL IT BLEND and our on-line presence. What is happening is the WILL IT BLEND set will remain, but next to it will be a new set for other uses.

You see, the reality of it is this.... the WILL IT BLEND set, seen by millions, seen on national television and bla, bla, bla, was really only in the small Blendtec lunchroom. Nothing fancy a-tall. There was constant fun with people popping their heads in while we were filming, wondering if it was clear enough for them to come get a Diet Coke. But no longer...

The new set throws out the lunch room (there is a considerably bigger one on the other side of the building, but we have to walk allll the way there). I am the one that pays the biggest price. I got soft since my office was the only one right in the lunch room. I could just sneak my Chef Boyardee Ravioli's to the microwave without getting a lecture from anyone en route telling me how bad they are for me and "if they could get me some Koolaid with that".

But now, this new set will be a full working kitchen. Our nutritionist Liz Brown, who just moved here from Lewisville, Texas (been there, done that) to come work for Blendtec, is preparing a major on-line cook book of recipes using the blender, as well as produce a ton of recipe videos we are about to film. We've done a few recipe videos already, but we will be doing this on-going.

I helped design the set so that it would be filming friendly, and Liz will be using this for all her testing, so the kitchen will be fully operational. The only problem now is... I will be taste-testing all the food, since it is right outside my door. (It's a good thing Parke and I are working out every morning).

LABOR DAY FUN

Over Labor Day, the family and I went to two places. First we went to Pine Valley, Utah. Where is Pine Valley you ask? In the 20 years I have lived here, I didn't know either. Until my parents, who now live in Las Vegas, tried to find a place close by where they can get out of the heat.

They proposed buying a home there and giving it to the kids. I jumped on that and we now go down about every month or two. (More on Pine Valley in another blog).

We spent 3 days there with Stephanie's kids and Parke and I. It was a little learning experience, driving with the kids. I have gotten spoiled with the two boys I have (Parke now 16 and Forrest almost 20) not having attention spans that are the length of a 30 second commercial.

But it was fun. Then after that 3 days, we dropped Parke off in Orem, then proceeded to Island Park, Idaho and Yellowstone for 3 more days. It was great to see the wild life with Stephanie's family (I mean the wildlife out in the forest, not in our car).

With all the 20 plus hours of driving, Stephanie's kids enjoyed going through almost the entire Battlestar Galactica 1978 series on DVD. It helped going through the long roads without getting too bored.

I will post more photos on a new facebook album.

WILL IT BLEND - Top Viral Ad of All Time

According to MSNBC, (my favorite network... not) has released an article on successful viral videos ads. We have been lucky to be chosen as number one.

Take a look.