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My wife and I had a great opportunity to attend a Minnesota Wild hockey game the other night. I can't attest to knowing much about the sport, (I was a gym rat) but I do understand the urge to drop gloves and throw a punch. Growing up in northern Minnesota, you have to respect the Zamboni. It was only a matter of time until someone decided the ads the take up the boards migrated to the ice resurfacing machine.

"Feed Your Wild Side", is the tagline for Jack Links beef jerky products. It was a match made in heaven for some marketing manager. Minnesota Wild = big hunting population = beef jerky = BINGO! While I'm on the subject of Jack Links, check out their "Messing with Sasquatch" videos. There should be a warning that if you do indeed run into Sasquatch, proceed with caution.

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I took my family on this trip to a mine near my hometown in northern Minnesota. My family has several generations of miners, including my father, who led us on the tour. It's always nice to be reminded of your roots.

This particular mine, is owned by Cleveland-Cliffs. The large spinning drums are used much like a rock tumbler. Eventually you'll get a fine dust that is made into a pellet, which is then shipped to the steel mills for processing. The size of the nuts holding the plating onto the mill are a bit larger than a softball. I always wondered if any have ever flown off the mill.

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When I think of Mexio, I remember all the Spring Break trips that I didn't get to attend. While all my friends were taking intoxicating adventures, across the boarder, I was working a full-time job in the media industry. When I came across the modified moving truck, there was a compelling urge to grab a Tecate and kick back.

Creative street marketing always catches my eye. One of the problems with campaigns that incorporate this type of rubberneck reaction, is the lack of analytics. You can survey this to death, and you will never know the effectiveness of this type of street campaign. Mexico: Beyond your Expectations, go to our website that's plastered on the truck, tell us how you found us (yet another form), and we'll have a vague static on awareness and ROI. Tease me with warm weather, bikinis, and cervezas, but don't tease me with incomplete analytics.

I tend to carry a digital camera everywhere. My wife and I were driving home the other day, when a van with an interesting logo sped past. You can imagine me pulling my camera out of the bag, while motioning to my wife to catch up to said van. We were pulling 65+ in a 55, and this van was already 10 car lengths ahead, so we gave up on the snapshot. I did manage to write down the company name, (not to turn in the driver) but to do a bit of research. Here's what I found:

Iowa Paint has supplied paint and coatings for projects ranging from U.S. missile silos and rockets during the 1960s to the space shuttle during the 1980s. It was also a supplier of coatings to locks and dams operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

So what color is your silo?

Excuse the messy Quicktime enclosure this time. We're still ironing out the G5 and Final Cut Pro.

We've been feeling a little wintered out. Yeah, it's been pretty a pretty mild one, but this video brings us back to last summer. AND1 sponsored a streetball tourney that had a nice crowd in attendance.

Some of the more interesting co-sponsors were: Boost Mobile, Gamestop.com, and the US Army. Yes, the US Army is into Ballers...who woulda thought?

Ringtone sales racked up $417 million in worldwide sales this year. The talented folks at homestarrunner.com provided the Trogdor music file. As you can see and hear, it's no small business to match your ringtone with your mood, or outfit.]]>