Category Archives: Personal

A Suggestion for Your Friday Night

Posted by Andy Boyer in Achievement, Personal

Our friend Jason Reid and the rest of the crew from Sonicsgate will be screening their second movie this weekend.  Man Zou is the documentary the 4 filmmakers shot a few years back.  The group landed in Beijing, bought some bikes, and rode down to Shanghai, filming everything they did on the way. 

They will be screening it this Friday at REI, and I personally think it’s a way better “date night” event than your standard dinner and a movie outing.  Here’s the info they sent via email:

Man Zou at REI Seattle – This Friday 2/18
Special event sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle Club, Q&A to follow       
If you haven’t had a chance to see Man Zou yet, I encourage you to come out this Friday, 2/18 to the Seattle R.E.I. (222 Yale Ave. North) at 7pm and see it how it was intended to be viewed, on the big screen. The Cascade Bicycle Club is sponsoring the event and recently wrote a blog post about it if you’re interested reading more.  Here’s all the specific info:

Friday, Feb. 18 @7:00 p.m.
Seattle R.E.I (222 Yale Ave. North)
Presented by the Cascade Bicycle Club
Tickets are $7 ($5 for Cascade members)
Official event website 
Purchase advance tickets here 

Reminiscing about the Harlem Globetrotters

Posted by Andy Boyer in Personal, Seattle

I grew up in New Orleans, and if memory serves, the New Orleans Jazz left town for Salt Lake City when I was but a wee young ‘un.  (Did you ever think about why a team in Utah would call themselves the Jazz?  It would be like Seattle calling their team the “Heat.”)

But I do remember at least every few years, getting to go to the University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena to see the Harlem Globetrotters.  When you are a kid, it doesn’t matter that it’s not a real game, you just think they are the greatest players in the world.  Meadowlark, Curly and the whole crew.

I’d forgotten about the Globetrotters for a while, but I’m pretty freaking tempted to take a walk back down memory lane and check them out when they visit “The Arena that Was Sponsored by Key Bank When There Was a Tenant Worth Sponsoring an Arena For” on Feb 20.  

And this video from MyNorthwest.com is getting me that much closer….

Super Bowl Ads Part 1

Posted by Andy Boyer in Marketing, Personal, Social Media

Remember when the Super Bowl was simply all about the commercials during the game itself?  Well how great is it that now we have YouTube, so we can watch all the commercials BEFORE the game itself, including all of the “Banned” ones that “didn’t make it.”  (Don’t you just love that every brand has a “Banned” commercial now?”

According to early research, this Volkswagen gem is leading the pre-game hype for Best Ad.  

Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon Training – Week 1

Posted by Andy Boyer in Personal

I hate to admit it, but I’m getting close to an age where I *may have* passed the point of my peak athleticism.  Now, I’m not ready to give in, so I took the bait from some friends and signed up for the Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon.

Some people will just run the race with quiet dignity.  But, not me.  I’ve decided that 13 miles is a long way, and frankly, there are a lot of reasons between now and June 25 for me to back out.  So, now I’ve announced what I’m doing on this blog, and the faithful 4 of you who read it must hold me accountable.

So that means when you say, “Let’s go grab a beer” and I reply, “Let’s go run Greenlake instead,” I’m not saying I’m embarrassed to be in public with you.  Nor am I curious to see what you look like in a rainstorm. I just need the run more than I need the beer.  

Anyway, there are a number of months between now and then, so Mike Decklever, Rob Newton and I are putting together a couple of teams for some upcoming races, and you all should join us.  March 13 is the St. Patty’s Day Dash, a nice little 4 mile run around downtown, followed by an Irish celebration at Fisher Plaza.  Two months later on May 15 is the Beat the Bridge Run.  Team “No Runner Left Behind” will be making its mark for the 5th or 6th year.  This 5 miler has the extra challenge of making the 2 mile mark before the University Bridge goes up.   If you haven’t done this race before, join us, as it’s one of the more run races to take part in.  Plus, there’s a champagne breakfast at my house after the race for the whole team, so double bonus.  I’ll get the team info set up shortly and set up a Facebook Page or something.  

So how is the training coming?  I have Ryan Bostick leading me on 3-4 mile mountain trail runs to get me acclimated to hills.  And a number of different folks have joined me for regular trips on the Greenlake loop.  So now that I’m about 15 pounds lighter from Jan 1, and up to a steady 3 miles in 31 minutes pace, I think the groundwork is pretty well laid.  I’m not fast, but I’m not hopeless.

All of this is a long way of me saying, that I’ve planted my stake in the ground and not letting myself off the hook.  So if you’re hitting a trail or going for a quick jog, drag me along.  Left to my own devices, I can always convince myself that a powerpoint *needs* to be done instead of running.

Frames for Facebook

Posted by Andy Boyer in Personal, Social Media

I love when I get to promote something that has popped out of the UW’s Foster School of Business.

Check out Frames for Facebook, a slick little iPhone app that lets you customize those 5 little pictures at the top of your Facebook profile that everyone gets to see.

All you do is choose a pic from your phone, manipulate its position across the 5 frames, and hit publish.  I played with a few things (some which worked better than others) and agree with the people who have told me they think it has great entertainment possibilities. For example, if the light was right, this Kid Rock photo would be pretty cool.