Wait for it...and then watch him get loose on it.

--Adam Comstock

Here's the whole gang. Nice to see so many faces of people I now consider friends...and only a few sworn enemies. Click for full pic...

--Mike Hudson (thanks to Dave S. in TOR for the photo)

The winners bask in the glory of a greatness. (Photo credit: Crap BlackBerry Pearl Cam)

LAS VEGAS -- With a name so nice, it's not surprising which team ended up hoarding all the hardware in the end...People's Choice and Winner of Camp both go to Team Greed!

This team was a truly special collection of brilliance and it paid off with a fantastic performance this morning.

And the Champions of XIV are (representing every main office, mind you):

Wendy Cotto from DET
Alesha Goplin from NY
Randi Barshack from SF
Nadia Waliji from TOR

And a hearty congrats goes out to all the Campers from Camp 14, which turned out to be a grueling, challenging and ultimately rewarding shin-dig for all involved. (Especially the part where we clubbed out to fresh techno this AM. Holla!) Seriously, congrats to all and now it's off to celebrate at the Wynn.

LAS VEGAS -- Our intrepid and -- I'll say it -- heroic Organics are putting the finishing touches on their yeoman-like efforts all across the Palms, A Maloof Casino Resort.

Caffeine is flowing freely, if somewhat uselessly, through the veins of many at this very hour. We will post the winning team the moment we come to a decision...sometime in the afternoon PST.

Send your peeps well wishes. Every office is being well represented, so stand tall and proud. Or just send 'em an nice email.

Team 5 talks things through...

LAS VEGAS -- The full moon, glitz and first hours of work from last evening are a distant memory and tomorrow morning remains frightfully close at hand for our Campers. The challenge at hand has pretty much fully sunken in with everyone. And it's inspiring some great thinking...and some great anxiety...for all involved.

In other words, we're right on schedule. Giddyup.

LAS VEGAS -- The seven teams are out and mining this happy town for some of its brilliance. As a first time counselor, I'm having the time of my life just watching. Kind of.

As a counselor, you have your experience from camp to help guide a team of four or five campers. For me, it was just a few months back that I was going through it as a camper, so it's all fresh. But in the interest of fairness, we don't provide much in the way of firm "Yes that's the way to do it!" kind of advice. Organic needs the teams to find their own way, hopefully with only a gentle nudge here and there from us lovable old salts.



Part of me loves seeing them at this early stage as they embark on this most unique Organic phenomenon. But part of me also thinks this stage is somewhat like watching a chef grabbing between flour and cement as they prep for a cake recipe -- and not being able to point out which might taste better. Perhaps I'm being a bit dramatic.

But it's Wednesday and we're all pretty excited 'round these parts. Plus we got to see a Russian model dude in a neon pink suit, so we've got that going for us as well. Dumb and Dumber becomes high fashion. And there's a blimp right outside my window.

It's getting late on the Strip. Only 36 hours to go. Do you know where your team is?

--Mike Hudson

The teams are arriving in planes from across this great continent. Get ready to stare at this pool for a bit, if my experience was any guide...

--Mike Hudson

Hello,

It's been a while since I last posted.

I spent time at the auction houses this weekend. A dealer pointed out while people are looking to sell, what you see now isn't necessarily people rushing to sell because of the financial climate as these decisions are made well in advance. I told her the Fuld's as in Lehman Bros. have work for sale. I'm told there are bargains to be had at the gallery level in private, of course. I feel times like these are especially good for the emerging artists, the prices are just right for collectors who are curbing their spending.

I went to the Print Show on the Sunday before the election, at the Old Tunnel disco. At the Brand X Projects booth there was a wonderful print titled Michelle O by Mickalene Thomas, an emerging artist of note. So, I whined to myself about the price, $750.00, the dealer told me the price would not be affected by Obama's win or loss but the price would go up as more prints are sold. So, again, I waited too long and bought the print today for $1,250.00.

Lesson:

Buy when you see something you really like buy it, you can tell it's affordable if you can pay it in 3 payments over 3 months without putting a strain on your expenses. Note: I'm paying this one off in 6 months since it's over $1000.00, that works for me.

Yvette Durant 

Trouble. The sign on the board says it all in a lazy chalk message to those at the stools:

"Build Your Own Damn House!"

and

"Coffee/Coconut/Toast $7"

As the Seattle-ish concept of underground coffee spreads its beatnik sensibility outward and ever upward, I've seen a few places like this sprout up. And San Fran is a good place for one given its abundant supply of coffee fans and off-beat dudes and dudettes. And if you couldn't tell from the site linked above...well, yes...the too-cool-for-school crowd has a new local haunt to haunt.

This shop is kind of out-of-the-way from the office in a neighborhood south and west of the Golden Gate and all that, practically on the Pacific Ocean -- Lower Sunset, if I'm not mistaken. Getting there requires a decent streetcar ride for $1.50 (N-line all the way out to Judah and 45th from 4th and Market...I think) or a $25 cab. I did both and found the mass transit solution more sensible.

But it was all worth it. Drip coffee is roasted on site, according to Holly -- the one staffer manning the operation when I went. Ecco, the very well regarded bean outfit, provides the espresso roast. And Holly knows how to pull a sweet shot, IMHO.

Plus, I got a huge slice of toast with butter and cinnamon-sugar to boot, which might have been worth the trip in itself. I think the latte and toast were around $5. I skipped the coconut, but saw other, more "local" looking chaps tucking into whole coconuts with tops off and straws blazing.

(From ThreeMinds)

When the computer crashes or wifi is down, everyone's favorite person in the office happens to be the IT Help Desk tech.

But for those with, let's say, a more intimate IT relationship, now there's a way to symbolically show the world. Seattle jewlery artist Jana Brevick has created Jacked--Cat5 Compliant rings -  a wedding set for the unconventional:



Diamond's may be a girl's best friend, but nothing says "I love you" like ethernet plug sets.

--Traci Armstrong

Here is a link to some shots of me on the George Hincapie ride. The guy is a star.

--Conor Brady
 

This is a cute little ad the DET office came up with running on MSN, Yahoo and AOL. Vote Red or Blue on the 2009 Dodge Ram.

So get over to one of those three sites, find the ad and vote!

(And, if you haven't already, allow me to be the billionth person to tell you to get on out there to vote for reals.)

--Mike Hudson

Steven Stamkos is an 18-year-old hockey phenom from Markham who was the
first overall pick in this year¹s NHL Entry Draft, by the Tampa Bay
Lightning.

Organic wrote and created this piece, designed to launch just as Stamkos
came back to Toronto for his first game at the ACC the other night. And best of
all, he also picked up his first NHL point in that game with an assist in a
3-2 win over the Leafs.

--Elliott Smith