My most recent pin on Pinterest.com - a lovely fjord in Norway

A smattering of fun, interesting and addicting links for your entertainment. Click, enjoy, and let me know if you have any suggestions!

Pinterest.com
Pinterest is a “virtual pinboard which lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.” I joined Pinterest a few months ago, and I absolutely love it. It’s great for finding inspiration for my upcoming wedding, as well as new styles, recipes, hair styles, travel destinations, celebrity crushes, you name it. Based on that list, it’s probably not a surprise that Pinterest, which was recently valued through venture financing at $200 million, strikes a chord with the ladies. Run, don’t walk, to Pinterest.

RentTheRunway.com
Rent The Runway, founded in 2009 by two second-year grad students at Harvard Business School, is the “premiere designer dress rental destination.” This means that you can rent clothes and accessories from some of the hottest designers, including Herve Leger, Thakoon, and Preen,  for a fraction of the cost of buying an item. After a positive review from a friend, I took the jump and rented a Badgley Mischka floor-length gown for a black-tie charity event I went to last month. I had a great experience, and the dress received rave reviews- I’ll definitely be renting again.

Tastebuds
Is looking for love difficult because you’re a music snob? Do you judge people by their playlists? If so, Tastebuds is the dating site for you. Based on the idea that “music taste can say a lot about a person and that for some people it is an important factor when choosing a potential partner,” Tastebuds helps single people find people in their area who share the same musical tastes. According to the site, you simply enter three or more of your favorite artists on the site and they’ll find you a suitable match in your area.  Bonus: Looking for a date to a concert? Find the show on Tastebuds, click ‘matchmaker,’ and watch the sparks fly.

Crazy cute from DogsofInstagram.com

Suggestions from the Twittersphere:

Drinkify.org
A submission from @BrenniFresh, Drinkify is a brand new website that gives you a suggested drink to go with whatever music you’re listening to. Created last weekend during Boston’s music hack day, it’s entertaining and also has a sleek design that’s easy on the eyes.  Wondering how they have suggestions for all your favorite artists? The site plugs into Last.fm’s API. Smart. Real smart.

Dogs of Instagram
Sent to me by fellow dog lover @elahmed, Dogs of Instagram gives you a daily dose of cuteness. Big dogs, small dogs, dog dogs, this site has them all- captured in the grainy Instagram style that we have known to love. SUPER cute.

Any additions? Drop them in the comments below. And message me on Twitter for the hilarious but slightly NSFW link that I didn’t think Jorg would approve: @cydneyw.

Summer has arrived in Minnesota and in the spirit of getting out and about, I thought I’d talk about my top ten favorite things to do around town (outside of being in the office with my Fast Horse peeps, of course!).

1.Grand Old Days, which took place this weekend, claims to be the largest one-day festival in the Midwest and features an 8k run and inline skate, 5k run/walk and ½ mile run just for the kids, art fair, parades, family fun zone, and live music all day. Each year, the event is free and open to the public, but the festival gardens in the entertainment district require that you are over 21, and wristbands to prove that will cost you $6. Not a bad deal for access to eight different stages of all kinds of music. 

2. Hop a bike and do a day tour of the cities. Starting on the greenway near Lake Calhoun, take the path to Lake Harriet, up Minnehaha Parkway to Minnehaha Falls, follow the River Road, through the U of M campus to downtown Minneapolis, back through Loring Park and the Sculpture Garden to Lake of the Isles and back to Lake Calhoun. Stopping along the way at a DQ for a snickers blizzard or dilly bar, of course.

3. Lawn bowling at Brits. Not necessarily original, but a darn good time at only $20/hour for a game for four. And you can’t go wrong with a snake bite, black and tan or bootlegger. Chips are a must. 1110 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis

4. Lunch or dinner at either Tin Fish on Lake Calhoun or Sea Salt near Minnehaha Falls, with a stroll before or after to work it off. Tin Fish Lake Calhoun, 3000 Calhoun Parkway East, Minneapolis.  Sea Salt: 4825 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis

5. VimLab Boat Parties are taking place on June 12th and August 14th. The Minneapolis Queen departs from Boom Island and travels along the Mississippi River. Featuring local DJ’s including Jevne, Love & Payne in June, and Alexander East plus others in August. These parties always have a great vibe and this is one boat that’s always rockin’. 9:30 pm – 1:00 am, $30, tickets available at www.vitalculture.com

6. While not outdoors, I was recently introduced to the Chatterbox and played music bingo. It was a really fun way to break up the week. Takes place every Wednesday at the Minneapolis location (2229 E 35th Street ) and Thursday in St. Paul (800 Cleveland Ave S).

7. The 15th annual Basilica Block Party takes place July 10th-12th and features great local and national talent. Headlining this year is The Counting Crows. Tickets are available at The Local (10th and Nicollet Mall, Downtown Minneapolis). Grab a pint while you’re there and people watch. (You can get tickets through Ticketmaster, too, but I’m much more about supporting the locals- literally.)

8. Rent in-line skates in Uptown and glide around the lakes.

9.  The Minneapolis Aquatennial takes place from July 17-25. My favorite part: the fireworks that wrap up the week. This year, they take place on July 24 at 10p. Take the light rail downtown and be sure to there early to get a good seat. Last year, I had half a tree in my view, but they were still awesome, especially with the 3D glasses.

10. And finally time for some shameless self-promotion. My alter ego, Big Mama J, will be hosting Sunset Sessions at Solera every Saturday night this summer along with Patrick James. Stop by between 8pm- 2am to enjoy the fantastic rooftop, some great house music, and drink specials on sangria, Spanish wines and beer. Located on 9th and Hennepin, Downtown Minneapolis.  

For other great ideas, visit http://www.minneapolis.org/page/150-things-to-do.jsp

 What are you favorites? Would love to hear them so I have more fun stuff to do!

Well, we now have a new level beyond a decleater – The Fast Horse Fit To Fly Award.  It’s reserved for the recipient of a monumental punking.  In fact, it will only be presented on the rare occasion when a rather innocuous joke or prank results in something far more absurd than anyone could have imagined. 

Here’s a little back story detailing the award’s origin:

A few members of our team were scheduled to take a day trip on a client’s corporate plane last week.  As emails went back and forth detailing logistics, one of our clients poked fun at Idea Peepshow editor John Reinan – noting that he’d need to bring two forms of picture ID and a letter from his doctor in order to get on the flight. 

Everyone copied on the correspondence recognized that she was obviously kidding and got a little chuckle out of it.  Well, everyone except John, who showed up at the airport with his driver’s license, passport and the following:

Here at Fast Horse, we decided to spice up the the stakes by filling our tourney pot not with money, but with items that anyone would be thrilled to win. So far, our winnings pot contains:

• A bottle of absinthe
• A pack of cigarettes
• A cheesy romance novel
• A kitten (not a live one, but the promise of one to the winner)

We’re still waiting for a few holdouts to put their offerings in the pot. But if you see an absinthe-addled individual weaving down the streets of the Warehouse District about 10 days from now with a heater in one hand, a novel in the other and a kitten under their arm, you’ll know where they came from.

The swag at the Republican National Convention is pathetic!

What’s swag? It’s free stuff — you know, like those yardsticks and cap snafflers they give out at the State Fair. Most big gatherings like this have any number of people handing out product samples, pens and various other branded tchotchkes.

I didn’t spend my time actually hunting for swag, but I sure didn’t run across much of it. Above you see my entire haul from 2+ days at the convention. It’s mostly books and tracts from the politically passionate. In fact, I could have collected a lot more literature, but I turned down most of it — too heavy to carry.

 A few months ago, I went to the annual convention of the National Auto Dealers Association on behalf of a client. You couldn’t take two steps without someone offering you a pen, a flashlight, a deck of cards, a golf ball, a model car, a fanny pack – I had to stop taking stuff because my suitcase wouldn’t have held it.

RNC, you’re no NADA.

Thus, I present - The Minnesota State Fair: Amanda Mark Style 

I first thought of this years ago, reading something by H.L. Mencken in which he described a baby as “gruntled.” In all my years of reading and talking, that’s the only time I’ve ever come across that word. Yet people are commonly described as disgruntled.

You do sometimes hear about someone displaying couth, but have you ever referred to a careful person as reck? Is a kind and gentle business leader ruth? If your roof springs a leak, would you say it’s pervious to rain?

Got any other examples?

This way to the anvil drop!

Thursday was a beautiful day for an anvil drop. Our neighbor to the south, Gardner Hardware, started the tradition in 2004, heaving a bright-red anvil from the top  of their store, four floors up, onto an unsuspecting car below.

Thanks to Gopher Towing for providing the target! Enjoy the show.

They start from four stories up.

A colorful crowd was on hand.

My shutter was a little too slow to catch the moment of impact. You can see Taylor reacting to the noise.

Here's the result of the third drop. The red anvil in the hood kind of blends in with the car.

Just another day in the North Loop.

An event took place last summer that immediately entered Fast Horse lore. Someone glanced out the window one afternoon and said, “Hey, there’s some woman in a bikini and chains across the street.” It turned out that she was also wearing fur boots as she draped herself provocatively across a loading dock.

As we looked on, puzzled, we finally realized that it was a fashion photo shoot. Seems that our industrial North Loop neighborhood provides a fine example of the subtle combination of grit and glamor the artists are looking for. As the summer went on, we sometimes noticed chiseled, shirtless young men in existential poses on top of a building down the block. There’s also a modeling agency in that building, which helps explain things. They even used the corrugated metal siding of Fast Horse World Corporate HQ as a backdrop on a couple of occasions.

The other day we had the first model sighting this summer. The participants were intent on their work and slightly cool to my approach, so I didn’t quiz them about their choice of locale or even get their names. But they said I could take photos.

In BattleFight, I match up a new marketing trend / company / technology/ visionary (think: Twitter, Google’s zany corporate headquarters, Steve Ballmer’s motivational speeches) with an epic childhood reference (think: Obi-wan Kenobi, the American Army [from the War of 1812], Wolverine, the Alien Queen). Then you, the readers, debate the proposed battle by commenting on the post.

I’ll provide the opponents’ stats, special rules and conditions, and the location of the BattleFight. You provide the scholarly discussion. Your comments will help our resident Fictitious Battle Analysis Expert(s)* to select a winner, which will then be revealed with the next proposed BattleFight. If no one comments on the BattleFights, I am going to scream.

Please keep the debates clean – no personal attacks against an anonymous commenter. Cite your work. Bonus points for creative rhetoric and use of vocab words. Unless otherwise noted, all decisions made by our Fictitious Battle Analysis Experts are final. Please write to us if you have any fictitious battle match-ups that you’d like to see featured on BattleFight.

Good luck and have fun. Your first BattleFight begins below.

*Just me

Superman/Jedi image credit: howstuffworks.com