Congrats to Mark, EdG, Eileen/iLean, BobG 11.75, Zach, Nick, Lisa, Bentley, the rest of the DC crew and anyone else I may have missed that we saw. Special congrats to those runners that finished all 12 doughnuts.

Pictures after the jump – feel free to copy and save any you want and if you would like one in a large size – just let me know.

Congrats again – I know it isn’t easy.

1. Election 2012: St. Patrick for Governor (62%)
2. Fail Whale – Irish Twitter is only 100 characters (42%)
3. 30th Anniversary of the Parade – We Take the Cake! (23%)

Close and maybe next year include Irish Aliens – Space Ireland found something on the moon and Irish Superheroes (Calling Drunk Man!). It is nice to have a cupboard filled with ideas. (Canned food is better but ideas work.)

Yes I am aware the total for the Top 3 is 127%. I assume this is because we were allowed to vote more than once. If not I blame Windows.  Voting will resume on Monday and while BobG’s strategy of informing people of his vehicle of choice helped move the 30th Anniversary concept forward I hope there is more lobbying during the next round. We will also allow float renderings/plans and more importantly photos of yourself dressed for the float of your choice to help us decide.

Polls will open Monday morning and close on Friday of next week.

P.S. – In the picture above St. Patrick is saying “Hey kid – pick up that damn Tootsie Roll!”

To the right is our list of float themes, concepts and ideas both good and not-so-good. Really? Fail Whale? Really?

Your job is to pick your Top 3 before Friday (12-3-2012) at 5PM. At that point we will have a run off vote. If it matters to you vote as often as you like. Feel free to invite as many people as you want and drive the total in any direction you choose. This is a democracy and we plan to have as many upset people as we possible can. Is it too late to add the Occupy the Tea Party theme?

So vote – lobby in the comments section and do your best to make your theme a winner.

UPDATE: Added the late entry of “Election 2012: St. Patrick for Governor” we could always modify this to Vote St. Patrick.

The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA: I announced my opposition to SOPA in December. Congress should take steps to protect intellectual property, but not at the expense of the openness that facilitates innovation online. The proposed bill would impose a new bureaucratic presence on the internet and eliminate current online copyright protections.  Other provisions of the bill are questionable on free speech grounds — for example, the requirement that search engines delete sites deemed in violation of the law from their search results. I was encouraged to see so many get involved as advocates over the past several weeks as websites like Wikipedia and Google echoed what I’ve heard from constituents for some time.  My office received hundreds of calls, and I appreciate constituents’ taking time to weigh in.

I know SOPA is technically “on hold” but I thought this was nice to see from someone that represents me.

So what are we supposed to do about it? Turn to technology to solve our problems. Just like we always do.

I’ve downloaded and started (this morning) a program called My Fitness Pal – I’ve heard good things but I know me well enough to know I’ll quit in a week if I don’t have a little peer pressure to stick with it.  So here is your chance. Email me your username and I will add you as a friend. You can see my status updates and I can see yours and you can call me out when I order Tres Leche Cake at Cuban Revolution or Garlic Knots at Ruckus Pizza and I’ll do the same for you. (The diet must be working – I am thinking about food.)

The app is available on both Android and iOS and is free. It is easy to use – just scan the UPC/bar code or enter what you are eating and keeps track of both diet and exercise.  You can also use the website but that is a little more difficult to carry around with you.

Am I expecting miraculous results? No. But I do expect to see some results – especially if I get enough peer pressure to keep me doing it. So want to see less of me? This might be a good way to do it. And trust me – I won’t mind. It might keep me around a little longer.

This is where you can help.  What would be useful? Is there an information aggregator that would make sense? It seems like something that would be worthwhile – condensed information populated automatically. That being said – I know I use info differently than most people.

So give me your feedback. Of course there are limitations – he can’t make you a sandwich. But there might be some function out there that would be useful or cool.  We just need to figure out what it is.

Governor Perdue: Sierra Nevada Taps NC – Press Release: Gov. Bev Perdue today joined executives from Sierra Neva… bit.ly/zpLeL5

— NC Governor’s Office (@ncgovoffice) January 25, 2012

So I thought this was pretty good news.

The company plans to create 95 full-time jobs as part of the grant and invest $107.5 million during the next five years in Henderson County.  In addition the company expects to hire another 80 part-time employees and expects to create about 60 construction and mechanical jobs during its 24-month building phase.

Something the Western part of the state needs.

Jobs – and good beer.

Here is some info on TC-07-09 which is coming up in front of Raleigh’s Comprehensive Planning Committee this Wednesday. So other than sounding like a cool name for a Stormtrooper what is TC-07-09? Simply put it is a text change that would provide some guidance/regulation to front yard parking. A common sense update for both the environment and the appearance of single family homes in Raleigh. This means regulations for the size of a driveway and parking pad and the use of said driveway and parking pad. If you are saying to yourself – why don’t we already have something like this – you aren’t alone.

What can you do? First stop off here and learn more. This particular text change is going to impact the Southwest/District D area of Raleigh. (Maybe more if it is seen as effective in this area.) Second go to the  Comprehensive Planning Committee Meeting this Wednesday (5PM Council Chambers Agenda) or email the members of the committee and tell them you support TC-07-09. (Councilors Russ Stephenson (chair), Bonner Gaylord, and Randy Stagner.)

Note: The image here is not a car parked in a Raleigh front yard. It is what I found when I Googled “TC-07-09 Stormtrooper.”

At first I thought it kinda looked like Reynolds Coliseum but I don’t think so. I figured – it is Friday not like anyone reading this blog has a real job (or life) anyway so I’d throw it out and see if anyone had an answer. First person to answer correctly (other than BobG) gets to ride on the float.  Sound like fun? You bet. Could you do this without correctly answering the photo challenge? Probably.

Answers only accepted in the comments here – even if you first saw this post somewhere else.

Learn more:
EFF: One-page guide to SOPA
reddit: A technical overview of the SOPA and PIPA bills
DYN: How these bills would break DNS
EFF: Free speech on the web

Act:
Contact information for US elected officials

The bark side? Awesome.

Maybe the Super Bowl won’t suck this year.

So why did we darken the page today? We like many other sites on the web are against the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) that could be used against small sites and possibly even big ones by the government and large corporations that don’t like what they see. Basically censorship.

You can see lots of info on the news and you can always use Google to learn more (who did a great job on their doodle today). Our blackout was done in the style of Wikipedia’s one of my favorite resources who did a great job posting links to the various Senators and Representatives (Click here for the Raleigh list).

I hope the blackout got everyone’s attention and you will act accordingly. The more calls / emails / letters that are sent the better the chances are that SOPA will disappear and the Internet can stay a great place to live. We wouldn’t want to see the great sites, creativity and everyone’s favorite at work pass time go dark.

And so bad things happened. Western Carolina led 18-0 at one point. They assembled the third-largest margin of victory in NCAA history. They set a school record for points scored and points scored in a half. Nine players scored in double figures, and all Western players played more than ten minutes. They outrebounded Toccoa Falls 62-16. Toccoa Falls turned it over 27 times and shot 28.3 percent from the field.

There will be much rejoicing after this win, from Asheville to Andrews, from Black Mountain to Bryson City. But think of the poor bible college students, won’t you? [SOURCE]

How awesome is that? Can you stop that Cat machine?

Update: More information on the AWESOMENESS.

Then a video mash-up of our friend He-man and the song.

Why post this? How often do you see a lot of wood and He-man in the same place? Unless you are hanging out with BobG on a Saturday brew tour probably never. Sorry that was “Metalhead” not He-man. Details.

Wiggle?

Unfortunately the transcript is still unavailable – Google can do a lot but there are limits. I guess the memo should read “Next time don’t miss the beer tour.”

I’ll let the guilty party remain anonymous.  At least as anonymous as the can remain given their condition. And yes – I did listen to this in STEREO! How awesome.