Completed Objectives
The Crop Circle Video! Finally!!!
Dec 31st
Hey Team,
Enjoy the New Year’s Eve shenanigans! Here’s my gift to you (inspired by a desire to vindicate myself in the face of that crazy SOB William Shatner).
“Amtrekker travels to Beulah, MI to create a crop circle!
Failures and ethnically insensitive impressions ensue.”
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player. var WT1_1 = { params : { wmode : "opaque", allowscriptaccess : "always", allownetworking : "all", allowfullscreen : "true"}, flashvars : { file : "http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amtrekker.com%2Findex.php%3Fxspf%3Dtrue%26id%3D52", volume : "80", bufferlength : "5", controlbar : "over", 'logo.hide' : "false", shuffle : "false", playlist : "bottom"}, attr : { id : "WT1", name : "WT1"}, start : function() { swfobject.embedSWF("http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/player.swf", "WT1_1", "437", "522", "9.0.0", false, this.flashvars, this.params , this.attr ); } } WT1_1.start();I’m done.
Brett.
AKPC_IDS += "818,";
Amtrekker: TALES FROM THE VAULT Premiere!
May 7th
Hey Team,
Okay! No more of that silly waiting for Brett to do his thing. Here it is! Let me know what you think!
“Amtrekker travels to Caruthers, CA for the Caruthers Nationals flattrack dirtbike races where he manages to (of course) crash multiply times and show the crowd why people should never get on a bike for the first time for a race.”
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player. var WT2_2 = { params : { wmode : "opaque", allowscriptaccess : "always", allownetworking : "all", allowfullscreen : "true"}, flashvars : { file : "http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amtrekker.com%2Findex.php%3Fxspf%3Dtrue%26id%3D51", volume : "80", bufferlength : "5", controlbar : "over", 'logo.hide' : "false", shuffle : "false", playlist : "bottom"}, attr : { id : "WT2", name : "WT2"}, start : function() { swfobject.embedSWF("http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/player.swf", "WT2_2", "437", "522", "9.0.0", false, this.flashvars, this.params , this.attr ); } } WT2_2.start();The chat is for tonight and the comments are for posterity. (You can sign on using Facebook Connect AND you can leave VIDEO comments now! How cool is that, right?)
.mcrmeebo { display: block; background:url("http://widget.meebo.com/r.gif") no-repeat top right; } .mcrmeebo:hover { background:url("http://widget.meebo.com/ro.gif") no-repeat top right; }Thanks Team!
I’m excited.
Brett.
If you like the site, it’s still your help that keeps things going! More >
The Next Four
Dec 31st
Obviously I let a couple of guest articles and some other writing projects distract me this week but to get now I’m ready. Let’s get back to those whys so you guys can stop emailing me about why I haven’t written the rest of the whys.
5. Enter a hot dog eating contest: The truth is this one was a long standing desire and I’d kill to be in just about any “eating” contest it’s just that hot dogs are kind of the end all, be all of eating contests and I’ve always believed that the more specific your goals are the more likely you’ll be to step up to the plate and make it happen.
Once upon a time I though that I would finally get my chance to out-eat anyone with less dedication to the task during an after-school program sponsored caramel apple eating contest. I got off to a great start and was at least a half apple ahead of everyone else by the time I reached for the fourth and final caramel coated confection…
Which turned out to be an onion instead of an apple. At the risk of tossing out an absurdly bad pun…that always left a bad taste More >
#14 Make Moonshine Pt. 2
Dec 14th
Hey Team,
Here’s the fun stuff!
“Amtrekker and Dr. Tiki travel into international waters under cover of night to show you how to distill moonshine.
Mistakes are made…not the least of which are actually tasting the booze.
(Part two of a two part series! Part one is right here.)”
Follow Amtrekker, Dr. Tiki and TikiTosca on twitter.
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player. var WT3_3 = { params : { wmode : "opaque", allowscriptaccess : "always", allownetworking : "all", allowfullscreen : "true"}, flashvars : { file : "http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amtrekker.com%2Findex.php%3Fxspf%3Dtrue%26id%3D2", volume : "80", bufferlength : "5", controlbar : "over", 'logo.hide' : "false", shuffle : "false", playlist : "bottom"}, attr : { id : "WT3", name : "WT3"}, start : function() { swfobject.embedSWF("http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/player.swf", "WT3_3", "437", "522", "9.0.0", false, this.flashvars, this.params , this.attr ); } } WT3_3.start();Subscribe to Amtrekker on iTunes!
And here’s the YouTube link.
Thanks Team!
I’m done.
Brett.
Just for the record. Bookingbuddy really is a pretty rad website if you’re looking to plan a trip. It actually allows you to search most of the top website from one location. Pretty handy! But more importantly…our new affiliation with bookingbuddy.com means all you have to do to help out Amtrekker is click on one of their ads and sign up for More >
#2 Ride a Horse Through a Covered Bridge [podcast]
Nov 9th
Hey Team,
Lots of stuff going on. Plenty of adventures around the corner. A new literary agent. A book proposal to write. But MOST importantly…everyone’s favorite videos are BACK! Today it’s the horse through through the covered bridge, the video of the party will be out in a few days and then it will be back to the old Wednesday at 6pm Pacific schedule! Ah, the good old days.
There are literally a TON (okay, not literally…it’s all digital so it really doesn’t take up much space) of videos still to come! Things will take on a slightly different format now that I’m back but there are still a lot of “Tales From the Wayback Machine” I’ve yet to show you guys! I’m pretty excited to be able to sit somewhere for an extended period of time without being kicked out so I can ramp up the production quality as much as I can.
Okay, less talk more action. Here it is:
“Amtrekker travels to Atlanta, GA where with the help of Grayson from CNN’s News To Me team, Betty Ann, Ginger, Chase and a horse named Danket he finally gets to live out a cartoon!
Flaming pumpkins ensue.”
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube More >The End. (kinda) [pictures later]
Oct 26th
Hey Team,
I’m done.
That’s the first time I’ve ever had the chance to START a post with that line. Yesterday was completely surreal. Driving up to my house my stomach was filled with butterflies and I was even shaking with anticipation. As we pulled up to the gate of the two acre parcel my folks live on in Middle-Of-Nowhere, CA Ron Fairbanks walked up and blocked my entry.
Apparently, in my absence a vote was taken and I wasn’t even going to be allowed on the property where the homecoming party was being held until I found the final geocache. Eventually a horde of people gathered around and suddenly I was practically onstage wandering around in circles following a GPS I had never used before…poorly. I thought, “Geez, all these people are here just to watch me find a geocache…this is pretty intimidating. I guess I should at least make a show of it.”
Near ground zero according to the GPS was a small DSL box with the wiring running down a post. I figured I might as well look in a few places it was OBVIOUSLY never going to be hidden just to keep things interesting. I opened the DSL box and…Ka-KOW! More >
Auditions for Icabod Crane
Oct 22nd
Hey Team,
Wow! It finally happened. For the last week and a half the awesome team over at CNN’s News To Me has been scrambling to try to put me, a horse and a covered bridge together at the same point in time and space. I can’t tell you how many calls I got from the Associate Producer, Grayson, that went something like this:
“Brett, that horse contact fell through but I think we might have another one…maybe.”
“Brett, there’s no way that bridge is going to work. It looks like we’re back to square one.”
“Brett, the other bridge I wanted to use is under construction right now…”
Meanwhile I was trying to get in touch with everyone I know in the Atlanta area in the hopes that someone could help out while watching the days on the calendar tick away. And yet, after almost a year and a half of similar situations working out time and again, even with the deadline of the Amtrekker party looming, I kind of felt like Geoffrey Rush’s character in Shakespeare in Love.
“Brett, I’m so sorry this isn’t working out. I feel terrible for getting you all the way out here and not being able to get you More >
The Daily Buzz
Oct 17th
Hey Team,
I was on a morning show called The Daily Buzz this morning! They gave me a call a couple days ago from a San Diego number but I didn’t have my phone on me. When they called again yesterday I couldn’t answer because I was in an attraction at EPCOT. Eventually I called back, apologizing for remaining in “O’Canada!,” when they called…
“What?! You’re in town!”
“No, I’m in Orlando. Wait…what do you mean?”
Turns out The Daily Buzz tapes right her in “The Sunshine State!”
I even got to help host the weather!
Here’s the link: http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/amtrekker.mov
In other news: I won’t be riding the horse through the covered bridge in Atlanta until Tuesday so it’s going to be a mad dash across the country to get to Amtrekkapalooza in time!
AND, there are a few people that were a big part of this adventure that would love to make it to the big finish on October 25th but have limited funds so if anyone has any connections with airlines that can maybe get a few of these folks some cheap standby tickets let me know!
Thanks, Team!
I’m done.
Brett.
Just for the record. Bookingbuddy really is a pretty rad website if you’re looking to plan a trip. More >