From the Inside Out

Gary’s company hosted a private party for employees (and their families) at Main Event tonight. The evening included dinner and full run of the house — games, laser tag, bowling and pool. All for free!

The most interesting (and fun) part of the evening; however, was the Gravity Ropes Course. It’s something that’s available only at the Main Event in Frisco, TX, and it’s definitely worth trying. Main Event says to think of the gravity ropes course as simply walking through the park. Well, walking through the park over rope bridges, narrow beams and planks while suspended from a lanyard that holds you high over the crowd below. It’s an “obstacle course on steroids.”

They place a harness on you, attach a rope, and connect it to their overhead safety system (which will catch you if you fall). You then climb stairs at the back of the course and arrive at the first platform. From there, you have many options from which to choose. There is a variety of rope courses, each one with varying levels of difficulty. You can traverse a few or try them all.

We had only 15 minutes so I wasn’t able to do it all, but I had a blast trying. The only thing that would’ve made it better would have been a zip line at the end. Now that would have been cool!

If you haven’t tried a ropes course before, stop by the Frisco location, and give it a whirl. It was free at the party, but if you go on the weekend, the price ranges from $5-$7. Not bad for a bit of defying gravity fun.

No, I haven’t been abducted by aliens, locked in jail, or banned from blogging. If you are wondering where I’ve been lately, I’ve been busy working on the Summer drama production at ALC (in addition to being overworked on my day job and helping with my dad).

Johnny Unforgettable premiered this weekend at ALC. It’s a film noir murder mystery set in the 1940s, and it features detective Johnny Howland who is trying to unravel a mystery while dealing with an untimely case of amnesia. It’s an entertaining and family friendly play — and we had great fun performing it.

The audiences were amazing; they made it worth all of the effort. I can’t even begin to tell you how many hours we invest into these productions, but by the end of the show, I’m always happy we did it, even though I feel like I need a vacation.

Here are a few highlights from the show:

Putting the final touches on the set

Sid finds a confused Johnny in the park

Vivian and Laura explain the details of the case…again.

Laura confronts Johnny

Veronica sings at the Skullking Rooster Cafe

Johnny questions Veronica about her husband’s death

Laura and Johnny find themselves in a little bit of trouble

The action begins…

And here’s my favorite detective with his New Jersey waitress

With everything that’s happened lately, I haven’t had a chance to blog about my Space Shuttle adventure. It started at 10:30 pm on Sunday, April 5 in the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field.

Everyone met there and had the opportunity to take pictures with Neil Armstrong who traveled along with our tour group. It was an amazing opportunity and a big honor to shake hands with the first man to walk on the moon! I have the framed picture that they gave us proudly displayed in my living room.

We boarded the plane around midnight to travel to Melbourne Florida. It would be a quick, 2.5 hour flight and then we’d shuttle to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral to watch the Space Shuttle Discovery launch.

On the plane, we received backpacks filled with “goodies” from NASA. The plane was also festively decorated with little green men (behind me on the right) and space shuttles — a cute way to get everyone in the mood for the launch.

We arrived at the VIP viewing area about 20 minutes before launch. They were playing the live radio feed from NASA over the P.A. system so everyone could hear the status of the launch. The clock above was the launch count down, and you could see a close-up view of the space shuttle on the TV screen.

There was much excitement in the air as everyone waited for the launch — scheduled for 6:20 a.m. It would be the last pre-dawn Space Shuttle launch because the shuttle program is scheduled to end this year.

Our location was the closest viewing point for a launch, reserved for VIPs and the astronauts’ friends and family. It was about 2-3 miles away from the launch pad.

The lights shining on the launch pad painted bright rays across the early morning sky, making it a striking focal point for everyone to view. A half moon was the only other light in the sky until the International Space Station came into view and streaked across the sky about 15 minutes before the launch. The entire crowd started to clap and cheer. Discovery would chase this space station, catch up with it, and dock there for its mission. Amazing!

Just a few minutes before launch, everyone stood as a woman sung the national anthem. Then it was time to start counting down…10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1….launch!!

Pictures can’t do it justice, but it lit up the sky like the sun. Amidst cheers, screams, claps and awe, it rose into the sky.

It was so bright that it hurt your eyes when you looked at it too long. Almost looked like a nuclear explosion. It was beautiful and mesmerizing.

A beautiful sight as it thundered and roared into space

In only a few seconds it was leaving our atmosphere and entering space.

I think the picture says it all — wow!

The picture above was what happened when the sun rose and hit the gases and fuel that had been left behind by the space shuttle

After the launch, we traveled to the Kennedy Space Center for breakfast with an astronaut and a tour through the visitor center and museums.

Rock Garden at Kennedy Space Center

Breakfast with Captain Jon McBride

After a few hours at the Kennedy Center, we traveled back to the airport for our trip home. Once in the air, the pilot flew us over the area where the space shuttle launched. We had special permission for the fly over and were able to take pictures from the plane.

The runway on the upper right is where the space shuttle will land

The building where they store the shuttles is at the bottom of the picture and the launch pad is in the middle near where the land meets the ocean. It was a beautiful sight and rare glimpse from the sky.

Here’s our viewing area for the launch

Less than 18 hours after we departed, we were back in Dallas. It was an amazing trip, a once in a lifetime experience. Even though it was hard to go, it was worth every minute of it.

There are three launches left before the program ends. If you have the chance to watch it live, do it! You won’t regret it.

On April 11th, a piece of history will come tumbling down. It will be a bittersweet day for many Dallas Cowboys’ fans as they watch the implosion of Texas Stadium — the building that the Dallas Cowboys called home for 37 seasons. I was at Texas Stadium for the Cowboys’ last game in the building. It was a historic night, and it was hard to believe that the Cowboys would never play there again. Now, it’s hard to believe that on April 12th that landmark building won’t even exist. It will be strange to drive by that area and see it empty and void.

The implosion is sponsored by Kraft Macaroni & Cheese as part of its “Cheddar Explosion” marketing campaign (exploiting an implosion to help sell more macaroni…interesting). An 11-year old boy gets the distinct honor of triggering the implosion. He was awarded this honor by writing the winning essay in a contest sponsored by the company.

If you want to see him pull the trigger and watch this historic moment, you can. The implosion will take place at dawn on April 11. Officials recommend that you arrive early to reserve your space in the stadium’s red lot — the only public area from which you can view the implosion. The lot is estimated to hold about 5,000 cars, and it’s first come, first served. Tickets cost $25 (earplugs not included), and all proceeds will go to local charities.

Goodbye Texas Stadium…and thanks for all of the great memories!

I participated in the 3rd annual JDRF “Cycling for a Cure” event this morning. It benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and through this event, over $100K was raised to help find a cure for a disease that affects nearly 3 million Americans.

Cycling for a Cure is a 12-hour indoor cycling marathon. Riders can cycle for the entire 12 hours on their own bike or participate as a relay team switching out in 1-2 hour increments. I participated with colleagues from my company, and we rode as a relay team. Since I had drama rehearsal from 1-6 today, I was only able to participate for an hour, but I had a blast!

They squeezed about 50 bikes into the spinning room at LifeTime Fitness in Allen and created a really cool environment for the riders. If you’ve been to a spinning class, it’ll sound familiar. The room was dim, lively music was playing, and cycling videos were displayed on large screens at the front of the room. A spinning instructor (and event creator) kept everyone entertained and led us through some of the spinning exercises to keep the energy level high and give everyone a great workout. Volunteers walked around with water, towels, fruit, and various snacks for the riders. We never had to leave our bikes; they had everything we needed. It was really neat.

Before and after riding, you could hang out in the rider’s room where they had lots of food and amenities for the riders. You could even get free chair massages, which is a nice treat after riding for a long time on the bike. Prize drawings took place throughout the day, but the real winners were the people who unselfishly raised lots of money to help find a cure.

Even though I could only participate for a short amount of time, I thoroughly enjoyed the event, and I plan to participate again next year — hopefully for a longer time!

For more info about JDRF, check out: www.jdrf.org. Together, we can help find a cure.