DISNEY: My picture is on the D23 website! Woo!

I was checking the D23 website for any updates, and on the Expo & Events I saw that their new "2010 D23 Member Events Coming Soon!" image and first found Deb in the bottom right picture (from D23's Flowers and Fireworks), then I looked up and saw me (from D23's Sip & Stroll)! Woo!


I <3 D23!

DISNEY RACE: Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror 13K @1:15:53, DHS, FL

[NOTE: This entry contains the SUSPECTS, CLUES, & REVEAL for the 2009 Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror 13K & 5K Race Mystery.

Click HERE for the STORY, RULES, & SUSPECTS]

Saturday, October 24, 2009
The Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror 13K race was so much fun!

The 13K race began at 10:30pm (the 5K started at 10:15pm), but I got there at 8:15pm just to look around for clues. I also wanted to get pictures of/with the suspects who were mingling amongst the crowd. I met a fellow suspect-enthusiast, and soon, my new friend Beth and I were running around taking turns taking our picture with them. They all looked so suspicious. Here's my set:

Me with Detective Willie Ketcham (left)
and Otto Von Bonn Bahn (right)


Me and Shelby Mayer


Me and Talullah Fruiti


Me and Roman Holiday


Me and Jack Diamond


Sandi (left, friend from the D23 Sip & Stroll) and Me with
Bucky GreenHorn (2nd from left) and Francis Floot (right)

Those were the only suspects we managed to round-up. Still on the lam were following: Minerva Lipwhistle, Ready Freddy Fiddlesticks, Paige Turner, Francis Floot, Honey Darline, and Vladimir Pooey.

There were some runners in costume. There was a some bunnies, a Goofy, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Harry Potter and Hermione, [Where's] Waldo, Richard Simmon's #1 Fan, a Semi-Pro, and a white guy in a tink costume.

I dressed up as "The Invisible Pedestrian"/"The Human Shadow", and Beth was dressed up as "Stinkerbell" (her friend's endearing name for her).

And we ran into even more suspicious characters like Sandi from last weekend's D23 event (shown above), and here with me and Beth:

and there was Cyndi, president of the Space Coast Runners:

and my neighbors Pat & Linda:

So much love and fun!
----------
Asides from the characters, there were other activities in the race staging area. For instance, there was a hotel register for everyone to sign:

And there was one guy passing out small hotel key magnets and another guy passing out Tower of Terror 13K tattoos. There were tables, spray bottles, and paper towels set up for the latter.

Plus, there was a DJ playing some music and making race announcements.

----------
Anyways, just my own record here, the race went well. I started with the 11:00-13:00 pacers, which was okay. The course was good though narrow at times in the sports complex. Running with a cape wasn't as easy as I'd imagine but I managed but was still fun. And I did meet my goal of sub 9:30-pace in order to make the press conference.

My stats:
Bib #2333
Chip 1:15:53 (9:23.6/mile)
Clock 1:18:06
Overall 741/3247 (22.8%)
Male 503/1385 (36.3%)
Age 66/166 (39.8%)

----------
But anyways, what you really care about are the CLUES right? Well, here they are... the first three were in the race staging area, the next five at Disney's Wide World of Sports, and the next three were back in Disney's Hollywood Studios. Enjoy!

And here's a race number with the suspects. Feel free to PRINT IT OUT and play along.

Clue #1: Hotel Register

"Eliminate the suspect who left their mark here."
(Lip print -> Minerva Lipwhistle)

Clue #2: Spira Tent

"We are raising the bar and providing great footwear for you! Now that's what you must do."
(Read the columns from bottom to top: ELIMINATEFRANCISFLOOTNOW -> Francis Floot)

Clue #3: Pre-Race Staging Area


"My Dearest Stone,

I know someone is looking
to take you out!
But it isn't me.

Sincerely,
XXHXOXNXEXY
XDXXAXRXLXXINXXG"
(Remove the X's -> Honey Darling)

Clue #4: Disney's Wide World of Sports Trail

"Listen For The Clue"

("e val di mure pwoo..." rotated syllables -> Vladimir Pooey)

Clue #5: On Track

Cheerleaders with cheerboards "FR","UI","TI" and Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" playing in the background.

(Spells out suspect's name -> Talullah Fruiti)

Clue #6: Horse Generator in Parking Lot

Rebus Puzzle: Sea Shell, Honey Bee, Female Horse
("Shell" + "Bee" + "Mare" -> Shelby Mayer)

Clue #7: Musical Reindeer

Reindeer with Green Trumpets
(Green Horn -> Bucky Greenhorn)

Clue #8: World Drive

"Find the missing letter.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M

N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z"
(The 'X' is missing -> The Ex-Girlfriend [Paige Turner])

Clue #9: Hollywood Studios Backlot

"T _ E
C _ _ K
Just add Water."
(Water = H20, Add an 'H' and 2 'O's -> The Cook [Otto Von Bonn Bahn])

Clue #10: Hollywood Studios Buildings

Stilted Violinists
(Violin = Fiddle, Stilts = Sticks -> Ready Freddy Fiddlesticks)

Clue #11: The Hollywood Tower

Playing Card projected on the side of the building.
(Jack of Diamonds -> Jack Diamond)

So what does that mean? Who did it? To find out, check out the video of Detective Willie Ketcham's Press Conference at the Sorcerer's Hat:


----------
The Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror 13K was SO much fun, and I wish Disney had kept the race. But I'm glad that it had such a lively, spectacular send off. And I look forward to next year's Wine & Dine Nighttime Half-Marathon, which should be an interesting race for runners and challenge for the coordinators.

Anyways, thank you so much Disney Endurance Sports for a great event!
----------
[NOTE: Click HERE for the STORY, RULES, & SUSPECTS]
[eop]

TOASTMASTERS: Division B Fall Contests

This morning, the Fall Contests for Toastmasters District 84 Division B were held at the Holiday Inn Conference Center, which was fantastic for me (so close). Anyways, everything ran smoothly, and we came out with our two winners.

For this event, I had both my point-and-shoot Canon PowerShot A710 (7.1 megapixel, 6x optical) camera, and a Nikon D80 (10.2 megapixel, 18-135mm lens) that my friends let me borrow.

The theme was "Fantasy". I saw a princess, a witch, a gypsy, a ship captain, a ladybug, Darth Vader, a Shriner, and a flapper.

Thai, Lady, Vader
Princess & Captain
Shrine On!
Witchy Woman &
Not an Abu Ghraib costume
Then there was me... in khakis and a white button-up... to which I just asked the other guests (using my best Puss-in-Boots voice) "Is this not your fantasy?".

Anyways, for the contest, I was a timer along with Gloria. She's such an extrovert, and it's refreshing from time to time not to worry about whether or not I'll have fun -- we always have a good time with it.

Before I get into the contesting, let me post pics of the food and get that out of the way.

The salad was tasty, as was the beef dish
(and I love pine nuts in my rice pilaf).
Then Gloria and I shared our desserts.
All was delicious! Okay, now for the contests...

First up: The Evaluation Contest.

New-to-District 84 (D84) John Sanderson was the test speaker, whose "My Life Reset" gave the audience some perspective on life changes, which he mentioned, are often prompted either by inspiration or desperation. Lisa R., from my area, Area 22, came out with the win, with Sylvia N. (also from our area but representing a different area) came in second.

Next was the Humorous Speech Contest.

There were five contestants, starting with Vladimir N. from Area 22 talking about street racing with friends and a car without brakes. Next, Bill B. gave an account of Navy boot camp, then Dan Brown discussed the differences between men and women (it's in their genes). Amy S. spoke and demonstrated the dedication of some fathers from the animal kingdom, and Fonnie B. shared some lessons she learned from her pet fish.

Amy and her Jack Hanna/Discover Channel speech are moving on to represent Division B at the District Conference in a couple weeks. Fonnie took second and Dan Brown third.

Overall, I was pleased with and agreed with the results. Congratulations and good luck to the winners.

As with many Toastmasters contests, there were raffles and a 50/50. I purchased 25 raffle tickets and went in with Gloria for another 25 50/50 tickets (the pot was about $117).


But before any of tickets were drawn, our Division B Governor Dee M. told the audience about something she saw done and wanted to do -- which was to give a gift to the person who was first to register for the event. And that was... ME! (woo!).


Upon arriving at the contest, Gloria brought me to the raffle prize table and asked which prize I liked the most -- telling me that if she won it, she'd give it to me. I had asked her the same question, and she said that she'd want the decorative candle set. Unbeknownst to me, I was being set up, and I got the prize that I wanted.

Is this not your fantasy?
In the actual raffle, I won a Yankee Candle, and I was able to return the favor to Gloria -- last year, she won the Toastmasters tote bag that I wanted and selflessly gave it to me. Anyways... we didn't win the 50/50 but we both went home with a prize and had a good time.


As for the camera-ing, I primarily used the Nikon because of its speed. It was a little bulky and intimidating, but it was good practice. Most of the picture did turn out darker than I expected, which was a disappointment, and for now, I think that I'm going to continue with my point-and-shoot.

UPDATE: again, we didn't win the 50/50 raffle, but I enjoyed drawing animals on the back of the tickets...


I love my Pilot VBall pens!

[eop]

TOASTMASTERS: Area 22 Fall Contests

This afternoon, Toastmasters Area 22 (of District 84, Division B) held its Evaluation and for Humorous Speech Contests at Picadilly's Restaurant at the Melbourne Square Mall.

From the Harris SpeakEZ were Michael C. competing in the Humorous Speech contest, Christopher F. in the Evaluation contest, and Tina O. also competing in the Evaluation contest but representing the Advance Communicators Club.

Christopher and Tina were are smiles
Michael and... (well, the picture will make sense later)

Debra S. was the test speaker for the Evaluation contest and talked about her "Btzzz" moments... a.k.a., senior/blonde moments or moments of less-than-optimal grace. All five evaluators did a good job, but it was Lisa R. that came out on top. Christopher did come away with 3rd place.


During the break between contests, Pim L. performed a traditional Thai dance:


Then for the Humorous Speech contest, Michael was the first speaker, talking about his experience "Driving with Trevor". Although he didn't place, Michael did an outstanding outstanding job and really did our club proud. Vladimir N. also had a great story, "Holding Hands with a Backseat", and took home first place.

Both of today's top contest winners will represent our Area at the Division level in a couple weeks, and I know that they're both going to do well.

That said, Michael didn't go home empty-handed -- he cleaned up during the door-prize raffle. He had four winning tickets! (see picture above)

I also didn't leave the contest empty-handed. I won one of the raffle prizes: a set of four glasses with a pitcher. Now only if I had three friends who would be willing to trek up to Viera to visit me... dah.

Before the drawing, I did get some cute photos of the raffle helpers modeling with some of the raffle prizes:


Anyways, Toastmasters was a nice way to spend a free Saturday. Now, I have to go prepare for the next few days... more Food & Wine Festival at Epcot tomorrow, then a few days away on business -- sopapillas, here I come!. Woo!