That Tony Hawk guy still knows how to have a good time. He said something about an Easter Egg hunt, but his idea of something is on a huge scale, and the Easter Eggs were signed boards. Their kinda exact locations were posted to Twitter on Sunday, including two around the Cities. So, in other words, scenes like this were happening all over the country (and Australia, and…?) on Sunday morning.

I’m admittedly lame, so I’ve got nothing going on Easter Sunday morning. I saw one was stashed at 3rd Lair Skate Park in Golden Valley. When I saw the other one was behind the new Familia Skateshop location in Minneapolis, I grabbed my Flip cam, hopped on my bike, and totally didn’t speed to get there. In my mind, I was expecting a mini riot of stoked out little kids fighting over a signed Tony Hawk board. When I got there, I was the only little kid, and I’m like 28. The board was in the back alley, on the stairs, right where it was supposed to be, but the fighting kids were missing. I waited. For like 20 minutes. Another “kid” a little older than me showed up, we chatted for a bit, but I already decided I was going to hang onto it. At the time, I was thinking of my little cousin, but on the ride home, with a signed Tony Hawk deck hanging out my jacket, remembering how I peed my pants when Tony landed his 900 at the X-Games, I kinda decided to hang onto it.

You should really consider giving this whole Twitter thing a try. Facebook is so 2008.

Based in Amsterdam and founded in 1997 by Marieke Stolk, Erwin Brinkers, and Danny van den Dungen, Experimental Jetset has been consistently reinterpreting the implications of modernism, often from the perspective of a youth-based counterculture. The studio is perhaps best known to U.S. audiences from their appearance in the documentary Helvetica (2007), and their dogmatic use of that typeface has become a defining aspect of their work and has influenced new generations of graphic designers. Experimental Jetset’s iconic print work explores ways in which we are both shaped by and help shape our material environment. Projects for cultural clients include collaborations with the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum, Purple Institute, Centre Pompidou, Colette, Dutch Post Group, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Le Cent Quatre, De Theatercompagnie, and 2K/Gingham, which released their iconic John&Paul&Ringo&George T-shirt design. The studio’s work has been exhibited in galleries across the world, and in 2007 New York’s Museum of Modern Art acquired a large selection of their projects for inclusion in its permanent collection. Since 2000, members of Experimental Jetset have been teaching at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.

This lecture will be webcast live and archived on the Walker Channel (channel.walkerart.org).

Learn more about the Walker, view the event details, or check out their other events.

Hello greater St. Paul and beyond. Thanks for having me to this bLog. I don’t know how to put this, but I’m kind of a big deal. People know me. I’m very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany. You might recognize me (or my dog) from Twitter. Maybe you’ve seen my bike in your rear view mirror, or pulled over on the side of the road. Maybe we’ve raised a glass of Surly Furious at the Tap. In all likelihood, none of the above are true, but at the very least, I hope you caught the Anchorman reference. I’m not very important, but…

A few minutes ago, I had what I thought to be a witty introductory post. The interwebs conspired against me and dumped it, so you’re stuck with this: I grew up in Michigan, moved to California at 18, snowboard bum for 5 years in Lake Tahoe, 3 years in Oakland/San Francisco, and now St. Paul/Minneapolis/Twincy. My background is in interactive web strategererery and analytics, I’m a retired geek, and I’ve got a degree in Entrepreneurship. I’m part of The Nerdery at Sierra Bravo, and I go to some of the social media support groups for the free coffee. Or, if so inclined, check out my author bio (or stalking made easy via extendr). I’m trying to give you an idea of where my posts are coming from / heading to, but that’s never going to work out. I’m all over the place, but you’ll probably find me under the Rants category thanks to the incredible Minnesota drivers. Is driver’s training an optional part of the licensing process?

Okay, but seriously. This post is to brag about what a rad internets-web-o-sphere community we’ve got here in the Cities. Work brings me to Chicago, and I got to peer into their groups. If you’re active in that space, we’re lucky to be here. Really, really lucky. Groups like MIMA, Social Media Breakfast, Likemind, MinneBar/MinneDemo, Ruby.MN, on about a bajillion others push the envelope on a regular basis. There’s some really thought provoking topics and even better work coming out of these groups. I can back that up, too. Last week, Minneapolis’ own Zeusjones and Sierra Bravo won the national Microsoft design challenge, Phizzpop. They beat out teams from the west coast, the east coast, and everywhere inbetween. Sure, I work there, but I’ve been a fan for longer. And the finished product is rad.

So what’s coming up in the geek community? A lot. Warning: high volumes of nerd.

• iPhone Pub Night
  7pm March 23, Uptown Bar, Minneapolis
  This is a social get together for iPhone application developers. Please RSVP to Dan Grigsby (dan@unpossible.com) if you are planning on coming.
• Tech Karaoke
  9pm March 27, Otter Stop, Minneapolis
  Do you have what it takes to rock the mic? Who cares, join us anyway. We’ll be holding the bar up with plenty of cheap beer, loud music and more OHs than you can shake a Tweet at. More @ http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=59109518515
• Twin Cities Code Camp
  April 4, University of Minnesota
  A free one day conference for developers. RSVP at http://www.twincitiescodecamp.com/
• Ignite Minneapolis
  6pm April 22, Solera, Minneapolis
  The popular Ignite event is coming to Minneapolis! Watch presenters give 6 minute presentations with exactly 20 slides…that auto-advance. RSVP at http://www.ignitempls.org
• Cloud Camp
  9am-3:30pm April 18th, University of Minnesota
  CloudCamp is an unconference where early adapters of Cloud Computing technologies exchange ideas. Limited tickets @ http://www.cloudcamp.com/minneapolis
• Social Media Breakfast
  8am-10am April 29, Allianz, Minneapolis
  Come discuss personal branding – how are you being portrayed online? Do you have a Facebook account and looking for work? You should be here. Those pictures of you passed out with a Sharpie mustache isn’t doing your job outlook much good. More at http://smbmsp.ning.com

Until the next time, stay in the right lane if you’re going to drive 10 under the posted speed limit. Thanks.