Monday, December 18, 2006

Treasure Hunt: December

A note from the administration: It would appear in my haste to move the dirtmouth over to the new blogger I screwed up this blog. I will attempt to repair this blog in the coming days between extensive naps and video gaming. With that, here is the update from the new regime of treasuring hunting. - Tay Stevenson

A long awaited update concerning the treasure hunt. Dain and I have spent a couple long weekends on this hunt. This last weekend we put everything we had finishing it up.First of all, this hunt will take place in Nisswa, as well in as Brainerd, on the 23rd of December. Because of this we thought it appropriate if the teams would meet in Brainerd ( where it will end), and then take one car to Nisswa. This will make it so that no pointless trips to Nisswa will be necessary. We would like everyone to meet at Rafferty's. Grab something to eat. We do not have a food break. We would like everyone their between 12:00 and no later than 1:00. We will begin promptly at 1:00. Dain and I ran a brief runthrough, and we do not see this hunt lasting more than 4 hours.You will not need any supplies. We will supply your items. We ask for at least one person to carry a cell phone that either Dain, or I have a number to. You will also want one that can keep time.I think that the only thing left to do is give the teams. If I have forgotten someone, or added someone, just comment back and we will fix it.If I forgot to mention something just tell mehttp://www.smithbridge.ee/lesmiserables/images/logo.gifhttp://www.sfondideldesktop.com/Images-Movies/Phantom-Of-The-Opera/Phantom-Of-The-Opera.jpg
Cats:
Munkustrap:Josh Holbrook
Jennyanydots : Crystal Wright
Macavity: Logan Mohs
Old Deuteronomy: Matt Capelle
Grizabella: Sara Swenson

JCS:
Jesus: Tay Stevenson
Peter: Mick Brambilla
Judas: Jeff smith
Mary: Kara Richard

Rent:
Mark: Cameron Holmes
Mimi: Ariel Aakhus
Maureen: Mackenzie Paradeis
Collins: Josiah Collins
Joanne: Kaydi Ring

Phantom of the opera:
The Phantom: John Valesano
Christine: Ashley Hillstrom
Raoul: Mitch Lorenz
Carlotta: Anna Zimmerman

Les Miserables:
Jean Valjean: Jason Houle
Javert: Josh Mattson
Fantine: Tara Ritter
Madame Thénardier: Kelsi Ustipak
Cosette: Michelle Toven

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

change of venue

the new address for my blog is http://thedirtmouth.blogspot.com

Monday, November 13, 2006

sign up

Here is the sign up list, for december 23rd treasure hunt. (name to be announced later) not quite sure how long it will last. when we get teams sorted you'll need to designate a driver because we are planning on starting it in nisswa and work our way south so if you could get a ride in one car and meet in nisswa that will good. we'll probably start some time around high noon.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Thursday, September 28, 2006

i'm still unsure when we should do this hunt. are people still wanting to do it during the winter? i've heard x-mas break, and after new years and having the college kids come back. this is all good and fine, but i need a time when most people are going to be wanting to do it and are able to. do you guys want it to be sometime during the fall or winter? x-mas break or after new years? pat and i can accomodate any time.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Thursday, September 14, 2006

date

college students, i need an approximate date on when you'll be back home. around x-mas time.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

new hunt

so pat stenglien and i are going to be planning a treasure hunt. we were thinking of having half of it in brainerd and the other half in nisswa, are there any objections? anyone who really wants to do this can, unless i don't like the person, then they can just bugger off. i'm not quite sure when exactly it will be, i was thinking maybe october. so you can spread the word and there will be more updates when we get more stuff figured out. the names of the teams are going to be hit broadway musicals. wish us luck.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Thank God That's Over With

Whooo. Too much trivia, too much downtime, too many goddamned treasure hunts.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

All Praises To The Playstation

Re-revised teams:

Elves: Maya, Ashley, Sam

Men: Jeff, Cameron, AA, Houle

Hobbits: Josh, Dain, Pat, Jackie

Evil: John, Pelkey, Karl

Hannah B is out, Jackie L is in. Is Josiah available for this one?

Teams will need good shoes, cell phones, ect. A digital camera will also be needed. Phone cameras will work just fine.

A word on quick clues: each location will have a trinket/small object hidden at it that teams must retrieve, or teams may need to take a picture there.

P.S.: Please call your teammates to confirm that they will be at Gregory at 10 am on friday.

P.P.S.: Tay, you'll always be Shadowfax to me whether you do this hunt or not. Hey, at least you were the lord of all horses. You could have been Bill the pony for chrissakes.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Flora Proudneck of Longbottom

my hobbit name was waaayyyy neatoer.

Nindë Véneanár

my elvish name.
neat neat neat.

We Need To Put A Barrier Between Us And The Snakes!

Three bits of t-hunt news:

1. The fee will be $4 per person. This will cover the cost of game board production and decoration and gas for Matt and Pammy.

2. The hunt will begin at 10 a.m. at Gregory Park this Friday, August 25th. Anyone who wants to join midhunt is welcome to, provided they pay their fee and let us know via cell phone when they are planning on joining. The first part (the board game) of the hunt will take 4-5 hours. We will then have a short break for food, rest, and totaling of scores. The top two teams in terms of points will then move on to the finale, which shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. Participants from teams that do not advance are welcome to come observe the finale.

3. Teams will be divided into the different races of Middle Earth. However, the forces of evil are so diverse that we were forced to lump together a few races to fill out the ranks. Teams are as follows:

Men: Jeff Smith (Eomer), AA (Eowyn), Cameron Holmes (Aragorn), Tay Stevenson (Shadowfax)

Elves: Jason Houle (Elrond), Maya Kuehn (Arwen), Hannah (Galadriel), Sam Walker (Legolas)

Hobbits: Josh Mattson (Samwise Gamge), Dain (Merry), Pat Stenglein (Pippin), Ashley Hillstorm (sp?) (Rose)

Eeeeevil: John V (Gollum), Adam Pelkey (Cave Troll), Karl Magneson (Wormtongue)

Committee Members: Matt (Frodo), Max (Saruman), and Pammy (Gandalf)

Teams are reasonably flexible. We may change them around, but we'll need to hear a good reason before we do so. Keep in mind that each team will need agility, speed, and trivia knowledge.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

i was getting my muskets clean...

alright so first business and then storytime...

the game board is completly finished. fineto. done. completed. and man, is it sweet. a picture will follow shortly. the next step is formatting the teams. max and i compiled a small unofficial list of potential hunters. the list is as follows:

tay
jason
mattson
john
ashley
dain
maya
hannah
jeff smith
hawkeye
cameron
pelkey
AA

the hunt will tkae place, as max mentioned, soley on the 25th. just a one day affair. if your name is on this list, comfirm your placement on said list. if it isn't on this this or you know of others that dont read this blog that would like to be on a team, add a comment please.

alright, enough shop talk. so last night max and i decided to head to "Wal-Fart" as he put it, to pick up some paints and whatnot. as we get to the stoplights where 371 and 210 meet, i forget to get into the left turn lane until the very last second. i make a quick and terrible lane change that leaves my car in a place that doesn't trigger the stoplight sensors so that we would get the green left turn light. meanwhile, a cop passes in front going south. we make nothing of this. the lights cycle few times and we still haven't gotten the green light. i make a snap decision and pull forward and back up so that my car is in the proper position. as i do this, another cop passes us going north. or so it seems. we get the green light and start heading towards walmart when i look in my rearview mirror and see what i think to be yet another cop right behind me. getting a little nervous, i slow down a bit. nothing happens. i turn right at the next set of lights. the cop follows. i turn left at the lights in front of walmart and the cop does the same. im very nervous at this point, wondering what i did wrong. but i didn't think that a cop would pull me over in the walmart parking lot. i was wrong. she pulls us over and the following conversation takes place. (m=matt, o=officer, x=max)

o: "so what happened back at the lights?"
m: *repeats story*
o: "well i kinda figured that what was going on. just so you know, you cant back up on the highway."
m: "oh, well i wasn't aware of that and i made sure that no one was around so that i wouldn't cause any damage."
o: "mmm." looks over my ID and insurance "so what are you guys doing at walmart this late."
m: (not wanting to explain everything) "well me and my friend here are getting some paint for a craft project that we are doing."
o: "what kind of craft?"
m: (cannot believe that she is grilling me about this. look to max for help)
x: "yeah, we are making a game board."
o: "what kinda game board?"
m: "well its for us...and a group of friends...uh..."
o: "well whats the game board like?"
m: "well, its a mix between monopoly and life i guess. you ever play life?"
o: "yeah! are you going to patent it?"
x: "yeah we really should"
o: "then you can remember the cop who pulled you over and curse her name right?"
m: (trying not to lose my grip) "nah, we would give you your cut." *forced laughter*
o: "i'll be right back."
m & x: (lose it)

a few minutes later...

o: (while shining light in my back seat) "you got a little guy back there!"
m: (not realizing i had a stowaway) "what?"
o: "i can see his feet! a little guy!"
m & x: proceed to look for this "guy"
o: "hes right there! passenger, grab him!"
x: (stunned that he was just referred to as "passenger")
o: "in the back of your seat!"
m: (pulls out the woody doll with the chuck norris face taped on) "yeah...its a woody doll...you know, from toy story...with chuck norris' face taped on..."
o: "oh man you guys are too funny! you are the best car i have pulled over today!"
m: "yeah, i have all sorts of stuff in here. i got a typewriter..."
x: "...and a whole bunch of corks."
o: "oh, so you are wine drinkers eh?"
m: "nononononononono i work at an italian restaraunt and i open a lot of wine so i collect the corks."
o: "oh, where do you work?"
m: "italian gardens."
o: "wheres that at?"
m: "out at grand view lodge."
o: "oh. i didn't know that they had an italian restaraunt out there. i actually have a friend who is an italian sous (sp?) chef. i wonder where he is right now? well, make sure you buckle up. well, i suppose it doesn't matter in a parking lot. take care!"
m: "yup."

the cop heads back to her car as another cop pulls in behind her. apparently, max and i posed more of a threat that first imagined. we take off to go park, the second cop follows us and loops through the parking lot back to the exit. thats right flatfoot. never turn your back.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Here At The End Of All Things

Okay, so I'm going to attempt a brief explanation of the board game portion of the treasure hunt. This may require some explaining, but hopefully things will be clear when you see the board. Just trying to get some of our work done early, that's all...

The object of the game is to finish with the most points. There are four teams, each with a game piece. Teams will take turns rolling a die to move around the board. There will be four types of spaces teams can land on:

1. Direction spaces-These will direct teams to move their game piece backwards or forewards, result in a lost turn, ect. We may also have spaces that allow teams to switch places on the board with another team.

2. Trivia spaces-Teams must answer a Trivial Pursuit question to get 1 point. Categories may be determined by a variety of factors (color of space, number rolled, team choice, ect.).

3. Quick clues-When a team lands on one of these spaces, they will be asked all 6 questions on a Trivial Pursuit card. They will then be given a clue, with a time limit. They must get to the clue area and bring back proof that they found the spot (a small item hidden there, or a picture in some cases) within the time limit. If they do so, they will recieve one point for every question they got right on the initial TP card. Thus, a quick clue can be worth anywhere from 1 to 6 points. If a team fails to get any of the questions right, or goes over the time limit, they can still get one point just for finding the clue.

Most quick clues can be done by every team, if every team happens to land on them. Some, however, are one time only, first come first serve. If a team lands on a one time only clue that has already been found, they will be given a trivia question but no clue.

Each space corrresponds to a specific clue. No team can do the same quick clue twice; if a team does land on a quick clue space a second time (due to a direction space back/switch with another team), they will be given a trivia question instead of a clue.

4. Stop signs-The most important spaces. There will be three of these. Teams will stop moving once their game pieces reach one of these spaces until all teams have reached it. Each team will then be given the first clue in a short series of clues that will lead to the next board location. Each team will follow a separate path. We hope that they will be fairly equal. Teams will draw their first clue from a hat to determine their route. Points will be awarded at the next board location based on the order in which teams arrive.

The initial location will be revealed later.

As always, teams are encouraged to remember both good shoes and discretion. The hunt is scheduled to take place on August 25th and perhaps the 26th as well. Now, really, if you plan to participate please leave a comment.

Additional points will be rewarded for performance in a few physical challenges scattered through the hunt, and for a final lightning round of Lord of the Rings trivia. So bone up on the lay of Frodo of the 9 fingers and the Ring of Doom! Oh, and a lot of the clues have a LOTR bent to them as well. Just a heads up. Who here considers themselves fairly knowledgable or better in LOTR? We'd like to know, for team building purposes.

(P.S.: Matt Capelle had a very nice, if somewhat late, Lord of the Rings line the other night. He thought that when I heard Jason's team had attempted to scale a fence along Washington at 11:30 pm, I should have said "Fool of a Took!" It is an excellent phrase to use whenever someone does something foolish, and I wish I could have thought of it then.)

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

the game board

is finished. the "rough draft" if you will. oh man its sweet

Sunday, August 06, 2006

RrRrRock Me Amedeus

We've pushed back the date for TH5 to late August. Capelle will just come back into town for a couple of days before classes start. Will any of the 28th, 29th, or 30th work for people?

And today we scouted out possibly the sweetest location of all time. It's just...amazing. Just you wait. It's going to be hard not telling everyone about it as soon as I see them.

I will try to come up with a brief, easy to understand description of the board game portion of the hunt. For now, I must depart for work.

P.S.: Cameron and Jennifer called me from the car on their way to see the Great Gatsby (luckies) to inform me that they had seen a bread truck drive by with the motto " A Loaf Of Bread In Every Arm." We salute you.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

TH5: The Battle For Middle Earth

I met with Matt and Pammy last night, and we formed the outline of the 5th hunt. It will have an entirely new format, to be outlined in detail later.

Suffice to say that it will be unlike anything you've ever seen, and split into three parts. Part one will be a mixture of trivia and clue finding, part two will be an obstacle course,and part three will be the thrilling downtown finale. There will be eliminations after each round, down to the final two for the third round. This could all fit into one day, but we think it would be more enjoyable as a two-day hunt. August 15-16 is looking pretty good to me, as I can probably get those days off, the road trippers will be back, and Matt will still be in town (he leaves the 21st, I think). Do we have any problems/suggestions on dates?

Ashley: I think we're going to keep this one in Brainerd, mostly because we're trying to keep driving time to a minimum.

Jennifer: What ideas do you have for clues? Please e-mail them to me. We're going to need all the help we can get getting good clues for this one. In fact, really anyone with clue ideas could send them in, and we could keep careful track of who wrote which clue so they wouldn't get their own, but everybody else would. That'd be kind of neat. Individual clues or clusters are welcome.

Teams will probably be named after regions of Middle Earth, just because that'd be pretty special. Plus, then people can take on individual names of characters from their region. We can have more teams for this hunt, 5-7 would probably be ideal. Does Karl want to form a team? Dain? Maya? Stitch/Ellens/Northway? Please sign up in the comments of this post. I think we may have teams form themselves for this hunt, or have it be self-formed with a little rearranging to keep things even.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

A Brief History Of Rhyme

I'm posting my post-hunt business here to avoid boring any Mustache readers who just don't give a damn about treasure hunts. And there are several.

First off: I apologize to anyone who didn't have a good time. We (by which I mean Mattson, Pammy, and myself) underestimated both the skill of some of these teams and the vigilance of the Brainerd Police Department's Special Vagrant Task Force, or whatever the 6 cop cars crusing north Brainerd call themselves. We had more clues in the planning stages, but circumstances gradually eliminated them until we were down to a spare 10 clues, enough for a quick, tight hunt. When police interference cut out a couple of clues, things got disappointly short.

Regarding the fee: I realize that the past two hunts have cost $3 and $7 (with pizza). However, it's also important to remember that in both cases, the organizers took a huge loss. We decided that this was a rather silly situation, and $6 is a fair price to pay for a couple hours of entertainment. A night hunt required much more scouting and materials, and with $6 per person we roughly broke even (see JM's math). Tay may be gentlemanly enough to deal with working for dozens of hours and losing a bunch of money, but I feel that we set an appropriate precedent for future hunts, should they come to pass.

Regarding the final standings: John Wilkes Booth arrived at the BHS lot about 5 minutes before Lee Harvey Oswald. Matt Capelle finished his final banana just as the Dain Train started in on his potassium-loading. Roughly 10 minutes later, Leon C showed up, and Mattson decided to hold them for a few minutes so we could have an eating showdown with Sam Walker. In retrospect, this move doesn't make much sense, but it seemed like a great idea at 1 a.m. Ashley Widmark overcame her hatred of both Sprite and bananas to defeat Chris Runyan by a spare 1 yellow fruit.
Here we come upon the first of our issues: who won between these two teams? Leon C arrived there first, but Sam Walker won the eating contest. If we'd have let Chris start when his team arrived and let Ashely start when she arrived a minute later, this would have been much more fair, but we didn't, so it wasn't.
Another issue: Lee Harvey didn't recieve their morse code sheet due to a mix up at the park, so they had a delay while going to get a key from someone's house. Would this have pushed them past John Wilkes Booth? Impossible to tell.
And finally, probably our biggest blunder in respect to finishing order: there was a clue down by the river access past the cemetary. Team Sam Walker spent 15 minutes walking through the dark on a fruitless search for a clue halted by either technical difficulties or a parks and rec worker. We called the halt soon after this. No other team had been to the cemetary yet, and due to the fact that two groups (Sam Walker and Pammy and myself) had been stopped by cops down there already, we decided to cut the clue. Here we made our mistake: we neglected to compensate Sam Walker with a time bonus, or make other teams wait 10-15 minutes when they would have been doing that clue. Realistically, this could have been the difference between first and third place for Sam Walker.

Leon C had some delays as well, but those were both brought largely upon themselves. Climbing a fence on Washington? Going the wrong way down a one way? C'mon guys.

To those who chose not to continue after things got weird: we hope you had a good time, and we are sorry that thing got a little stickier than predicted. To those who kept going and finished: Congrats on finishing. I hope you enjoyed yourselves, sorry if you didn't.

For my thoughts on comparing this hunt to previous hunts, see my second comment here.


Now then: is there any demand for another hunt?

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

The Newest In New

Updated teams for Riddles In The Dark:

JWB: Matt Capelle, Jeff Smith, Josiah, Holbrook+erin

Lee Harvey: Johnny V, Tay, AA, Dain

Leon C: Jason Houle, Hawkeye, Ashley Hillstorm, Paige Northway

Sam Walker: Sam Walker, Maya Kuehn, Hannah Burchill, Jackie L

In the name of overkill, I ask that every person on every team make an effort to call all of their teammates to make sure they can make it, and that they know when and where it will go down: Applebee's, August 1st, 9 pm. We will open with an info session and meal. Bring money for food. The hunt itself will start at 10 pm.

Also, it looks like this hunt will be closer to 2.5 hours. Short and sweet, baby.

Taking Care of Business

John, I need to know if you're a go or not. If you don't reply here, I'll call you tomorrow to firm it up.

Everyone else, I know that I've talked to about 50 people with different arrangements for arriving and departing during the hunt. If you could, I would like you to comment those on this post, so that I can tell your captains.

Captains, I will be calling all of you either Wednesday night or Thursday morning to give you information that you will have to pass on to team members.

Questions, comments, or concerns post below or call me at 218-251-0035. Leave a message if my phone's off.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Whoa

Leave the blogosphere alone for half a week and it erupts into massive chaos.

Moreover, leave Tay alone to his own devices and he provokes massive chaos. I'm going to need to clarify a few things.

Tay's been speaking from a position he likes to call "Jason and I" when he really means "I." For whatever reason, he's figured that everybody is absolutely raring to go to do this treasure hunt and has decided to try to scare everyone by telling them that there are 50 clues and that the hunt will last 15 hours and that everyone will die. I've told him to "tease" teams a little with things like the materials list, but he took it overboard and basically started taunting everyone, so assured as he was that people were looking forward to this hunt.

Also, during the planning stages, Tay was ready to go completely insane with the clues. Whenever I'd suggest making a clue a little more reasonable, Tay would shout it down. We did work from a standpoint where we both had veto power, and usually we were able to come to a good compromise, but we'll just say that had I been alone on this hunt, it would've been a little easier, and had Tay been alone on this hunt, it may have ended up being the 8-hour marathon of death that he wanted. For example, Tay wanted to give the teams absolutely no hints at any time during the hunt. I worked it down to a lenient hint-buying system which I think will add an interesting strategical side. Suffice it to say that this hunt isn't going to be as absurdly difficult as Tay wants you to believe.

Let's chalk this up to me being a realist and Tay being just nuts.

For clarification:
If anyone takes 8 hours to finish this hunt (barring any Hufflepuffs), I'll be surprised.

We do have more clues than either of the previous hunts; however, as Tay alluded to in one of his previous posts, they are generally "clustered." We're not going to have the 15-minute cross-town drives that we saw in TH2. Whereas one of the previous hunts would send teams to New York, Chicago, and Minneapolis, we'll send you to Times Square, Madison Square Gardens, Rockefeller Plaza, the Sears Tower, Wrigley Field, the Metrodome, the Mall of America, and Best Buy headquarters. There are more hints, and the hunt will probably take a little longer, but it shouldn't double your time.

Tay and I will be visiting teams to assure that nobody becomes overly exhausted, dehydrated, or thirsty. (i.e. bringing refreshments)

The kicker here is the teams. We would've loved to have had 20 people sign up for this hunt, each one eager to dive right in to solving and finding clues. We could've accomodated everyone's wishes and had the teams you wanted and everyone would've been pleased.

However, we ended up with one of our captains dropping out of the race, one of our captains leaving in the afternoon, Capelle leaving early, another of our captains (Sam) recently becoming unsure of his ability to attend, Ashely and Jeff coming a little late, John being only tentative... needless to say, this has really screwed things up for a hunt where some prior knowledge is required - and no, I'm not talking solely about German. Interestingly enough, from our perspective, John's problem isn't that he can't have Ashley - it's that Doc Oc needs Kaitlyn. But I don't want to give anything more away.

Upon looking back at the teams, they are pretty fairly balanced. But, because I'm not a hardass like Tay, I will give Doc Oc the option: you can trade Kaitlyn for Ashley. However - and we have planned this as a backup - we normally would've given you a free half-hint to make up for knowledge lacking if a team member decided day-of not to show up (i.e. if teams were kept and Kaitlyn just wasn't there, we'd give you a free half-hint for the clue that requires her abilities), but if you opt to trade, we're not going to compensate you for your loss. Also, I'm only doing this because, except for that one quality, Kaitlyn and Ashley are fairly similar concerning qualities needed in this hunt. Don't expect me to bend the rules like this all over the place. Comprende?

At the same time, I should let you know that I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Doc Oc were to physically finish before Max had to leave.

Don't let the 10 AM start time fool you as to our expected length. I suggested it earlier but Tay vetoed it. Further along, we learned that a few people were leaving and so, with a helpful suggestion from Pammy, I was able to convince Tay that it was a good thing. Our goal was not to add two hours into the hunt so as to end around 5:00 like the other hunts have; we should (ideally) have all four teams finishing from 2:30 to 4:00. Also, there's a time sensitive clue (my team couldn't get in to Brekken's because the mall closed by the time we got our hint), so we're trying to compensate for business hours.

It took a lot of repairing to make up for the damage Tay did.

Finally, I just want to say that no matter how everyone enjoys this hunt - and we think you will sincerely enjoy it - I had fun designing it. Scouting, thinking up clues, creating the clues, even stuffing the envelopes - I had fun making this hunt. Our - well, at least my- goal was not to torture everyone to the point of begging for the hunt to be over, but rather to provide a challenge that matched the mental toughness and smooth flow-charting of the first treasure hunt with the physical derring-do of the second, while maintaining a high-octane level the whole way. Our thoughts were to have more clues spaced closer together to keep up the excitement and keep down the slow drive time, and I think we've succeeded.

Finally, Tay didn't want me to tell you this, but I'm adding to the materials list a phone book and scratch paper. Tay told me that teams should've figured out by now that they need this stuff, and that if they don't bring it, well, tough luck for them. But I'm not so big on tough luck.

I hope everyone's satisfied, since this is, after all, supposed to be entertainment.

Friday, July 21, 2006

TH3 teams



as promised, here are the teams for th3:
(these teams have been adjusted since originally posted - Jason)

team phoenix
captain - pammy ronnei
cocaptain - shane penoyer
team members - kyle solstad, karla tetrault

team doc oc
captain - max kuehn
cocaptain - john valesano
team members - jeff smith, ashley hillstrom

team black widow
captain - jennifer dens
cocaptain - josh mattson
team members - chris runyan, ariel aakhus

team penguin
captain - sam walker
cocaptain - matt capelle
team members - kaitlyn ziebell, josiah collins

a couple of other things as well:

first, captains (and i guess cocaptains) are responsible for getting together all suggested items and ensuring team members are at kiwanis on time. the hunt will begin at 10:00 and any time spent after that waiting for team members is on your clock.

second, do not worry about food breaks. suffice it to say that jason and i are thoughtful (and thrifty) people and have figured some stuff out.

which brings me to third, entrance fees. the base entrance fee will be $4.00 for participants. while this is a dollar more than previously, but please take into account that our hunt required over twice the materials (and this is not counting jason's gas money, which we are leaving out). furthermore, we plan to have pizza and pop/water at the end, which we are asking an additional $3.00 for to cover costs. this will buy you, roughly, 3 slices of an extra large (papa john's) pizza and 3 cans of pop/bottles of water, as well as like a bowl of chips or whatever to go with the pizza. so all in all a pretty good deal, considering you get a full day's worth of entertainment and a meal (plus a bonus surprise!) for seven bucks. that is the price of a movie like "the devil wears prada" which, even though i have never seen it, i am sure is a piece of shit, as opposed to th3 which will be a piece of gold... or whatever is opposite of a piece of shit.

so for those of you who don't read the post and make comments asking us questions answered in the post itself, here's this post in summary:

teams are posted above. captains are responsible for organizing team members and equipment.

food will be provided, so don't worry about dying. entrance fee is $7.00 total, which includes the $3.00 for food afterwards. so people who need to leave for work or are vegan don't have to pay the extra $3.00. but we are asking everyone else to so that we don't have moochers who shoud have paid, but didn't, and now are bugging people. savvy?

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

clues...

just to give you guys some sort of scale for this hunt:

i am posting this at just shy of 1 a.m. and jason has been at my house since noon, when we began printing, cutting, stuffing, and organizing clues, only breaking for a couple hours to go to zoe houle's softball game and eat. so total work we've done has been in the range of about 7-8 hours.

starting at my the end of my bed we had clues go down my hall, into my man cave, and every which way. after stuffing them, we lined them up and they ran all the way from one end of the downstairs hall to the other.

i personally stuffed over 100 clues. jason stuffed a good number as well.

we stress again that all participants must be signed up by this friday (the 21st) by noon to compete. we will post the teams and final entrance fee by midnight that same day. please read the rules and check the sign up. also remember the start time is 10:00 a.m. at kiwanis park.

Monday, July 17, 2006

August 1?

I thought the big road trip which I've apparently been kicked out of is scheduled to take place the first week of August?
John Wilkes bears a striking resemblance to our own Jason Houle, no? Posted by Picasa

IMPORTANT: Riddles in the Dark info. Tell your friends!

Okay, here's all the important info:

The fourth treasure hunt will take place on the evening of Tuesday, August 1st. All participants will meet at Applebee's at 9 pm for a meal and rules review (note: participants must pay for their own damn food). The entrance fee will be $6 per person, American currency only, please. Approximately 10 minutes before 10 pm, we will break everyone up into teams and pass out the first clue so teams can consult and decide where they wil head first. At precisely 10 pm, teams will be released and sent out after their first clue.

Teams are as follows (please forgive my name misspellings, I know not what I do):

John Wilkes Booth: Matt Capelle, Tara Ritter, Jeff Smith, (Josiah Collins? Someone please call him. We feel he would be an asset. Dain Train?)

Lee Harvey Oswald: John Valesano, Tay Stevenson, Ariel Ahkus, Kyle Solstead

Leon Czolgosz: Jason Houle, Shane Penoyer, Ashley Hilstrom, Josh Holbrook (+Erin?)

Sam Walker: Sam Walker, Maya Kuehn, Hannah Burchill, Kali Gardner/Carmen Cummings?

(note: teams are not set in stone. We will take suggestions as to team changes, but be prepared to offer good reason. If you see your name on this list, call up everyone else on your team and make sure they know about the hunt.)

There will be no official captains for this treasure hunt. Teams must still designate a single cell phone and a single car that they will use for the duration of the hunt.

Teams are encouraged to wear appropriate attire, preferably dark enough to avoid undue pedestrian attention but reflective enough to avoid being hit by a car. Each team will need flashlights, a CD player, and pens and paper. Good shoes for climbing and skulking are also a major plus. Flip flops? Not so much.

Rules will be very similar to the first two treasure hunts, but we will introduce a unique new feature in this one. Each clue will have a number after it (usually 10, 15, or 20) that will indicate the time span after a team obtains that clue that they may call and learn of its location. For example, if a clue says "15" on the end and after 15 minutes of searching/thinking a team is still unsure, they may call Mattson, Pammy, or myself to learn of the clue's location.

Hopefully, this will tighten up the race and make sure that the winner is determined by who gets clues the fastest under the time limit, not who gets stalled for extended periods on single clues. Also, these times have been measured out so we can guarantee that the hunt will not extend beyond the 1 a.m. bar closing time, a necessary deadline for safety's sake. We ask that each team use a stopwatch (or a cell phone with a stopwatch feature; not your team contact phone, please!) to make sure that they do not underestimate the time that has passed since they got a clue. On the first clue, teams may start counting upon their release from the restaurant. We have no way of enforcing this without very cumbersome restrictions, so we will be using the honor system.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

TH3 start time

we have officially moved the start time to 10:00 a.m. on the 28th. it will still be at kiwanis. please remember to sign up and check the rules.

Dudes

Attn. Treasure Hunt III Planning Committee:

Max's "I'll just work when I want to" plan for the summer hit its first snag this weekend when I asked for the 28th off and was denied. Soooo I'll have to be home by 3:30/4:00 on treasure hunt day. I still want to participate, but I prolly shouldn't be a captain if I'm not going to be there for the duration. Is an earlier start time possible? Might we be finished by 3:30? Or are you not at liberty to divulge such info?

Sorry dudes.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

TH3


as you can see, jason and i have been hard at work (well, i've been hard at work on that sweet logo) and have decided on a theme for th3: supervillains. our captains for this treasure hunt are max kuehn (doctor octopus), tara ritter (the phoenix), jennifer dens (black widow), and sam walker (the penguin). the captains were chosen for a special attribute they all possess, so please do not feel offended if you feel you are more deserving.

jason and i have also finalized the rules for the treasure hunt, which i am posting in advance here:

1) all participants must be signed up with jason or me by the entry date (12:00 p.m., july 21, 2006). no walk-ins will be allowed. our official list, which i will continue to update on this post, is as follows:

john valesano
jeff smith
shane penoyer
kyle solstad
josh mattson
ariel aakhus
tara ritter
ashley hillstrom
josiah collins
max kuehn
sam walker
pammy ronnei
jennifer dens
matt capelle
chris runyan
karla tetrault
kaitlyn ziebell

2) all participants must pay the entry fee (to be determined at a later date) to participate. no exceptions.

3) only one vehicle will be allowed per team.

4) only one cell phone will be allowed per team for communication with other teams and ourselves.

5) teams will begin the hunt with no clues, but may purchase them for a time penalty. hints may be purchased in half-hint incriments, half of a hint involving cooperation and assistance from us and a full hint granting a simple location. the first half hint can be purchased for a 5 minute penalty, with each additional half increasing in cost by 5 minutes with a limit of half an hour.

6. teams may seperate as far as they like. there is not "25-yard" rule.

7. any team found to have tampered with clues will be disqualified.

8. leave no trace...

these rules will be given again at the outset of the treasure hunt on the 28th, along with advice from jason and myself. captains are reminded that each team should have a handheld cd player, a shovel, and swimming gear (for at least two team members). please remember to sign up and check back here for further updates.

get it straight

when is your treasure hunt, jason?

Thursday, July 13, 2006

TH3 Update

Tay and I have worked out a pretty good flow chart, and we only have a few clues left to create. Things are coming together really well, and we hopefully shouldn't be running around like headless chickens on the 27th, outside of - of course - planting the clues.

There are a couple of interesting new ideas that we're working on to spice up the hunt, including a (probably) higher amount of clock penalties so that nobody will be completely certain of who has won until times and penalties are totalled at the end. We're already certain that some of the basic ground rules will be changing to accomodate a slightly different flavor of hunt.

We've been working hard to find intellectually and physically demanding clues. One in particular looks to be both the most challenging mentally and physically - hopefully the clue everyone will be talking about. Tay and I stumbled upon the location quite by accident and whipped up a real doozy of a hint to go with it.

Tantalizing, no?

Friday, July 07, 2006

Treasure Hunt III

I've named it so because we expect Max and Pammy's to be earlier than ours.

The set date is Friday, July 28th, 2006. Get off work if at all possible.

Tay and I have been scouting today and things are shaping up. Our hopes for this one are to match or possibly exceed the intellectual level of clues that was present in Treasure Hunt I while hopefully matching if not simply nearing the physical daring-do that we all experienced in Treasure Hunt II.

Tell your friends. The more the merrier. We will be pre-setting teams for this hunt, just because there will be some clues that do require skill sets/ pre-existing knowledge. We need to have all applicants respond by noon, July 21st, either on this blog (comment below) or verbally or by e-mail or by snail mail or text message or instant message or smoke signals to Tay or myself. We ask people to commit to the entire day so that we don't have cases a la Holbrook. Also, there will more than likely be a small entry fee, and we're considering upping the ante from THII to buy pizza and refreshments afterwards.

Our tentative equipment list includes a portable CD player, swimming gear, and a shovel. Possible use of grappling hook to be determined later.

We hope you're as excited as we are. Sign below. We'll also be putting a link to this post on the sidebar. Max and Pammy, if you want to do the same for your hunt, go ahead.

addendum

as you may or may not have noted, the title of this post has been changed and the countdown has begun for what will be the third treasure hunt, that being jason's and mine. after speaking with pammy and mattson, it sounds like their hunt will be the night of august first, but i will leave it to them to post officially.

jason and i have done some more scouting and have finalized clue spots and worked up a working flow chart for the clues. so things are shaping up on those ends of things.

anyway, tell your friends about this site so they can get news on treasure hunt stuff. also, get them to sign up. as of right now we have 12 people and we'd like to get 8 more. that's all for now-tay

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Max, et. al

I've decided that, as I will have a chance to participate in Tay and Jason's Hunt either way, I definitely want to help on the next one. Among other things, I have mad envelope-printing skillz.

About attendance:

I was thinking that a way we could involve more poeple without it being "weird" is to make it a make-your-own-team sort of thing. Like Maya and her friends could all just be one team, and we could have one team of all Juniors or whatever. The only problem is that then you pretty much definitely are going to need more than four teams...

like ebola...or butter...

i think max is right on the attendence end of things, we need to get the numbers around 20. although i think it would be wierd to be doing this outside our group of friends. i could be wrong, but that is just my thinking.

as far as i'm concerned, the biggest thing we need to do is get the word out. it would be nice to get everyone to be checking here so as to avoid any confusion and to get a centralized sign up list for each treasure hunt. ideas can also be floated here, so basically that's what i've got.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Life On Mars

I think the most important thing for the treasure hunts is going to be maximizing attendance. When we involve more people we get more money from entrance fees, we get the word out more for future hunts, and we minimize the chance that one person quitting will put an entire team out of commision (see: Hufflepuff, Holbrook).

I think it will be good for this whole venture if we can expand the scope beyond this immediate ciricle of people. Or, maybe we don't want to make it a public deal. Perhaps it shoud be kept a private venture, just between friends. But even if we do that, it would be best to get our attendence closer to that of the first hunt, rather than the second. I realize not everyone is cut out to do treasure hunts, but surely there must be untapped sources of participants.

If attendance ever leads to teams getting too large (more than 5-6 people) we can always expand the number of teams.

And I'm excited for the Stevenson/Houle hunt. Should be very intellectual. We'll see if Josh Mattson can live up to his rather glowing self-assesment of his treasure hunting capabilities. That said, I want him on my team.

to get things organized

i've decided to create this blog to get treasure hunt stuff centralized. we'll hope this works.