Pentathanerd’s Pinewood Lego Monkey Ball is revered throughout the wide world of sports and has fast become a fan-favorite with something for everyone – whether you’re into pinewood, Legos, monkeys … and even the sport’s cheaters seem sorta charming:
Next and last is The Summer Games’ final event: The “Air Quotes” Quiz Show, with a mid-day preliminary round and the finals at 4:30. We don’t dare broadcast it live (fear of wardrobe malfunction), so look for good/clean coverage of the finale, medal presentations and closing ceremonies on Monday.
Words will not do justice to a Scrabble competition that marked the midpoint of The Summer Games. Especially with words like “cheater” being played from under the table – on poorly hidden black tiles nonetheless, and an ill-needed black eye for The Pentathanerd.
Pentathanerd is kind of a big deal. This has pumped big sponsorship dollars into The Summer Games, and this makes us beholden to the makers/fakers of bacon. But please don’t let a bit of blatant commercialism/product placement keep you from enjoying these highlights from our championship chess round.
Having set out to cover my third Pentathanerd, I got caught up in its pageantry and rich tradition. I surveyed the field, assessed the competition, saw an opening, dropped the camera and crossed the line from objective journalist to fierce competitor. Almost as soon as I picked up the darts, a stinging sensation shot through my throwing arm – a hastily administered shot of steroids from some shady doctor who came out of nowhere. With a sudden horror I saw the seedy side of The Games. How could I have been so blind to legendary Pentathanerd athletes fraternizing with gamblers, their widespread doping, and the win-at-any-cost mentality that permeates sports? What’s worse, I did NOT win and was bested by dart throwers well over the line in more ways than one. See for yourself:
One the medal stand: Chris Locher “won” gold, yours truly settled for silver and Jon Rexeisen took the bronze medal. I’m renouncing my medal and going back to covering the games like the bulldog reporter I set out to be. Next up is the Chess championship round. Can you handle the truthiness?
If you missed our open house geared at recruiting you, here’s what it looked and sounded like. We had more than 60 interested parties at ours – which is about the same number of jobseekers we had at last November’s shindig. Look, we’ll keep doing this if we have to, or, you could at long last succumb to your inner nerd and join us so we can finally focus on throwing the toga party we’ve always dreamed of. Toga! Toga! Am I chanting alone? Again? Find your calling at http://www.nerdery.com/jobs.
The Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal continues to chronicle The Nerdery’s growth. This time they’re talking about how we’re adding nerds and not square footage. Don’t worry, if you’re not a subscriber, you can get all the details over in the Press Room (P.S. the answer to the headline question is at that link).
On March 26, 2009, a more youthful Luke Bucklin was named to the 40 Under 40 list published by Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. And ever since that day, Luke has made darned sure everyone knew this to be true. While Biz Journal has kept its ear to the ground, Luke has gone out of his way to clumsily work his 40 Under 40 talking points into conversations with friends, colleagues, clients, family, passersby…
As Luke’s fortieth birthday approached, the publication sent word to him that he would have to renounce this particular feather-in-his cap upon reaching his fifth decade. Time has come today. This is probably why I heard him shout “This reeks of $#%^!&* ageism!” from his office the other day. Or perhaps it was the DMV calling to tell him he had to turn in his vanity plates.
Then came a letter from the FAA telling Luke to “please consider the world your no-fly zone until you retake your pilot’s license testing.”
Then came The Pentathanerd Committee’s “free advice memo” urging Luke to “please refocus your Pentathanerd gold medal aspirations toward The Senior Tour” (any sports fan can tell you Luke is the reigning Pentathanerd Boggle champ from the previous Summer Games).
But still, without coming right out and using the term “in decline,” some have seen this coming. The paparazzi recently shed harsh light on Luke’s mid-day naps in The Nerdery’s nooks and crannies.
Luke claims this photo was actually shot during the wee hours of the Overnight Website Challenge. We report; you decide.
In the recorded minutes of a recent executive team meeting, Luke wondered aloud, “As a Founding-Father of The Nerdery, shouldn’t my face be on currency?”
In a hastily commissioned poll, 73% of registered voters said this hairdo makes Luke appear “more presidential.” However, 88% of those under 40 said he looked like an old codger (completely unsolicited feedback; not even a survey question).
“I’ve found the secret to keeping my boyish looks forever: tanning!” he told his handlers. But it was too hot and he preferred the great indoors.
Pictured here fake-baked in arguably too much orange makeup (Luke will perhaps claim this facelift was not self-inflicted, and rather, it happened to him in while taping a Comcast Newsmakers segment for CNN’s Headline News).
It was a good run. Happy fortieth birthday, Luke. Consider the strong second act of Betty White – hotter than ever. There has to be a “50 Pushing 50″ list looking for a man of your good standing in the community. The campaign begins anew. Who’ll second my nomination?
We’re pretty pumped to have been named one of the Top Workplaces in the Twin Cities based on an employee-based survey project from the StarTribune. We ranked #6 on the small company list. Take a gander at The Nerdery page where you can see our strengths, a few pics, and some quotes from nerds who filled out the survey.
The StarTribune’s Top Workplaces list recognizes the most progressive companies in the metro based on employee opinions about company leadership, career opportunities, workplace flexibility, compensation and benefits. The analysis included responses from over 33,000 employees at Minnesota public, private and nonprofit organizations.
Pretty sweet, isn’t it?
If you want more information, you can read our press release.
The story is about our growth! If you head on over to the news section, non-subscribers can read an excerpt that gives details about The Nerdery’s expansion (both here in Minnesota and in Chicago).
