Charpie

Just had to post one of the best photos taken during the sandbagging efforts in North Dakota and Minnesota as the Red River began to flood a couple weeks ago. It really sums up the attitude and overall morale of the sandbaggers. Despite being tired, overworked and a little bit stressed out, everyone seemed positive, confident and generally lighthearted about the situations they were in.

The photo was taken at “Sandbag Central” in Fargo, ND. Pictured holding the hat is @emjayess.

Caption (via Flickr):
On the lower left, see 3 of the 3.5 MILLION (ya… 3,500,000) sandbags volunteers produced in a 1-week flood fight! Photo by Craig Dirkes, Writer/Photographer for The Salvation Army

Also, check out this interesting interweb tidbit that puts the amount of sandbags produced into perspective.

We’re gone sandbagging for the floods in Fargo, ND until further notice.

Be sure to check out the latest experiences through Twitter’s search tool. Popular tags to search: #fargoflood, #flood09, #ndfloods, #redriver.

Matt Charpentier will be posting pics via Twitpic.

Stay strong!

Well, I haven’t been able to update my blog in a long while, but what I caught on Anderson Cooper 360 last night couldn’t be a more fitting post for my reasoning behind such untimely posts.

I’m busy as hell.

And the rest of Fargo seems to be doing ok, too. CNN’s Gary Tuchman paid us a visit recently to report on the recession, or lack thereof, and how it’s affecting Fargo businesses. It’s definitely an interesting story to check out and could possibly lead to some folks trying to seek out a conservative tip or two.

I definitely wouldn’t go as far as Mayor Walaker would in saying that Fargo is not at all in a recession. I’ve seen more than a few of my friends get laid off and businesses tighten up their pockets and brace themselves for what may come. However, maybe what he meant was some business may slow, but he definitely wouldn’t refer to this as a recession.

Either way, life is still pretty good up here.

Props to my client, Appareo Systems and David Batcheller, for the excellent work on camera!

Check out the video here.

This picture from our local paper shows a little piece of the shape downtown Fargo is in right now. Media was dubbing it “Death Storm 2008,” and many say the blizzard that rocked the midwest was aptly named. I say this is North Dakota and it’s winter. You were expecting something else?

The car I was in on Saturday night was pretty much directly below the arrow. Good times.

Photo by Carrie Snyder.

It appears the EU has huffed and puffed and blown down Lego’s brick trademark. Although the patent on the company’s design ended years ago, Lego still held a trademark on the shape of the toy saying that its bricks were distinctive of the Lego brand. The EU thought otherwise arguing that the shape is not owned by any one company and its design is purely functional. Lego has since appealed.

So what does this mean for one of our favorite toy manufacturers? Probably nothing. I don’t think a sea of knock-offs forming a tidal wave of competition and overtaking the king of the brick ring will happen any time soon. It could be fun to watch though.

Check out more with some interesting tidbits on the brick’s origin.

Microsoft has released a sneak peak at Windows 7. I’m assuming Windows users must like the look of a clusterfuck. Ah well, to each his own.