Oh, The Lengths We'll Go...

I was looking for a file on one of our servers the other day, and I came across a folder that brought back some memories of an example of the lengths we sometimes go to in an effort to make a Liken.

It was about a year ago this time that Ken's wife, Coppelia, suggested that Ken and I submit an application to a television show called "Amazing Race" (season 13, the one that's on now, without us, so let me nip the suspense right there). I had never watched the show, but when I heard the prize is a cool million, I realized that would fund more than a few Likens, and even if we didn't win, if we could get on, it would offer some amazing exposure for the series, so I thought it was worth at least investigating.

I ordered a season from Netflix and saw that it seemed a little more feasible for a guy like me than a Survivor (I've never been a huge fan of roughing it) or Fear Factor (I've never been a huge fan of eating cockroaches). The challenges that they do on Amazing Race seemed like they'd be sorta fun. Ken would be awesome in it, so I figured if by some miracle we got on, I could give him the hard ones and I'd take the ones that involved closing your eyes and jumping off of something high (now that I can do).

There was a lengthy paper application and they also require a 3-minute video application. So on Thanksgiving morning 2007, Ken and I hit the road with a small video camera, and Ken's daughter Aria and my daughter Katie, and shot our video application. We decided to be up front with the reason we were doing it (funding Jonah), hoping that might help set us apart from the gazillion other applications they probably get. Guess it didn't work.

I've kept the video under wraps (it would have been cooler to share if we actually got on the show). But when I came across it this week, I realized that even though we didn't get on, it was a pretty good representation of the lengths you have to go through to get a project made. It didn't work, but hey, so what? You try something, it doesn't work, you try something else. Eventually, hopefully, something will work.

Anyway, so here it is, our Amazing Race video application.