In 2003, we filmed our third installment of the hurricane video series. We did a great job of creating a new video each year for the first three years of the attraction. Sorry we've been slackers the last three years!
Video #3 was also filmed at Channel 6 studios in downtown Lawrence. This one's a little blurry- it's the only video that we can't find an actual DVD copy of, but fortunately we'd uploaded the video to YouTube a long time ago. We tried downloading the video from YouTube, and we also tried filming the video directly from the computer monitor, and this is the best quality we can get.
This video stars Dave, Debbi and former Lawrence mayor Marty Kennedy as the anchors; bartender Coleen as the local weather woman; and an assortment of Sandbar staff and friends in our newly created "safety segment"- a feature with tips on what not to do during a hurricane.
A real celebrity makes an appearance in this video. When we went to Nashville to record our very own Sandbar song (also making its first appearance on this video), we bumped into Richie McDonald, lead singer of the country band Lonestar, in the recording studio. He graciously lent his face & voice to us for the video.
A few days ago I wrote about the fabulous Shark Attack cupcakes our friend Brenna baked. The post was accompanied by a rather terrible photo I took of a cupcake. That picture absolutely did not do the cupcakes justice.
Brenna graciously provided us with a much better picture of her creation. In fact, it looks like a professional cupcake portrait from a cookbook. My first thought was to take down my awful picture and replace it with this one. Then I thought it might be funnier to leave it up and add this one so you can compare. And laugh at my photo-taking non-skills.
THIS is what the cupcakes really looked like:
Complete with an actual Sandbar shark. Makes you want to eat one, doesn't it?
A bunch of our regular customers went to Cancun last month and didn't invite us to go along. They did, however, take Sandbar shirts with them so they could take pictures and taunt us with how much fun they had.
Here's what Sandbar friend Susan had to say:
This year a couple of us hit "milestone" birthdays: Melissa turned the big 30 and I turned the big 40. We decided we needed a getaway and got to spend 5 wonderful days in Cancun, Mexico, at the Cancun Palace all-inclusive resort.
Our agenda was…there was no agenda. We were free to relax by the pool, in the pool, near the pool, and at the pool bar. We mixed in a tour of the Mayan Ruins, a little local shopping, frolics in the ocean, golf for the boys and some good ol' fashioned fun!
We found a neat little bar on the beach side of our resort that had awesome swings for stools. After several Banana Monkey drinks- the closest thing to a Dirty Banana we could find- we realized this was the perfect backdrop for a picture with our beloved Sandbar shirts. We ran up to our rooms and got our shirts for some fun pictures.
We attempted the ocean shot and jumping on the beach, and it was far more entertaining than any Baywatch moment we had envisioned. It was a great place with wonderful service, and with more friends hitting milestone birthdays in 2011, we're planning to go back!
Thanks for the great pictures! Next time, we're going along.
That was the unofficial slogan for Team Shark Attack, a co-ed rec league volleyball team made up of Sandbar staff (current and former) and friends. We put together a team this fall for the Lawrence Parks and Rec league and had a blast.
We had nine official players, and any given night we had at least six, enough to play. Some nights we shared our players with our friend Jana's team, because some of her team bailed on her.
Our team wasn't always good. In fact, we ended the season at 10-20, in sixth place out of nine teams. But by the end of the season, we had improved enough to earn compliments from another player- one whose team has been playing together for 30 years, and a team we had just beat.
We may not have been super volleyball players, but we always had fun! Thanks to Justin, Pat, Tom, Megan, Caroline, Hayley, Brandon and Sherri for working hard for Team Shark Attack. See you on the volleyball court!
Oh, and the ironic part of our slogan? Spiking, along with overhand serving, isn't allowed in the rec league. "Up not down" was another often-used phrase on our team. As was "a girl's gotta touch it at least once." You can imagine the fun we had.
Last spring we set up the Sandbar on Whrrl and Foursquare, two location-based social networs that allow you to check in, share your location and find friends. We added "specials" that allowed users to get free jukebox credits when they checked in and showed their status to the bartender.
Now, we've added a third network: Gowalla. It's similar to the others, with one big difference: the network was co-founded by an alumnus of KU. Which makes it a big deal in our opinion. And he's been to the Sandbar. Check out the picture he uploaded to our spot on Gowalla.
If you check in to the Sandbar on Gowalla, you'll get this nice friendly welcome message:
Once you check in, show this message to the bartender and they'll load five free credits on the jukebox for you. This offer is only valid before 9 p.m., any day of the week.
Another reason we like Gowalla: the AP Top 25/Gowalla Check In Challenge. The contest encourages fans to check in to five designated locations on their college campuses, and at the end of the regular football season the school with the most points will earn a $10,000 donation to their general scholarship fund. You can also win random prizes like MacBook Airs and iPods, just for checking in.
KU is pretty far behind in the standings right now, but you can help! Use Gowalla to check in at the University, Allen Fieldhouse, Memorial Stadium, the Campanile or the Kansas Union and you'll earn a point. Send your check-in to Twitter or Facebook and you'll earn five more. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
