Didn't Make the Cut

It's done, finally. I finished it last night. Of course I'm talking about the Christmas letter. Now all that's left is making copies, addressing the envelopes, etc. And posting it on the blog.

But before I do that I'm posting (below) the extra stories that ended up being cut. Once you read them you'll see why they didn't make it. Here goes:

Like Robot Wars, But For Kids
Parents, kids excited, exhausted after grueling tournament
Area First Lego Leaguer Jackson Gonzalez, 9, greatly enjoyed his first year in Lego League (a competition for 4th though 9th graders surprisingly not sponsored by the Lego Corporation).
“We’ve had him enrolled in the Lego Brickmaster program since he figured out not to eat them,” states proud mother Kathryn. “This was the next logical step.”
The competition consists of 2 parts: a research project and presentation based on a topic chosen by league representatives; and the design and construction of a robot to perform several tasks on a pre-built table.
The theme this year was nanotechnology. “Did you know that the frame of this year’s winning Tour de France bike weighed less than a kilogram of pasta, which happens to be my favorite food, because of advances in nanotechnology?” states the avid young builder.
Jackson’s team finished 5th out of 16 teams in the regional tournament, narrowly missing advancement to the state tournament.



Area Model Blurred, Removed from Advertisements
Hours of stop-motion posing result in blurry image
Local model Phil Gonzalez, 40, appeared in ads for medical equipment and buffalo wing sauce this year, but you won’t be able to recognize him.
“In the Olympus (a medical equipment manufacturer) ad I appear as a frenetic sales representative running from doctor to nurse to the nurse’s station. I’m completely blurred as if in constant motion.”
“We decided to blur him,” states photographer and Phil’s brother-in-law Joe Paczkowski, “as soon as the art director saw his face. Pretty easy decision, really.”
“In the other Olympus ad I play a nurse during an endoscopic procedure. I’m almost completely covered in that one too, with a mask, and hat and surgical scrubs.”
“Again we blurred him, even though you already couldn’t see his face,” states Paczkowski.
“The ad for Buffalo Wild Wings sauce I didn’t even pose for. They used an old family photo and had me digitally removed.”
“Again, it’s his face. We needed it to match someone else. No offense, but Phil’s just not going to get a lot of modeling work where his face is involved,” says Paczkowski.