This month, mikesparr.com has achieved its highest ever visitor traffic stats. Back in college when I was more active on my site, I was pleased with a few thousand visitors per month, 10,000 page views and 100,000 hits (before more rigorous browser caching of images). After several years’ dormancy, I began re-publishing this site more actively and it has showed.

October 1 - October 28 2006:
- unique visitors: 11,641
- page views: 270,092
- hits: 310,216

Thanks to all those loyal visitors - average of 2.48 visits each so I’ll make sure I keep some interesting stuff posted. My nonsensical rantings will continue, rest assured. Oh, and I’ll be sure to add more tutorials - likely in the SOA, Web Services and Java realm plus a new tutorial on creating a mash-up using PHP, PEAR SOAP and a couple free web services - stay tuned.

I will be attending the SEMA show in Las Vegas from Tuesday, 31 October through Thursday, 2 November. I will be available on my cell phone during this time.

My cousin, Shane Bemis, is doing very well in the last stretch of his mayoral campaign and has attended four very successful debates. During my prior update to the website we added the endorsement of the local paper, The Gresham Outlook. Recently, The Oregonian also followed suit and supports electing Shane as Mayor of Gresham. I just updated the site recognizing this newest supporter.

Working with his campaign manager, Karylinn Echols of The Tugman Group, I built and published his online campaign site, shanebemisformayor.com. Feel free to check it out and wish Shane “good luck”.

How many times have you been away from your computer and wanted access to a copy of your resume? Montana Worker allows users to post their resume and profiles anonymously, meaning employers cannot view your profile unless you apply for a position. You can use this free service to store and keep an up-to-date resume that will be accessible from any computer connected to the Internet.

Create A Free Account And Optional Private Profile Today!

Business Owners - post your jobs for FREE on MontanaWorker.com. You receive automatic alerts of applicant inquiries, browse all public resumes and can outsource your online recruiting function to MontanaWorker for free. Start posting job positions on the site and simply refer your other ads to the site for applicants to apply. To help cover costs of providing this free service, we have an optional premium listing for $10, however that is purely optional.

Google search for Montana Jobs - see the add

Please visit: www.montanaworker.com and spread the word. I’ve decided to sponsor a comprehensive career website for Montana employers and jobseekers. This service will be sponsored by Goomzee and provide this service free of charge for all. Anyone can post and have a place to centralize their resume and profile - they can choose if it’s visible by employers or not so not just for people looking for jobs.

There is an optional Premium job posting that receives priority listing and color highlights for any employers who would like a little extra notice. The fee is only $10 and helps cover costs of providing this free service. That is purely optional but I aim to help folks statewide by connecting employers and jobseekers.

Other services available at local Universities and also Julie Foster’s great work with Montana Jobs Network (montana-jobs.net) are also available. Thanks for spreading the word and if people like this new service, I will invest some more into making it known throughout the state.

I blocked out 2 hours from my hectic schedule to enjoy a round of 9 holes yesterday morning with my buddy and his father. We golfed at one of Missoula’s 6 courses (including King Ranch in Frenchtown) and I took this photo below with my cell phone camera off the #1 tee box. The pic doesn’t do the view justice but a teaser on how beautiful the valley looks with the colors of Autumn.

Teeing off #1 at Highlands Golf Course in Missoula Montana (Oct 18, 2006)

I will be in Las Vegas January 7 - 11 for 2007 Consumer Electronics Show. My wife, Jamie, will also be attending. We are staying at Paris so if any friends will be there, be sure to call my cell. I’ll repost this before leaving as well.

Just in case you didn’t get the notice, any past and present members of John Wicks’ Economic Seminar are invited to a reunion at his house Friday evening, 5PM - spouses/family welcome. Burgers and PP will be provided. Looking forward to seeing some of the former crew.

Remember the 7 P’s and make room on your calendar!

My cousin Shane is running for Mayor of Gresham Oregon. Gresham is a suburb of Portland and Oregon’s 4th largest city. I agreed to contribute to the campaign by designing and building/publishing his campaign website: shanebemisformayor.com.

If you are a resident of Gresham, or interested in following the campaign for the November 7 election, please take a moment to visit the site.

Thanks for your support!

Well tonight I’ll be meeting up with my “mates” for a last evening on the town. We have made leaps and bounds this week and made a lot of key decisions to progress things on the right path. Perhaps I’ll have some photos of some of the chaps from this evening to post, and then get a little sleep so I have time to do a little more shopping and fly out on Saturday. I’ll be back to Montana very late Saturday night and back online Sunday-Monday.

Myself, Mohammed (a.k.a. ‘The Count’), Dan and his co-workers out on the town.

Walking around the city at night, I thought this building was worth capturing a photo of. I like the mix of old and new throughout.

A sign while walking back to my hotel from Old Street Station. Mind the shakiness but I though it actually applied with this photo. This makes you wonder where Old Street got its name doesn’t it?

This evening I attended the play, Mama Mia, in London’s Prince of Wales theater. It was a remarkable show and I was amazed at how simple the set, yet how functional it was merely by piviting a couple walls or raising a section of floor could be. Furthermore, the intertwining of ABBA songs into the actual story was amazing on how applicable they were.

I would highly recommend taking in this show as it’s great entertainment and a great story. You’ll laugh and find yourself singing and clapping along and the finale is very energetic. I think when I return to the states, Jamie and I will have to attend a Mama Mia show either in New York or if possible, San Francisco. It would fun to see the differences “across the pond”.

View from my seat at Prince of Wales Theater in London. We couldn’t take photos during the production so I snapped a quick photo of the stage. It was a great show.

If I find time amongst my hectic schedule, I’ll try to also attend Chicago. I saw on the marquis that Ashlee Simpson is starring in the production here in London and that would be a treat to see - keep y’all posted if I make time for that before returning to the states this weekend.

I really thought that this quote, taken from New York Times’ RSS technology feed, about the status of the HP leak scandal. I think this rings true about business in general:

“that leaks tend to afflict ships that aren’t seaworthy to begin with” - New York Times (25 Sept. 2006)

Missoula’s Very Own Skate Park, right along the bank of the Clark Fork River and between Orange Street Bridge and Osprey Field (pro baseball), had its grand opening with a show by the “Michael Jordan” of the skateboarding world, Tony Hawk. Joining Hawk included his son, several X-games pro skaters and Bam Margero (known from Jackass and MTV’s Viva La Bam shows). It was a beautiful day and tens of thousands of people showed up for the all-day event.

Skaters of all sized showed up for the festivities.

Bam, Hawk, Riley Hawk (son) and others preparing to drop in one of the several pool sections of the park.

The master himself showing his stuff. We saw many cool stunts and even his infamous 540 and old school hand plants.

Some pro skaters “warming up” for the vert show on Hawk’s $million halfpipe. This is one of the stops in his Project 8 video plus a series on “hidden skate park tour”.

Beautiful view of Missoula’s Clark Fork River (left), Orange Street Bridge (west side of downtown Missoula) and Mount Sentinel (with The University of Montana nestled at its base). The event drew a health crowd and it was a beautiful day to be out.

This evening I was fortunate to meet Tom Siebel, founder and former CEO of Siebel Systems, as he was being recognized for his tremendous efforts in awareness and prevention of Methamphetamine drug use which is rampant throughout the state. We discussed a couple of my ventures briefly but the focus of the evening was on this nationwide issue of which I believe everyone has been affected or known someone affected in one way or another.

I’m pleased to know such a caring individual and truly dynamic speaker and in true Mike Sparr fashion, I managed to capture a photo of Tom and I.

Tom Siebel and I in Missoula Montana.

One of the coolest tid-bits of advice Tom shared was the value of human capital in an organization. Technology, Marketing, Finance and of course “Revenues are nice” but in business it boils down to “my team versus their team”. I found this extremely relevant as I’m currently in a position of focus, strategy and growth planning for Goomzee trying to figure out exactly how to accomplish that.

I’ve met with many high-profile CEOs, or former CEOs, in the past year and I must say that I always take something valuable away from each meeting. Stay tuned for another exciting announcement about one of those “Companies” listed at the right of this page. Also, please take a moment to learn more about the Montana Meth Project and lend a hand if you can.

Related Links:
- Montana Meth Project
- Siebel Systems - now part of Oracle

Today is Jeff Northcutt’s birthday so I thought I would let everyone else know. Have a great day and enjoy my home improvement articles.

Jamie has successfully ridden Aden now 5 times. I took some photos last week of one of the rides - see below.

“Check out my fiery saddle pad!”

A short walk. They considered it successful just keeping him moving.

We had a dinner at Shadow’s Keep the other night and I heard about a girl in Clinton who was only 14 years old with cancer. She went through so many treatments her body could not handle any more. People in the town were auctioning off their livestock at this year’s fair and donating proceeds to help her pay medical bills. Hearing this, I decided to turn over all of Cancer Blasters’ inventory over to them to sell and keep 100% of proceeds for her cause.

As I learn more, I may post a donate link for them on Cancer Blasters’ site - the store is now out of stock. If anyone is interested in helping, I will post her contact information once I receive their “thank you” letter, and others may pitch in as well.

Well it’s no wonder why Donald Trump purchased the pagents. I’ve never watched them but stumbled across the Miss Teen USA pagent the other night as “background noise” while I was working. Elimination round after another, I got pulled in as Miss Teen Montana kept passing. I noted to Jamie that I thought she could win it after being in the top 10.

Well she did so congrats to our Texas transplant, Ms. Blair of Billings! I just like seeing Montana well represented and she definitely did the job well. Also the other night I saw a U of M student on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and he was sharper than many of the other people during the “Jaywalking” segment; way to go!

This coming Monday tickets go on sale for the Rolling Stones concert. Tickets will range between $68-350. About 4000 UM student tickets will be available for $78.

Tickets can be purchased monday at www.ticketmaster.com

This weekend Jamie and I decided to buy her a new car. Some friends of mine recently purchased the Volkswagon Jetta TDI (turbo diesel) and we decided that was what we wanted. There has been a run for that model at all dealerships nationwide as they will not be producing them in 2007. I have a friend who works at the local dealership, but they only had one used model in stock and it sold after 2 days. I called VW dealerships on Saturday all around the state and even in Washington and found a deal on one that was going to hit the lot that day in Great Falls, MT. We negotiated a great price comparing to all the other quotes we received and opted to drive 170 miles to Great Falls to purchase her (our) new car.

It used less that 1/4 tank to drive home (unlike my Chevy truck) and gets between 44-54 miles per gallon. It will also run biodiesel. The car is very well built, good looking and has plenty of power with its 6-speed automatic (tiptronic) transmission. Here are a couple photos of the new family member:

2006 VW Jetta TDI - Blue Graphite (not black)

Rear view - complete with “shark fin” for satellite radio.

So now that we’re cruising a little more efficiently, our friends on the west coast better watch out or who knows who will be knocking on their door!

UPDATE (tinted windows):

Add tint as usual.

Side view with tinted windows - always helps.