Did you know that Ikea sells bowls which hold a half-sphere shape? They do! You can use them to make deluxe ice balls!

When I finished freezing the first one, I grabbed it with both hands and held it up to the light. It looked amazing, and daaaamn it was cold.

In just a few seconds, the ice became downright painful to hold. It was quite a challenge to hold it for more than 15 seconds.

Immediately I wanted to share this experience with other people. I whipped up a cooler full of ice balls and hit the streets with my (actually Nick's) trusty folding table. The pitch was simple. I dared people to hold the ice ball in their hand for one full minute. It was not unlike that shaolin trial featured in the show Kung Fu, but instead of lifting a red-hot iron cauldron, participants would lift an ice cold ball.

I loved the situation. Everyone has held ice, but no one has been challenged with it!

Daniel was the very first person to try it. He was successful, holding the ball for one full minute!

What was his reward? Not a lot, just his name on the CHAMPIONS board.

Don't let this woman's calm demeanor fool you. That ice is making her nerves scream. Agony! Pain! Distress!

Her name is Ana, and she held the ice ball for three and a half minutes!

The Ice Ball Challenge was on Saturday night, September 3rd. SacAnime, the premiere Sacramento anime convention was in full swing, and there were a fair number of costumed visitors roaming the city streets.

Meghan was up for the challenge. She held an ice ball for a minute and a half!

Rob (on the left) was ready to conquor the ball. His son Oscar briefly held the record at four minutes, seventeen seconds!

Then Matt arrived (on the right) and he was ready to smash any record! He seemed impervious to cold and held an ice ball for almost twelve minutes!

This was a record which would never be shattered!

But the ice ball challenge wasn't ready for Stephanie. Stephanie knew what she wanted, and she was going to get it.

Stephanie was determined to be the ice ball champion. She beat out Santos, Justin and Ryan.

These were fighting men. Men who had seen some shit.

She creamed Melissa and James.

Eventually I called the police because Stephanie wouldn't leave. She stayed for 21 minutes, holding that big ball of freezing cold ice.

I was very impressed! I know she'll make a great judge or senator one day, if they can re-attach that hand.

I hardly had a minute to rest. I was beset by ice ball handlers. More than 25 people tried, and almost all of them were able to meet or beat the one minute mark.

Caylynne held it for four minutes, five seconds.

I don't have an explanation for why everyone else was better at this than I had been.

As the night yielded more and more successful trials, I concocted a theory. When I had held the ice balls, they were fresh out of the freezer, probably 15 degrees below zero (-14°C). Out here in the summer air, they had warmed to a balmy zero degrees (0°C). Much warmer!

Valerie was up for the challenge.

Jess passed the challenge!

Keith logged a three and a half minute time!

About halfway through the night I remembered that I had prepared an ice donut to hold the ice ball.

I added a light below the ball to enhance it's mysterious power over the crowd.

Qasim, Ethan and Meghan. Qasim won this round with a time of ten minutes and 22 seconds. Meghan came in second with a time of seven minutes and eight seconds.

If you are like me, looking at these pictures, you are thinking, "That looks pretty easy".

One of my favorite comments of the night was from a young man who wanted to try it. I placed the ice ball in his palm and reminded him of his goal, "Hold this for ONE minute".

The cold shock hit his hand. "That might be hard".

The Blue Beetle was up for the challenge!

Yvette! Four minutes, eleven seconds!

Kristina held the ice for almost 11 minutes. She was confident that she could have beaten Stephanie's time, but her friends were appealing to enjoy their Saturday night in a bar somewhere.

Kevin and friends. Ice Ball Champions!

I started with six ice balls, but a few were dropped or poked out of my contestants' hands by their rivals.

Carson and Alison. Two minutes, twenty seconds each.

The Ice Ball Challenge was a success! At one a.m. I ditched the ice balls, packed up the car and headed home. The top time of the night was Stephanie!

It was interesting to watch contestants weigh their performance against other people on the Champions board. If the top time was four minutes, someone was ready to beat it. If it was eight minutes, THAT was their goal. Only when Stephanie's name was at the very top, with a staggering 21 minutes, did the glory of the top spot fade away.

If I did Ice Ball Challenge again, I would establish a five-minute maximum, just to keep the crowd turning over.

You might think The Ice Ball Challenge was simply a trick to get people into a painful situation for a minute or two, but I think I was successful on a deeper mission: To assist men and women in testing their mettle. Just like military boot camp, scriptless travel shows and Spartan mud runs, the Ice Ball Challenge reveals a person's inner strength.

Or, uh, weakness.