Wednesday, December 31, 2008

7 facts about me that you probably don't care about

OK Evo Terra, this one's for you. The founder of http://www.podiobooks.com/ tagged me in this meme (not sure how to pronounce that) and I felt obliged to play the game, so here it is.

1. I was, for a short time in the late 80's, a popular stand up comic in Fairbanks Alaska...till the bar owners discovered I was only 19. I got noticed by a Seattle agent but had already enlisted in the USMC and had to decline his offer to play a few clubs in the lower 48.

2. I play hand percussion. Yep, bongos, congas, djembe, even the Bodhran. I have a 'Mother-Djembe' with a 24 inch head that I can make sound like a rolling thunderstorm...seriously cool for the right song. I love jazz and ‘new-age’ style music and will sometimes sit in my living room improvising on my drums with the tunes coming over the stereo or just jamming with my teen son, who plays a mean bass. On a few occasions I was at a location where music was being played and I had no official drum so I played a guitar case, a metal stock pot, and even a cardboard box.

3. I am a pretty organised guy, and very diligent at my work and play, but for some reason I have never been able to fathom, have a serious issue with showing up to my regular day job on time every morning. I'm not terribly late, just ten or fifteen minutes...but it's every day. I can't explain it. I am on time, even early, for everything else I do, but that one thing...it baffles me. Even if I leave in plenty of time something happens on the way and I am fifteen minutes late. Thank heavens for Flex Time schedules.

4. I love the smell of lilac. Really love it. I love flowers in general, but lilacs in particular. I know, it doesn't sound manly, but it’s true. Don't give me a hard time though, 'cause I might just use the lilacs as a camouflage for my ghillie suit and plug ya from a thousand meters.

5. I once won a tactical pistol shooting competition with a revolver. In a six target quick draw speed shooting competition against guys with 13 shot semi-autos I won with a six-shooter Smith&Wesson Model 19 Police Revolver. That mean's I hit 100% of my targets without having to reload during the thirteen straight elimination rounds. I'm still proud of that day.

6. I can't stand people leaving things on the floor, shoes directly in front of the door or not hanging up their coats in the closet. I tend to walk through the house without turning on the lights (which in Alaska means total darkness at 4pm during winter). I really hate it when I take a step and then turn my ankle on a shoe, purse, or etc left on the floor in my den or garage, or the hallway....it really pisses me off. The other four members of my family have no problem with it though, they merely take issue with my "bad habit" of walking around in the dark and blowing my temper when I trip over their stuff when all I had to do was turn on a light.

7. Several times a year, in front of a couple hundred teens and college students, I transform into an entire cast of characters from the Bible or from History and play all of the parts of an event. These hour long one man plays are performed for my church youth association. I have done Elijah the Prophet, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a German pastor who took part in a plot to kill Hitler), Patrick of Ireland, King David, Samson, and a whole slew of others. I do it with very few props or costume (typically I have a walking stick, a chair, a grey wool blanket, and on occasion a sword) and use the description, acapella song and a bit of pantomime to convince the audience of the set. I try to do it as much as possible in the style of the old story tellers of long before TV and Radio, and for the most part, have more fun than a person is allowed to.

Well, there you have it Evo, et al. Seven things about me that you could probably care less about, but describe me nonetheless.

But before I go, the rules of this engagement require me to tag seven others:

• Kathryn Lilley

• Clare Langley-Hawthorne

• Michelle Gagnon

• John Gilstrap

• Joe Moore

• John Ramsey Miller

• JJ Cooper

(Sorry folks, but I don’t have too many other friends with their own blogs and you all are the ones I enjoy talking with most often.)

I then am to post the rules for this meme.

1. Link your original tagger and list these rules in your post.

2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.

3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

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6 comments:

  1. Hi, Basil. I'm willing to play (sort of), but I have no idea how to do step one (or really even what it means). And I don't think I know seven bloggers.

    Websters is now using my name as the simplest definition of Luddite.

    John

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  2. No worries John. To link the original blogger all you have to do is at some place in your post on your own blog put my web address (www.basilsands.com).

    As far as the seven other bloggers, that was hard for me too. I wouldn't worry about it. I don't think the "blog-police" will do much about.
    You guys at Killzone were the only other bloggers I knew, other than Evo Terra who sent it to me originally. So no problem if you can't link others, We can be flexible.

    Thanks for playing along though at any rate. There's a lot to be said for Ludditicity. ;-)

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  3. At the risk of being popped from a half a click:

    "Lilac water. The ladies love it. Shall we make it an even dollar?"

    Extra points if you name the movie without using Google.

    Thanks for playing, Basil.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Scent of a Woman?

    no...

    uh....

    wait...I'm picturing Eastwood, with a cigar...

    Josey Wales?

    no....dangit...where's my Google?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Basil!
    I'm willing to play, but have the next few posts already worked out so it might be awhile...

    ReplyDelete
  6. No worries Michelle. We await your post with rapt anticipation. ;-)

    ReplyDelete