Saturday, November 22, 2008

Five Things...

There is a popular Internet meme called "Five Things" whereby users can post pretty much any list of five things. One popular variation is to list five things about yourself that other people may not know about you. So...since I'm a Web 2.0 kinda guy and I love the participatory possibilities of blogs, let's go for it. I won't be revealing anything earth-shattering or necessarily particularly interesting. In fact, I like that my life is kinda boring. But...something to start discussion.

Here are Five Things you may not know about me:

1. My first job in radio involved reading local obituaries on the air. It was at WBVP, a small local station in western PA where the local funeral  directors paid us to read the obits. And this was an area with lots of eastern European families. Long names with lots of consonants and very few vowels. Try pronouncing Bryocyczny on the air! (OK, I made that name up, but you get the point). The funeral directors left the details on an answering machine and we would have to transcribe them from a crappy recording. If we missed an obit, got one detail wrong, or mispronounced a name...boy would the phones light up. I think people grieved more over a mispronounced name than they did over the actual deceased person.

2. I once rode in the Goodyear Blimp. While working in Lancaster radio about twenty-some years ago, a local tire dealer was celebrating something like their 100th anniversary. So the Goodyear Blimp came in for the celebration. I was actually surprised at how small it seemed up close. The gondola was incredibly small and noisy. But it was a very cool experience.

3. I received a lovely framed platinum CD from the Spice Girls. Ok, maybe not something I should brag about, and I don't have it anymore as I gave it to a former coworker. But when I worked in NYC for 13 years my job entailed working with a lot of bands and celebrities. We hosted two satellite radio tours with the Spice Girls. The first one was right before they hit it big, and the second time around they gave me the platinum CD out of appreciation for my help. They were actually very nice, and it was cool to see them in a setting where they were able to be themselves.

4. I'm in a Blink-182 video. Not a music video, per se, but a long-form VHS that follows the band behind the scenes. They made a visit to the Museum of Television & Radio at one point while they were filming the video. I can be seen in the background, in my suit and tie, for about...oh...one second. I can't remember the name of the VHS, but if you know what it is...let me know. I'd love a copy! They were also nice guys, but they could be real pigs.

5. I once portrayed a thumbtack in a theatrical production. Yup. Third grade. And I was the star. It was a play called something like "Panic in a Desk Drawer." Stupid little play, but I wore a huge aluminum foil collar and then a big aluminum foil cone on my head. Wow. I actually starred in quite a few plays during my elementary school years. I portrayed Santa Clause, Tom Sawyer, and Hans Brinker. But my acting career died in sixth grade when all they offered were musicals. I don't sing. I can't sing. And I guess my ego wouldn't allow me to resort to playing the part of "Man #5." I coulda been a star, I tell ya!

Well, there's my Five Things. How about you? And if you can't think of five things, just comment here and list one or two interesting facts about yourself. It'll be fun. I promise !

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. Im a closet Phillies fan. Yeah, I grew up in a Mets household in central Jersey and moved to Lancaster, PA when I was 8 years old, so Mets blood ran through my veins for a long time. However, not many people know that over the past year, Philly baseball has taken up residence in a corner of my heart. A big corner.

2. I never owned a baby doll as a little girl. Nope. Not even one. I stole my sister's though, and poured powder in their blinky eyes. What?...

3. I planned a spontaneous, last minute trip to Iceland and got to see the northern lights up close and personal. I have NEVER been so awe-struck in the entirety of my short little life.

4. My nickname as a kid was Smudge. My Grandpa started calling me that because I was always playing in the dirt and constantly had smudges on my face.

5. I have a cute little birthmark on my leg near my knee cap. When I bend my knee, my leg turns into an elephant. It sounds crazy and weird, but its true. My knee is his head, the birthmark is his eye and my shin is his trunk. I guess you'd have to see it to get it. hahaha

Jeff McCloud said...

1. I can speak Dutch (the real kind, not the Pennsylvania German dialect).

2. I played the violin from third to ninth grade (I can still play "Mary Had Little Lamb").

3. My nickname in junior high school was Fuzzy.

4. I once scored eight points in a junior high basketball game.

5. I got to interview some members of Motley Crue once.

Ken said...

These are very good. Your respective nicknames would make for a great TV Show: "Fuzzy & Smudge!"

Mandy Fleisher said...

This is fun - and very Web 2.0 Ken!

1. I once served as a judge in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament... not nearly as glamorous as it sounds - but I got to meet Will Shortz, who's awesome

2. I hate to eat eggs, and I hate mayonnaise even more - yet I have an unexplainable love for egg salad. Go figure.

3. I know Kevin Bacon. I knew his dad, who was a famous city planner in Philadelphia, and got to know all of the Bacons over the years. They're cool.

4. I hated Barbies as a kid. My mom definitely tried, but my sister and I would never play with ours.

5. Once I went to Groundhog Day to see Punxsutawney Phil in person. It's nothing like the movie... but it was a very interesting, very Pennsylvania thing to do.

Anonymous said...

1. I was a drummer; the only girl in the high school drumline, 2nd snare.

2. I love bikes. Oh wait...people know that about me. Ok, I Really love bikes.

3. I still have my 45's from when I was a kid...among them, an original record of the Superman theme song (B side is Batman)

4. I don't understand why girls like to shop and do hair and stuff like that.

5. I can fix a toilet. And install a storm door.

:)

Ken said...

Mandy, pretty cool about Kevin Bacon. Once when he was studying for a potential role he spent a day in my office listening to old Will Rogers radio programs. Quiet, nice guy. So you and I both have just one degree of separation in that game!

Anonymous said...

1. In High School and College my hair was every color under the sun, sometimes more that one a t a time.
2. One summer I hung out with Joe Sumner, Sting's son. I was friends with the daughter of a sound guy at claire bros who did Sting's sound on tour.
3. I love to use a blowtorch and hammers, but you probably guessed that from my business name, Hammerstroke & Fire.
4. I make a spicy peanut concoction that involves peanuts, Goya Adobo con pimente powder, honey, soy sauce, and Frank's Red Hot and has to be eaten with a spoon.
5. I realized through Twitter that Wil Wheton and I have the same taste in music. Does that make him cooler than I thought, or me dorkier?