To tell the Truth . . .

[QuikSand]

...plus, I don't even know what "NSA" means in this context. Around here, it's the acronym for "No Such Agency" (a.k.a. the National Security Agency, HQ'd in Columbia, Maryland).

[Coffee Warlord]

*laughs*

Put it this way. My relatives are just bizarre, on both sides. I coulda made a list of 20 outrageous claims regarding them, and they woulda all be 100% true.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally posted by QuikSand
...plus, I don't even know what "NSA" means in this context. Around here, it's the acronym for "No Such Agency" (a.k.a. the National Security Agency, HQ'd in Columbia, Maryland).

That's what I was referring to there.

[cuervo72]

I say #5. NSA agents don't deal

[Coffee Warlord]

WRONG!

Defcon (computer hacker convention, Las Vegas) a few years ago.
Considering the crowd it draws, naturally the feds follow. One
of the contests is 'Spot the Fed'. If you are proven to be a fed,
you get a "I Am the Fed" t-shirt, and the spotter gets an "I Spotted
The Fed T-Shirt".

Well, I got to shooting the breeze with an NSA agent, who had not
been 'spotted'. I happened to be working one of the Defcon swag
booths, and we had the t-shirts. So, in exchange for a bunch of
goofy NSA swag (I'm serious, they have NSA coloring books), he
got his 'I am the Fed' t-shirt.

[Solecismic]

Marc is right. While Gary Coleman did have a bodyguard, and was playing Dead or Alive against E3 visitors, I just watched for a couple of minutes and moved on. The line was easily four hours long, and I figured any review from a guy who was that good at a Japanese fighting game couldn't be all that positive.

Instead, I got an aging Catherine Bach's autograph on a Dukes of Hazzard poster. She seemed very nice, and quite thankful they didn't make her wear the Daisy Dukes again.

McKerney, yeah, she was that pretty. I still have the scars from kicking myself. As a B-list celebrity, I'm asked from time to time to participate in events like judging the Miss Universe contest. She could easily have won Miss Universe.
JeeberD, I was quite surprised myself. Especially since I was standing behind the CBS booth in the walkway, but apparently blocking his view of the monitor. Maybe he was having a bad day. I'm pretty sure it was the 1989 Michigan/Notre Dame game - Elvis Grbac's debut and the game when Rocket Ismail tortured the Wolverines with those kickoff returns.

[Franklinnoble]

Originally posted by Solecismic

JeeberD, I was quite surprised myself. Especially since I was standing behind the CBS booth in the walkway, but apparently blocking his view of the monitor. Maybe he was having a bad day. I'm pretty sure it was the 1989 Michigan/Notre Dame game - Elvis Grbac's debut and the game when Rocket Ismail tortured the Wolverines with those kickoff returns.

Maybe it's a CBS thing. Randy Cross was a real prick when I worked the NFL games he was doing. Nicest guy I ever met was probably Vern Lundquist.

[JAG]

CW,

I'm gonna go with 1 for you, and if it is true, I hope you'll give the story. I used to drink on Metra all the time after work and hadn't heard it was banned on the weekends.

JAG

[Marc Vaughan]

Just realised I hadn't explained my 'true' ones ... here goes:

1. I have been threatened by American Military Police for measuring a Stealth Bomber

While working for the US Military writing Flight Simulators I needed the measurements for a Stealth Bomber (this was 10+ years ago before such things were common knowledge).

One was being 'shown off' at a local airshow so myself and a chinese friend turned up with tape measures .... possibly not the brightest move I've ever made, in my defense I was very young at the time

3. I fell in love with my wife before I saw her face

Corny but true, I met Rebecca on the internet. We've been married for yonks now and have 3 kids ...

4. I'm considered legally blind by the English goverment

As explained previously I'm very very short-sighted due to a birth defect. Without correction I can only see approximately 4 inches clearly (after that its basically like looking through frosted glass) - because of this I'm considered 'blind' by the goverment when it comes to purchasing spectacles in England (and hence get a decent discount ).

Luckily the defect is nearly 100% reversible via. correction for which I'm very greatful.

5. I have cooked food for several members of the cast from British soap opera's (Eastenders to be exact). [/b]

Prior to retraining as a software engineer I worked as a chef in a small restaurant in Norfolk, UK.
One of the Eastenders cast lives in the area (Grant Mitchell if you're familliar with the show) and sometimes ate there with friends from the cast.

[QuikSand]

I'm having trouble telling whether this is still a "win and go" thing, or whether everyone is just allowed to post a series of things about themselves...

[scooper]

Originally posted by Solecismic
I'm pretty sure it was the 1989 Michigan/Notre Dame game - Elvis Grbac's debut and the game when Rocket Ismail tortured the Wolverines with those kickoff returns.

I loved that game.

[QuikSand]

Okay, here's another set to consider...

- - - - -

(1) I am a direct descendent of two U.S. Presidents – John Adams and John Quincy Adams. I’m not very interested in genealogy, so I don’t know the exact links in the family tree, but there are only three name changes involved along the way – mostly male-to-male descent. I still haven’t read the recent biography, though I have heard it’s fairly flattering.

(2) There is a lab station at the Ohio State University’s biochemistry facility at Gibraltar Island (a small university-owned station adjacent to Put-In-Bay/South Bass Island in Lake Erie) that is named in my honor, due to work I did there as part of a science fair project almost 20 years ago.

(3) My eyes change color day by day, ranging pretty dramatically from either blue or blue-gray to completely green, to occasionally something closer to hazel or light brown. They often will have a different color near the pupil than on the outside – at the moment they are sort of hazel inside, and blue-green outside.

(4) My real talent lies in that greatest human endeavor, Whack-a-Mole. I lost once three years ago at the Maryland State Fair, but other than that have never lost a game in my life. Line up as many competitors as you like, I’m the undeniable king of whack-a-mole. I have found this to be a completely non-transferable skill.

(5) Once, while in high school, I drove my car directly into a moving train. It wasn’t moving very quickly, but I totaled the car and only avoided my own demise by a series of coincidences. There was a rumor around my school and area towns that I had been killed, but gladly the rumors proved to be exaggerated.

[Maple Leafs]

I'll say option three.

[Anrhydeddu]

Those are good ones, QS. If you want to know more about #1 - assuming it is true - I can certainly help.

My guess is #4.

[cuervo72]

Ok, I'll say #1.

[Craptacular]

2

[Butter]

#5

[Anrhydeddu]

Like Marc, I hadn't explained my truths either

1. I played basketball with Kellen Winslow

It was in the early 1980s while I was going to school at SDSU. Kellen would occassionally stop at Petersen Gym to shoot around or to play in a pickup game. A friend and I was going to the gym and happened to run into him in the parking lot (one of a billion that SDSU has) and started up a conversation. We eventually got to the floor and shot around together for a little while.

3. I told Michael Jordan that he was a slacker

Old story. In the summer of 1985, MJ had to finish his degree in geography at UNC (remember he left early the year before). Since I was poor, I was TAing (teacher's assistant) that summer for Dr. Gestler's class (I believe it was Cultural Geography) as well as teaching my usual cartography class. MJ had to "complete" Cultural Geography so he showed up the first day, played golf for the next 2 weeks, showed up to take a test privately, played more golf and then showed up the final day to do something. I was supposed to "assist" him before the midterm test and he did come in a little earlier to meet with me. Jokingly I told him he was slacking off again and he just laughed. Of course I wasn't allowed to grade his "test" but he did pass the course.

4. I managed a rock band of surfers

It was my glorious year between undergrad and grad school living and working in San Diego and I did so many things (1983-1984). That was the year that I learned how to ski, first started photography, went surfing in Baja, snorkeling in Catalina and on and on. One of the fun things was a rock band started by some of my beach friends called "Gideon". I organized stuff when they were first starting, ran the sound, coordinated a couple of gigs at church and got them through practices for a little while before I had leave for UNC.

5. I owned a game development company

From 1992-1994, in addition to my photography company, a partner and I started a company called Seven Thunders Productions. The main purpose was to design and develop an adventure game (we also did some small utilities and applications on the side). We got the general design nearly done as well as the details of each of the "places" in the first half of the game. But it never went much beyond that because of the lack of tools to do the graphics (which was one of my responsibilities) and then coming up against the Windows revolution. We had planned on completing the game in 1996 but it would have been a DOS-based game in a new Windows world, thus the best we could have hoped for was shareware. One of the things that came out of that was that I got learn a lot about file formats and conversion since I was on a PowerMac using PhotoShop and the development was done on a PC using VB for DOS with Genus GX Development tools.

The reason why I had not been overseas was not that I don't want to but there have been so many places I wanted to see and photograph here in North America. Someday I hope to go to Europe as well as Australia/NZ.

[QuikSand]

I guess that covers the options for the players... so here's the skinny...

- - - - -

(1) I am a direct descendent of two U.S. Presidents – John Adams and John Quincy Adams. I’m not very interested in genealogy, so I don’t know the exact links in the family tree, but there are only three name changes involved along the way – mostly male-to-male descent. I still haven’t read the recent biography, though I have heard it’s fairly flattering.

TRUE. And that about wraps up the story. My wife is reading the Adams bio right now, and I only recently casually mentioned the link - she was appalled that I had not done so before. I'm not a real believer in bowing to distant generations, so I don't consider this a really big deal.

But A, if you have interesting observations about John Adams or his son, I'd welcome anything you'd like to share. I certainly don't
mean any offense - I just have a general indifference toward history, and my relation doesn't change that.

(2) There is a lab station at the Ohio State University’s biochemistry facility at Gibraltar Island (a small university-owned station adjacent to Put-In-Bay/South Bass Island in Lake Erie) that is named in my honor, due to work I did there as part of a science fair project almost 20 years ago.

FALSE. Gibraltar Island is indeed a biochemistry facility owned by OSU, and while I have visited there, I certainly didn't do any work worthy of recognition (other than semi-successfully steal the bikini top of an 8th grade girl, which was much higher on my priority list than biochemistry).

(3) My eyes change color day by day, ranging pretty dramatically from either blue or blue-gray to completely green, to occasionally something closer to hazel or light brown. They often will have a different color near the pupil than on the outside – at the moment they are sort of hazel inside, and blue-green outside.

TRUE. It's weird, but another thing that I hardly pay any attention to. Back in my dating days, I used to get a lot of comments from women who thought my eyes were something mysterious and wonderful. To me, it's just a pin in the neck when I fill out my driver's license form. I put "blue."

(4) My real talent lies in that greatest human endeavor, Whack-a-Mole. I lost once three years ago at the Maryland State Fair, but other than that have never lost a game in my life. Line up as many competitors as you like, I’m the undeniable king of whack-a-mole. I have found this to be a completely non-transferable skill.

TRUE. Tough to say why this is - but I am practically unbeatable. When the guy beat me a few years ago, he was trying to get up to the giant prize - so I stayed and cruched him twice after that, just to reassert my sense of what's right in the world. I have friends who try again and again to beat me... no luck.

I guess it's some sort of eye-hand coordination... but there has got to me a more productive use for world class skill than whack-a-mole, hasn't there?

(5) Once, while in high school, I drove my car directly into a moving train. It wasn’t moving very quickly, but I totaled the car and only avoided my own demise by a series of coincidences. There was a rumor around my school and area towns that I had been killed, but gladly the rumors proved to be exaggerated. [/b]

True. They still talk about the fog that night - it was so thick that you literally couldn't see a damned thing. In fact, when someone called my mother, she didn't take the call because she had driven her own car off the driveway and into our giant muddy garden due to the fog, and was getting help pulling it out.

In the wreck, I just rive right up to a train crossing, didn't see the lights (there was no gate, and there is some uncertainty whether the lights were flashing at all) and only saw the train about five feet away - I made only a few feet of skid marks on the road.

I was undeniably saved by wearing a safety belt. I also was saved by the weird fact that my car struck the train at the wheel base of two adjacent train cars - so there was a solid "wall" to hit, rather than an open space (which would have allowed my car to continue right underneath, with its top sheared off - and presumably mine, too). The damage to the car was so severe that the cassette in the tape deck was irretreivably bent - I kept it as a memento.

I had an interscholastic academic team competition a few days later, and when I showed up players from another team told me that they had all heard I had been killed. Weird feeling, that. When I removed my sportcoat (over my arm-in-sling) to take my seat at the competition table, there was a huge roar from the assembled school (who were all herded into the gym to watch the match)-- that moment was probably the highlight of my high school career.



So, it seems the winner is.. Craptacular! Nicely done.

[Anrhydeddu]

My wife is reading the Adams bio right now

Excellent book, imo. John Adams has been my favorite of the Founding Fathers but his wife, Abigail Adams has always been one of my most favorite American historical figure. I'll see what I can dig up.

[Anrhydeddu]

To keep this going, I'll submit another, if that's ok.

1. My father-in-law in connected to the Kansas City mob.

2. I am a descendant of at least five Mayflower pilgrims.

3. When we were kids, my brother and I were on a local kids game show.

4. I am not directly descended from any Civil War veterans.

5. I have lost most of my hearing but my sense of smell is extraordinary.

[Maple Leafs]

I'll continue my string of wrong answers with #5.

[WSUCougar]

I'll say #2.

[Coffee Warlord]

Well, I'll give my answers now, as there were 3 different
guesses, and all 3 were wrong.

1) I'm the reason alcohol was banned on the Metra (chicago rail transit system)
on weekends.

TRUE - Very simple story. Bachelor party. Lots of drunks. Us heading home, bringing
a full case of beer. Couple people with us were rather belligerent drunks. To make
a long story short, the conductor kicked us off the train...ironically at our stop.
2 weeks later, alcohol was no longer allowed on the Metra.

2) I am distantly related to Richard Nixon.

TRUE - 4th or 5th cousin, as memory serves.

3) My aunt lived next door to the Bush family, and to this day thinks Dubya's
wife hates her because my aunt slept with GW once upon a time.

TRUE - Already explained.

4) One of my ex girlfriends when I was at Colorado wound up dating none
other than Adam Bledsoe, Drew's brother.

FALSE - I drank with Bledsoe and current NFL WR Darrin Chiaverini at a party
once, but as far as I know, no ex of mine ever dated Adam.

5) I cut a deal with an NSA agent once, acquring an NSA Pin, NSA notepads, NSA coloring books, and a few other
things, in exchange for a t-shirt.

TRUE - Already explained.

[korme]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Okay, here's another set to consider...

- - - - -

(1) I am a direct descendent of two U.S. Presidents – John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

Holy crap, my mom is related to them too.

ARE WE RELATED!

[TredWel]

I'll guess #3.

[korme]

fourski

[Anrhydeddu]

Any more guesses?

[Craptacular]

I'll go for #1.

[albionmoonlight]

4. For the irony.

[Anrhydeddu]

Fwiw...

1. My father-in-law in connected to the Kansas City mob.

True. He knew Nick Civella personally and did work (he was in the concrete business) for him and his friends. Not cement shoes but underground tunnels and concrete safes. His best boyhood friend now runs the KC mob. I really expected my father-in-law to be mentioned in Nicholas Pileggi's book, Casino.

2. I am a descendant of at least five Mayflower pilgrims.

True. Direct descendants so far include John Alden, William, his wife and Priscilla Mullens, and Samuel and Thomas Fuller.

3. When we were kids, my brother and I were on a local kids game show.

False. I did know of a neighbor family who was. It was a shock to turn on the TV (yes, we had TVs back in those days) one morning before school to see them on some stupid kids show.

4. I am not directly descended from any Civil War veterans.

True. Yes, this is a great irony. The Civil War generation would include my great-great-grandparents on my mother's side and my great-great-great-grandparents on my father's side (Mom's parents were well into their 40s when she was born). Of the 20 or so individuals identified in that generation, all of them were either too old or too young to have fought in the War. I did have a brother of one of them who died in the Andersonville prison but that's not a direct descendant. Alternatively, since I am descended on both sides from many colonial New England families, I did have quite a few ancestors who were Revolutionary War veterans.

5. I have lost most of my hearing but my sense of smell is extraordinary.

True. I was born with 50% hearing in my left ear and 80% in my right. About 7 years ago, a virus attacked my right ear and it is now completely dead. I have been managing as best as I can with only partial hearing in my left. But I sure can pick up faint smells and odors from quite a ways.

Good guess, TredWel (sorry Maple Leafs).

[TredWel]

Here's my attempt:

1. Former Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly is my second cousin.

2. In the course of my relatively short life, I have paid over $300 in library fines.

3. I have done freelance writing for a now-defunct online gaming magazine.

4. I proposed to my fiancee during a card game.

5. I have over 300 hours of game shows on tape in my media archives.

[scooper]

#5

[Anrhydeddu]

#1

[scooper]

No? Ok, #4.

[TredWel]

1. Former Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly is my second cousin.

False. Despite sharing the same surname, and always being asked by Yankee fans who meet me "Are you related to Don?", we share no known relatives.

2. In the course of my relatively short life, I have paid over $300 in library fines.

True. The worst case happened when I checked out a book on number theory during my Freshman year of college. I had forgotten about the book, and come Junior Year, the math department offered a course on number theory using that book as the textbook. Instead of returning the book and buying it new, I just let the fines accrue for another semester.

3. I have done freelance writing for a now-defunct online gaming magazine.

True. When they were first starting out, they published two or three articles. They later went on a different direction than my area of expertise, and I broke away from them.

4. I proposed to my fiancee during a card game.

True. The game was "Apples To Apples". For those of you who know the game, I had stacked the green apple deck so that "Wonderful" would come up on her first turn to judge. I had met with the other players earlier, and given them appropriate red apple cards, like "Marriage", "Diamonds", and "Weddings".

5. I have over 300 hours of game shows on tape in my media archives.

True. There's a niche of game show afficianados on the internet who tape and trade shows with each other. My 300 hours is actually a fairly small collection when compared to some other people's collection, which have reached over 2000 hours.

Nice job, Anrh.

[scooper]

I've finally thought of 4 interesting stories and one lie to post, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow as it's time to go home. Good luck sleeping with the eager anticipation you all must now feel.

[WSUCougar]

Since Anrhydeddu has gone already, I'll jump in with mine:

1. During a Braves game at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta around 1993, Ted Turner and Jane Fonda (who had a live snow leopard draped over her shoulder) said hi to me, looked at my sample of sand, and then Ted shook my hand and said “Keep up the great work!”

2. I was an acquaintance and occasionally loaned my history class notes to a consensus All-American, NCAA record-holder, and future Pro Bowl player and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

3. I once said to Tom Cruise, “I’m sorry, but the lighthouse is closed.”

4. I once slapped the junior high school French teacher’s ass not once, but twice.

5. I attended junior high school with 49’ers defensive coordinator Jim Mora, and Ann & Nancy Wilson of the band Heart went to my high school (several years before I did).

[Maple Leafs]

#1?

What's a sample of sand?

[Anrhydeddu]

Thanks, Coug, I knew I would guess right on TredWel beforehand so I went ahead.

#1 (sample of sand?)

[JeeberD]

#3 Who could ever turn away the ever-cute Tom Cruise...

[WSUCougar]

Sample of sand...tee hee. You guys are both WRONG.

Edit: Sorry, Jeebs, that one is TRUE as well. (I'll explain these later).

[korme]

5

or else you are very very old. (i'm talking steve/a/bucc OLD)

[WSUCougar]

Originally posted by Shorty3281
5

or else you are very very old. (i'm talking steve/a/bucc OLD)

#5 is TRUE. I'm also very very old (38).

[Maple Leafs]

OK, #4. She would have knocked you out after the first one.

[SplitPersonality1]

#2

[WSUCougar]

Maple Leafs nails it.


1. During a Braves game at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta around 1993, Ted Turner and Jane Fonda (who had a live snow leopard draped over her shoulder) said hi to me, looked at my sample of sand, and then Ted shook my hand and said “Keep up the great work!”

TRUE. The event was Earth Day, I believe in 1993. I was representing Cape Hatteras National Seashore (where I was a ranger/historian) in a National Park Service booth that was demonstrating the rather remarkable differences in sand at the various seashore parks (including Cape Cod, Assateague, Cape Hatteras, Everglades, Padre Island, Port Reyes, and some park in Hawaii). Ted Turner – a big fan of the Department of the Interior and land preservation, came by with wife Jane Fonda, who got the snow leopard from the National Fish & Wildlife booth that was set up across from ours. Pretty cool.

2. I was an acquaintance and occasionally loaned my history class notes to a consensus All-American, NCAA record-holder, and future Pro Bowl player and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
TRUE. This was at Washington State around 1985, and the player in question was RB Reuben Mayes, who set an NCAA record for rushing yards in a game (357 vs. Oregon), and then went on to meteoric fame with the New Orleans Saints before blowing a knee. He was a very nice, quiet guy.

3. I once said to Tom Cruise, “I’m sorry, but the lighthouse is closed.”
TRUE. Again, as a ranger/historian at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, I encountered Tom & Nicole at the Bodie Island Lighthouse. Tom asked me if they could go up in the tower.

4. I once slapped the junior high school French teacher’s ass not once, but twice.
FALSE. Actually, this was my brother. If you knew anything about my brother, this would be all the more unbelievable. The teacher in question was about 4’10” and was quite cute, as I remember. He smacked her ass in the hallway, got a royal lecture out of that, and then did it again the next day.

5. I attended junior high school with 49’ers defensive coordinator Jim Mora, and Ann & Nancy Wilson of the band Heart went to my high school (several years before I did).
TRUE. Yep, Hyak Junior High (no longer there) and Sammamish High School in Bellevue, WA.

[dawgfan]

OK, I've finally identified enough interesting events in my life to put one of these lists together:

1. While working at a dried cherry stand in Seattle's Pike Place Market, I met Tom Brokaw who introduced himself as "Guy Auld's brother-in-law" (Guy Auld being the owner of the cherry orchard).

2. Another time while working at the Pike Place Market P.J. Harvey stopped by the booth and sampled some of our wares. I had a ticket for her show that night but had forgotten to bring it with me to work. I had school that night, and wouldn't have been able to get back home to retrievet the ticket before her show started. I told her my story and she left a ticket for me at will call.

3. I was introduced to Rick Neuheisel a couple of seasons ago. When he was told my company was considering creating a college football video game, he jokingly requested that we edit his likeness in the game to "fill in the fairways" (referring to his thinning hair).

4. I spent a day hanging around Peyton Manning while he was wearing a skin-tight lycra outfit - and he enjoyed it.

5. Back in college, my buddies and I travelled up to Vancouver B.C. for one of the guys' 19th birthday (19 being the drinking age in B.C. at the time). We ended up at a dance club where me and another guy met some girls up from Oregon. When the rest of the gang wanted to go home, me and my buddy told them to go ahead and leave without us even though we had no car of our own since we thought we were getting somewhere with these girls. The girls of course ditched us after we walked them back to their hotel.

[MIJB#19]

Of Dawgfan's stories, #4 is a lie.
Manning did not enjoy it at all...

[scooper]

#5 sounds true so I will guess it's false.