Ok, so I'm a sucker for memes, but this one captured my imagination. It has a poppoed up on a couple of blogs that I read, the idea being that that you post 8 random facts about yourself. So here goes:
8 Random Facts about Anti_Maven:
1) I was named after my two Godfathers, Richard and Richard.
2) I know how to order a beer in Welsh.
3) I like coleslaw with pizza.
4) My first car was a van that I bought from my Dad for 1p.
5) Albert, the stags head that guards my the stairwell in my house was bought at auction by my Grandpa Frederick and carried home by my Grandmother on a double decker bus.
6) Most of my bikes until now have been stolen (from me that is... )
7) I have no fillings in my teeth.
8) I get up at 06:20 on weekdays.
Thanks for tuning in...
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Meh, why not?
1) I have eaten a goat's gall bladder
2) I'm directly decended from the man who started the American thanksgiving tradition.
3) My car engine light is on, and has been for several months.
4) I can say melkizedek priesthood in Mandarin Chinese but not belt buckle.
5) I read magazines all day, and get paid to do it.
6) One of my toes on my right foot was formed crooked, and consequently my pinky grew into crookedness.
7) My rib cage is also crooked, my left side extending outward more so then my right.
8) I used to have a birthmark, it is gone.
edit: How do you order a beer in welsh?
[ May 17, 2007, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: BlackBlade ]
Posted by anti_maven (Member # 9789) on :
Ooh, ooh, a chance to show off!
Peint o cwrw os gwelch y'n dda.
lit. a pint of beer please.
(Apologies to Welshophones everywhere)
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
1) I am double jointed in the thumbs and shoulders
2) I still have one of my baby teeth because no permanent tooth grew in under it.
3) I like cheese.
4) I think zombies are cool. (and not just to the touch)
5) My car engine light is on as well. Last smog check the mechanic flipped it off, but it came right back on.
6) I have been in the world trade center and have ridden the Madrid metro.
7) I have jumped out of a perfectly good airplane.
8) I can move my eyes more or less independently of each other. Unfortunately I've never seen what it looks like because it makes it impossible to focus.
(edit: typo and spelling)
[ May 17, 2007, 12:35 PM: Message edited by: The Pixiest ]
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Pixiest: My thumbs too! As far as I know chameleons are the only animals that can move their eyes independantly of each other. Thats pretty cool you can do it, so do you see two overlapping perspectives that are out of focus?
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
1. I speak Portuguese.
2. I've lived in 8 different states and 2 foreign countries.
3. I've lived with cats over 90 percent of my life.
4. I'm currently self-employed, (which looks disturbingly like un-employed at the moment).
5. I've been in a Hollywood movie, uncredited, and in drag.
6. I never developed wisdom teeth.
7. I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters.
8. I was thrown out of piano lessons for "wasting my parents' money" when I was 7.
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
Pix, that's what cameras are for. 1) I speak English, French and Arabic. 2) I write and play music, and play guitar and keyboard in a band. 3) While some people air-guitar or air-drum, I can do both at once. 4) I type slowly. 5) I can swear in Italian. 6) I've been to the Middle East (Lebanon and Syria). 7) I play the oud. 8) I'm cool. 9) I rock. 10) I own the Internet. It's mine. Give it back.
EDIT: Wow, my thumbs too.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
BB: Hey, maybe we're related! Everyone on my Dad's side of the family (The mormon side) can do it. My neices too.
As for my eyes, everything is totally out of focus. I started learning how to do it by looking crosseyed, then slowly looking left. This requires my left eye move without moving the right since it's already looking left. Then I tried stopping in the middle. Soon I could move my left eye in circles without moving the right. I'm sure it looks fantastically weird. I need a video camera.
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
I only see out of one eye at a time.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Pixiest: Could be latent Mormon power that you retain by virtue of your genes *bends thumb back to the arm* Do you bend them backwards hand/wrist up or hand/wrist down? I imagine up.
FToaS: How do you mean one at a time?
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
bb: Up, leaving a bulge on the thumb side of my palm. The (former) mormon girl in the office can do it too, so maybe it IS a mormon thing!
Posted by Gecko (Member # 8160) on :
1. I can speak English, Hebrew, Russian, German and Japanese
2. I've been to Antartica
3. I've climbed Mount Kilimanjaro
4. I cave jump
5. I like to hang glide
6. Big Trouble in Little China is my favorite movie
7. Darkness on the Edge of Town/Born to Run are my favorite music albums
8. I can cook
Posted by Luet13 (Member # 9274) on :
1. I can bend both of my thumbs back and have them rest comfortably underneath my index finger's knuckle on the top of my hand. This really freaks people out as I can demonstrate what it would be like to have no thumbs.
2. I get really excited every spring because I love the new growth on trees.
3. I love to cook and experiment with food.
4. I always order the hottest spice level at Indian restaurants. Yum!
5. I have a schedule for rereading certain books. (LotR in the fall, Enderverse in the spring.)
6. I can sightread piano music better than anyone I've ever met.
7. I collect old sheet music. (My oldest is from 1883.)
8. I enjoy walking in the rain.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by The Pixiest: bb: Up, leaving a bulge on the thumb side of my palm. The (former) mormon girl in the office can do it too, so maybe it IS a mormon thing!
Thats how I bend em too. I can click my thumb into a 90 degree angle with my hand without using the other hand for assistance. I then bend the thumb forward at the joint. I can then approach people and say I dislocated my thumb and ask them to pull it. It snaps back into place and they get creeped out.
For some reason my right thumb is losing the ability to do it though. But its more because the skin just wont stretch quite right, not because the joint can't handle it.
And while we are on the topic of thumbs, I can make clicking sounds with my thumb joints at will and as fast as some people can snap.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Luet13: You order a Mango Lasee at a 5 spice? Pretty crazy Posted by Luet13 (Member # 9274) on :
Haha, no. That would be pretty crazy.
Posted by His Savageness (Member # 7428) on :
1. I have lived in Guatemala and Chile, and I have visited Mexico, Canada, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, France, England, Scotland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.
2. I still have TWO of my baby teeth due to MIA permanents.
3. I was a finalist in the 1999 Ayn Rand essay contest on The Fountainhead.
4. I can't watch zombie movies, or even see previews for said movies, because they will give me terrifying zombie nightmares. Seriously, thems dreams is messed up.
5. Despite number 4 Shaun of the Dead is one of my favorite movies.
6. I am proficient (I don't consider myself an expert because, wow, there are some crazy good people out there) in yo-yos and Origami.
7. I have what may be the most Mormon name of all time: Spencer W. Romney.
8. I am a Hatrack lurker.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Luet13: Haha, no. That would be pretty crazy.
What's your favorite dish at an Indian restaurant? I'm a big fan of Chicken Tikka Massala, with garlic nan. But I am game for just abotu anything.
His Savageness: How long were you in HK , how old were you, and where did you go?
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
BB: I can pop the non-double jointed joint (the one farthest up my thumb) more or less at will, but only on my left hand.
My favorite indian dish is chicken makhani. mmmm
Posted by His Savageness (Member # 7428) on :
BlackBlade: I was 17. I was there with my parents and sister for a few days. To be honest, and this is pretty sad when I think about it, I can't remember where we went. Now this is kind of freaking me out. I can remember the hotel room, I can remember the flight into and out of HK, but I can't remember anything about the city itself. Surely Hong Kong would be more memorable that that. Next time I talk to my parents I'll ask them where we went.
Posted by JennaDean (Member # 8816) on :
1. I don't know 8 things about myself that are interesting enough to post.
KarlEd, which movie?
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by The Pixiest: BB: I can pop the non-double jointed joint (the one farthest up my thumb) more or less at will, but only on my left hand.
My favorite indian dish is chicken makhani. mmmm
Wow crazy, I've never met anyone else who could do it! I was not always able to do it, I just started moving my thumbs a certain way and they started clicking over time. I learned to do the same thing with my arms, but I can't do it repeatedly, I just extend them and tense the muscles and CLICKITY CLICK POP comes out. Usually my wrists pop along with my arms.
Edit: Karl: I haven't seen you on the forums in awhile, have you been busy?
Posted by Luet13 (Member # 9274) on :
BB: I don't know if I have a favorite. Off the top of my head I love anything with lentils and Dosais (crepes filled with potatoes and such) are really good. I'm more of a southern Indian cuisine lover. While not a vegetarian, I don't really care for a lot of meat. It helps that Little India in Chicago is about two blocks from my house. Good stuff. There's nothing like being able to get a meat samosa for 60˘ or a veggie samosa for 70˘ anytime I want it.
Drat. Now I'm hungry. Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Man samosas knock my feet out from under me, and I mean that in a good way. If I am ever born again as a vegetarian I hope I am from India or at least live reasonably close to a solid Indian restaurant. The things they make without any meat are nothing short of amazing.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Pix, I can do that with my eyes, too. Freaks people out. In nursing school, my professors would ask me to do that so that the students could see what nystagmus looks like.
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
1. I can grab the skin at my elbow, stretch it, and continue to hold it while I bend my elbow (I have stretchy skin)
2. I have two older sisters who each had a girl young, so I grew up with four girls in the house. Now, I have four daughters.
3. Growing up, I always had chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate ice cream for my birthday.
4. My right shoulder rests lower than my left, so in pictures it looks like I am leaning. See
5. I love everything Disney.
6. I don't read a lot, but more than anyone else in my family (except maybe my 10 year old).
7. I listen to sports talk radio all day.
8. I wanted to be an Astronaut when I was in the sixth grade (the same year Challenger blew up).
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by brojack17: My right shoulder rests lower than my left, so in pictures it looks like I am leaning. See
In that picture, you are standing in front of a crooked street. Just like in the rhyme: There was a crooked man, who walked a crooked mile. He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile...
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
I didn't think of that. Kinda fits though. Posted by Dog Walker (Member # 8301) on :
1. I have ate fish head (eyes and all) with Christian West Africans.
2. I cut my face when i was a newborn with my fingernail, and have a tiny/almost unseen mark there to this day.
3. I have had played football under the lights with 10,000 people watching.
4. I have a part time job after school that allows me to meet people from all over the world.... And i dont work at an airport. (you try to figure it out).
5. I once believed W was a vowel.....(did anyone elses first grade teacher tell them this???).
6. I take Gym Class way to seriously.
7. I have entered preaching contests and have won.
8. I can't beat my dad in DDR (Dance Dance Revolution).
Posted by happysmiley (Member # 9703) on :
1 I'm 13 2 I play the violin in the advanced orchestra at my school 3 I'm 50% Welsh an I wish I knew how to speak it better. 4 I have an anxiety disorder 5 I love Italian food 6 I have friends that have moved to Korea, Australia, and Hawai'i 7 When i was 3 I mainly talked in sign language and didn't say a word to anyone i didn't know for years. (It's not my fault, they taught us sign language in Pre-k) 8 I've runout of things to say...
Posted by Mathematician (Member # 9586) on :
1. I'm a math grad student, but my wife handles the finances (I hate numbers!) 2. I can't read music, but I can play the first 2/3 of the Beethoveen's Sonata Pathatique first movement, and the entire first movement to Moonlight Sonata. In fact, this is ALL I can play. 3. While my wife has been on several school dance teams, I can't dance a lick. However, I can beat my wife at DDR ;) 4. I own every episode of Futurama ever made on DVD, but I have never seen an episode of the Simpsons. 5. My car was stolen earlier this year. 6. For the last 6 months or so, I have ONLY listened to Thrice or classical music. 7. I have had friends over for pizza while we watched the ending to final fantasy 10. 8. I have several video game systems, a couple hundred dvds and 2 TVs, but I have no television service - no antenna, cable, dish, etc - I think 98% of television is crap, ESPECIALLY the major networks.
Posted by Feer (Member # 9846) on :
1. I am a descendant of Lady Godiva. 2. I have hit hundreds of golf balls off of my roof over a busy street in to a lake. (Never hit a car) 3. I cut my hair to make me look like I was an old bald man for my high school production of Mid-Summer Nights Dream and got hit on by a 65 year old lady. 4. I'm alergic to the Sully from Monsters Inc. at Disney Land. 5. I can build you a brick wall. 6. I have slid down a Huge dirt hill on the hood of a Vw bug. 7. My firends and I found an abandoned mine in a mountain and got lost for 7 hours before we found an exit. 8. I've fallen off of a matress that was chained to a car going 50 down a dirt road. I then spent the next 30 minutes spitting the dirt out of my mouth.
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
1.My great great great great uncle was the John Brown,
2. I have held/petted a/an: 1100 pound tiger, bear cub, baby chimp, 9 foot Boa constrictor, rattlesnake(I was five and didn't know better), lion cub.
3. I once drank a gallon of milk in one hour and 1 minute, 30 seconds. then I un-drank a gallon of milk in 45 seconds.
4. I ran a marathon
5. I once ate a hot dog whole. (dorito was stuck in my throat and felt reaallly bad, so I panicked and just gulped it down.)
6. I once lit my eyebrows on fire. (accident)
7. I have been in a burning house, and just sat and watched.
8. I once caught a fish that was as big as I was. (I was three)
Posted by The Reader (Member # 3636) on :
1. My right ear is lower than my left ear, so my glasses are usually crooked and uncomfortable.
2. I can crack every joint in my body except for the immobile ones.
3. I was never afraid of heights until 9/11, when I saw people jumping from the WTC on TV. That scared me so much that I am reluctant to climb a ladder. I have never even been to or seen New York with my own eyes.
4. I have never left the United States, except:
5. When I illegally entered Canada on Lake Erie.
6. I am almost 23 and have never made love.
7. My youngest sibling is young enough to be my son. He's 2.
8. When I turned 10, I thought the best part of being 10 was that I was the same age as Bart Simpson.
I wish I had famous ancestors too.
Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :
1. I'm left-handed.
2. I don't know the words to any of the hymns at church (LDS), but I know the lyrics to most of the songs off of the Classic Queen album.
3. I use to be fluent in Swahili. Now I can only say a few simple things; mostly involving food. It is still my favorite language, though.
4. I am afraid of nuns.
5. I take my dreams as seriously as my waking life.
6. I am a direct descendant of Everadus Bogardus: first permanent minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in New Amsterdam; public decrier of the sanctioned massacre of local indians, and eventual shipwreck victim. I am also a descendant of his widow, Aneke Jans: historically crazy lady.
7. I'm naturally blonde.
8. I have never smoked a cigarette, but I killed a man once. Well, not really, but that would be a nice juxtaposition.
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
1. I graduated in the bottom third of my high school class.
2. I have a masters degree and did all my doctoral coursework for a PhD before ditching academia for activism.
3. I have a great gift for annoying people.
4. Part of my paid work is to be annoying, but I'm supposed to be selective about it.
5. I'm in a small "club" of "first generationers" that includes writer/poet/screenwriter Sherman Alexie.
6. Diane claims I snore. I refuse to believe it until *I* hear me snore.
7. Did I mention I'm good at annoying people?
8. Know firsthand how pretty the botanic gardens in Denver is in moonlight when you hop the fence at two in the morning and wander around.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
1. My elbows hyperextend, so I can bend my arm backwards a little.
2. I have a simian crease on my right hand (everyone with a simian crease raise your hand).
3. I once drove off a 300 foot cliff.
4. One day, I attempted to drive a U-Haul through a car port that was about 6 inches too short.
5. After getting the U-Haul patched up with duck tape, I went to tank up and drove away from the gas station (after paying) without taking the nozzle out of the truck.
6. I have served in the Israel Defense Forces (for all of 11 days).
7. My fastest time solving the Rubik's Cube is 1 minute 16 seconds.
8. I apparently suffer from sleep apnea. Who knew?
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
quote:8. I apparently suffer from sleep apnea. Who knew?
Your partner? (Are you getting a CPAP machine?)
1. I have hair that goes down almost to my waist.
2. I once caught a bit of it on fire blowing out a birthday cake.
3. I'm taking the fall semester off from college.
4. Last summer, I went on a school trip to London, Dublin, and Edinburgh for six weeks.
5. While there, we saw Titus Andronicus at the Globe Theater. I wadded up my program and threw it at one of the actors during the play.
6. I like making pottery. My brothers and I are sufficiently good that we actually use the stuff we make around the house. You might even say we're pot-heads.
7. I dislike driving.
8. I'm hoping to start a biology Ph.D after I graduate.
Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :
quote:3. I once drove off a 300 foot cliff.
Do tell!
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: Pixiest: Could be latent Mormon power that you retain by virtue of your genes *bends thumb back to the arm* Do you bend them backwards hand/wrist up or hand/wrist down? I imagine up.
FToaS: How do you mean one at a time?
I mean one at a time. Depending on what I'm looking at, I'll see out of one eye, or the other. The nerves in the back of my eyes are slightly messed up. I have no depth perception (I see everything as a flat, 2-D image) and very little peripheral vision. To top it off, one of my eyes is near-sighted, the other is far-sighted, I don't wear corrective lenses (they won't help), and I very nearly failed the vision test to get a driver's license. To tell you the truth, I think I did fail it, but they still let me through. To top it off, when I look through one I see a blue-ish tinge on everything, with the other, everything's red.
Thumbs: I can pop my thumbs in and out at will. I can also twist them in crazy ways that freak out friend and foe alike. To top it off, I can crack my fingers infinitely.
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
quote:Originally posted by porcelain girl:
quote:3. I once drove off a 300 foot cliff.
Do tell!
Yes, do.
Posted by Shawshank (Member # 8453) on :
1. My best friend and I one time spent probably 15 hours over the course of a few days to knock a lightning-struck tree that was half in the lake to get the rest in the lake. We succeeded and I felt like I had won the battle.
2. I was the unofficial co-capatain of my high school's Walking Team, before I was medically disqualified.
3. I voted for my senior class song to be "Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan. We won.
4. My uncle Greg was the Youth Director for the Southeast US in my denomination for 8 years.
5. My other uncle Greg is in prison for possession of Methamphetamine (again).
6. The first good friend I had in life I met when I joined a new school, and I disliked everyone- I disliked him the most.
7. My best friend now I severely disliked when I met him at the other friends house.
8. I one time stabbed my best friend in my church with my keys at my youth pastor's house. I gave him a ride home 15 minutes later.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
quote:Originally posted by JennaDean: KarlEd, which movie?
Head of State with Chris Rock. Unfortunately that movie is terrible, so I don't really recommend anyone actually sitting through it, even to see me.
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: Edit: Karl: I haven't seen you on the forums in awhile, have you been busy?
Yeah, I've been swamped trying to get my new business set up. Thanks for asking, though. Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by porcelain girl:
quote:3. I once drove off a 300 foot cliff.
Do tell!
Linky. The whole thread is about my tendency to get into really, really bad accidents. This one wasn't, but it's more of a description.
Posted by Qaz (Member # 10298) on :
1. I once played drums, consisting of pots pans and chairs, in a talent-show performance of "Addicted to Spuds."
2. My left thumbnail has a weak part that *always* splits.
3. I have no TV hookup.
4. I am in love for the first time in my life!
5. I own kitty litter and cat food but have no cat. (Yet.)
6. I grow sage, dry it, and use or give American Indian style "sage sticks."
7. Either I look 10 years younger than my age, or my high-school friends look 10 years older. I think it's them.
8. I was afraid to learn to swim as a kid but now I'm an expert swimmer.
Posted by Qaz (Member # 10298) on :
quote: 6. I like making pottery. My brothers and I are sufficiently good that we actually use the stuff we make around the house. You might even say we're pot-heads. [/QB]
That would be a great name for a business. Maybe you should sell your wares.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
1. I've eaten a boiled pig's heart, blood and all.
2. The highest I've ever worked was in the 23rd floor of the LDS Church office building.
3. I haven't thrown up since I was 8 (now I'm 33).
4. I've never wanted to go to South America because I am deathly afraid of very large spiders landing on my head.
5. I can juggle 4 balls, but not 5.
6. I am not a detail-oriented person; I am a big-picture person.
7. I eat kiwis skin and all.
8. I eat peanuts shell and all, as long as they're salted.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
The things some people will do to get more fiber in their diet!
Posted by rollainm (Member # 8318) on :
1. I'm legally blind in my right eye.
2. I was born with a brain tumor.
3. I only have half a brain (left side).
4. I hate coleslaw.
5. I can clearly say all fifty states in alphabetical order in less than 25 seconds.
6. Spiders, clowns, and porcelain dolls scare the hell out of me.
7. My fear of clowns has nothing to do with It.
8. My first crush that I can remember was a girl in preschool named Alexa.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
1. I can dislocate any joint in my body, usually without it hurting, and then pop it back in again. And yes, my ribs dislocate when I have a bad cough.
2. I'm extremely bendy. I can put both feet behind my head at the same time, or bend my thumbs either forwards or backwards to touch my wrists, or bend my fingers back from my palms so the other side forms less than a 90 degree angle, or, well, all sorts of odd things.
3. I've filled out dozens, perhaps over a hundred, of police reports all in the name of business. I've even had a police line-up at my place of work.
4. I've had hot pink, Ronald McDonald red, purple, orange with black tips, platinum blonde, and fuschia hair, and not at the same time. And more natural colors, too.
5. I once had a suedehead.
6. I'm right handed, but left leg, ear, and eye dominant.
7. My fastest time solving the Rubik's cube was 43 seconds. I think. It might have been 45.
8. I can eat hotter (spicier) food than anyone I know. And that includes dh, all his relatives, and all the other Sri Lankans & Indians I know.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
quote:Originally posted by rollainm: 3. I only have half a brain (left side).
That's interesting. How does this affect you, if you don't mind me asking?
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
quote:Originally posted by Gecko:
2. I've been to Antartica
How did you go Gecko? My husband went on an AAD (Australian Antarctic Division) fellowship two years ago and had an amazing time.
My facts...
1. I've represented my country twice and my university once at word titles.
2. Two of those three times, my team won.
3. They were nerdly contests. (World debating, and Jessup Mooting).
4. I have been to Australia (well, duh!), Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong (before and after the takeover), Macau (while it was still Portuguese), South Africa, Mauritius, Italy, France, Germany, England, Wales, the USA, Mexico, India, Pakistan and New Zealand.
5. I still have a lot of countries I want to go to.
6. I have a shameful soft spot for southern cooking (especially shameful given I'm not southern, or even American - but you should see my smothered pork chops!).
7. I love to cook.
8. I love to knit.
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
1. I've played over 10,000 games of chess in the last 10 years.
2. I know I'm color-blind, but I don't know how. (everyone always asks which colors)
3. Grapefruits are my favorite fruit. Fresca is my favorite drink.
4. After spending 4 years studying piano and getting my BS in music, I'm going to technical school to learn piano tuning.
5. I am in piano-teacher-descendency to Beethoven. Me(Andy Reach)--David Phillips--György Sándor--Béla Bartók--István Thoman--Franz Liszt--Carl Czerny--Ludwig van Beethoven. It goes further, but the connections are harder to confirm. Beethoven was taught by Haydn for sure and may have had lessons with Mozart, who was taught by CPE Bach, who was taught by JS Bach.
6. I found my first girlfriend 2 months ago, and I'm 22.
7. As a child, my dad had over a million dollars and we were living in a mansion with servants. By the time I was 14, we were bankrupt and living in a duplex where everyone had to share rooms. So--I've been at the very top and the bottom of the economic ladder.
8. I have over 40 gigs of music on my computer, half of which is classical.
[ May 18, 2007, 12:46 PM: Message edited by: Launchywiggin ]
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
" quote:Originally posted by rollainm: 3. I only have half a brain (left side).
That's interesting. How does this affect you, if you don't mind me asking?"
I want to hear the whole story.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Launchywiggin: 1. I've played over 10,000 games of chess in the last 10 years.
2. I know I'm color-blind, but I don't know how(everyone always asks which colors)
3. Grapefruits are my favorite fruit. Fresca is my favorite drink.
4. After spending 4 years studying piano and getting my BS in music, I'm going to technical school to learn piano tuning.
5. I am in piano-teacher-descendency to Beethoven. Me(Andy Reach)--David Phillips--György Sándor--Béla Bartók--István Thoman--Franz Liszt--Carl Czerny--Ludwig van Beethoven. It goes further, but the connections are harder to confirm. Beethoven was taught by Haydn for sure and may have had lessons with Mozart, who was taught by CPE Bach, who was taught by JS Bach.
6. I found my first girlfriend 2 months ago, and I'm 22.
7. As a child, my dad had over a million dollars and we were living in a mansion with servants. By the time I was 14, we were bankrupt and living in a duplex where everyone had to share rooms. So--I've been at the very top and the bottom of the economic ladder.
8. I have over 40 gigs of music on my computer, half of which is classical.
I'm pretty sure its certain that Beethoven took at least a handful of lessons from Mozart, but its doubtful he was a student for long.
Do you have a chess ranking?
What period of classical music is your favorite? How do you feel about some of the Japanese composers who write modern sounding classical music?
Thats really cool that you go to Beethoven though!
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
BB, I'm not USCF rated, but my yahoo rating hangs around 1650.
It's hard to pin down which period is my favorite--I love the really "great" music in every period. But if I had to pick, It'd be the Romantic period--such great harmony and expressivity. My favorite composers from the romantics are Grieg, R. Schumann, and Tchaikovsky. I also love the late romantics and early 20th c composers--Ravel, Debussy, Mahler, Stravinski. If I were to add one more fun fact, it would be that I sing in a barbershop choir and specialize in playing piano rags.
It's funny you mention the Japanese composers and the period we're in right now--I consider it kind of a neo-romanticism without the rules of tonality.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:If I were to add one more fun fact, it would be that I sing in a barbershop choir and specialize in playing piano rags.
I really wish I could get a feel for how piano rags work, the only rag I know is The Entertainer, but I still don't know quite how the notes go together to make a generic rag, I'd REALLY like to know though.
Neoromanticism is a good way to describe it! Though I would say quite a good deal of it does rigidly follow the rules of tonality.
Ill have to dig for it, but there is a song called "One Minute Evacuation." As the name suggests its not a long song, but its so clever and enjoyable to listen to. If I had heard it without knowing the composer I would have guessed Tchaikovsky. Ill try to find it for you.
Just hit play movie, I hope you have a flash player on your computer. Its a cute anime style video somebody did to the tune of the song. The video itself is quite clever, but the point is obviously the song.
Posted by Hank (Member # 8916) on :
1) I was born the day after Christmas.
2) I HATE getting my face wet in the rain. (Everything else can get wet, but not my face).
3) I have been told that if I was a Disney character, I would be the grandmother from Mulan.
4) I want to name a son Eliot.
5)If I could play any part in the world, I would want to be both Cordelia and the Fool in King Lear. (In the same production).
6) When I am old, I plan on collecting snow globes.
7) I once bought 40 boxes of crayons, just because they were on sale. (And I don't have any children, they were just for me).
8) In high school, I was famous for my chocolate chip cookies.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Launchywiggin: 7. As a child, my dad had over a million dollars and we were living in a mansion with servants. By the time I was 14, we were bankrupt and living in a duplex where everyone had to share rooms. So--I've been at the very top and the bottom of the economic ladder.
No offensive, but I hope you never have to so much as visit the bottom of the economic ladder. Sharing rooms in a duplex isn't it.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
1) I am a decendent of the personal dentist to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.
2) My record time for completing a Rubix Cube is 57 seconds.
3) While working for a freight forwarder, I have been to three different countries where I've stayed less than six hours, jsut because they needed someone to "hand carry" critical IBM parts. On a related note, I flew from Miami to Bogota, Colombia and back in the same day without ever passing through customs of either country.
4) The first ever tournament game of chess I ever played, when the US Open was in Miami like twenty years ago or so, was against Florencio Campomanes, the then president of the World Chess Federation. I was unrated; he was well over 2200. The game didn't last long.
5) Because of an incident with an Xacto knife, I have little or no feeling in my left thumb. Even without using it while typing, I can still type 100+ words a minute.
6) My father was dead set on naming me "David", so much so that I would have had that name even if I was born a girl.
7) Because of an inner ear condition, I have never been able to ride a bicycle.
8) At one point, I knew the entire script to Poltergeist by heart.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa:
quote:Originally posted by Launchywiggin: 7. As a child, my dad had over a million dollars and we were living in a mansion with servants. By the time I was 14, we were bankrupt and living in a duplex where everyone had to share rooms. So--I've been at the very top and the bottom of the economic ladder.
No offensive, but I hope you never have to so much as visit the bottom of the economic ladder. Sharing rooms in a duplex isn't it.
Perhaps not, but the sheer amount of contrast is greater then most will experience I am sure.
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
quote:No offensive, but I hope you never have to so much as visit the bottom of the economic ladder. Sharing rooms in a duplex isn't it.
Oh, I definitely agree that sharing rooms in a duplex isn't the very bottom rung of the economic ladder--we were bankrupt, though. Without friends and help, we would have been homeless for sure. And don't get me wrong, I am very grateful to have had that duplex with running water and electricity :-) I stayed with my friends at a mission in Camden, NJ and stayed with my dad outside Chihuahua, Mexico--I've definitely "visited" the bottom rung of the economic ladder and seen real poverty. I can't tell you how ashamed I am when I look at pictures of me as a child, remembering how whiny and ungrateful I was. Anyway--hope that clears things up, Lisa.
I loved that little piece, BB. The movie was cute, too--but I like the piece better than the movie.
As for ragtime--it's actually pretty easy. You have to learn the left hand "stride" style to really get the beat--almost all rags have that accompaniment. Once you got that, the harmony is pretty consistent with a lot of I-VI7-II7-V7 type progressions (in case you know music theory). The melody lines usually have bent thirds and sevenths and are usually in 4-bar phrases--and are always in syncopation to the steady 4/4 accompaniment. That's your basic framework for ragtime--go try it! :-)
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Launchywiggin: 5. I am in piano-teacher-descendency to Beethoven. Me(Andy Reach)--David Phillips--György Sándor--Béla Bartók--István Thoman--Franz Liszt--Carl Czerny--Ludwig van Beethoven.
2. My legs are incredibly non-flexible. I can't even come close to touching my toes.
3. I can do a bunch of cool things with my tongue, like touch my uvula with the tip of my tongue. (Nobody believes me because they can't see it, and most of them have the impression that it would make me gag or barf.)
4. I am pretty much the WORST at DDR.
5. I can press buttons faster than my Turbo button on my game controller.
6. I am legally blind without my contacts.
7. I have OCD.
8. I replaced my gear shift in my car with a computer joystick.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
You all are very interesting. It's fun to read what people think up about themselves.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
...and yet I feel so boring.
Oh, wait, were you talking to me? *sneaks out of thread*
Posted by rollainm (Member # 8318) on :
What's up with all you genius Rubix Cubers out there? My best time is like two and a half minutes. And I thought I was pretty good.
---
quote:Originally posted by quidscribis:
quote:Originally posted by rollainm: 3. I only have half a brain (left side).
That's interesting. How does this affect you, if you don't mind me asking?
Like I said, I was born with a brain tumor. It was successfully removed when I was about two years old, and I still have a shunt that drains excess fluid from my brain to my stomach. On rare occasions (even less now than when I was younger) I can get nose bleeds, severe stomach aches, headaches, nausea, or some combination of the four that doctors say is attributed to this fluid drainage. I'd make a pretty ugly bald guy, and the scar on my stomach is obvious to say the least, although it is significantly smaller now than it was twenty-two years ago. Other than that, there aren't really any outward indications that I'm missing half my brain.
As for mental effects, it's hard to say what was directly influenced by the surgery. Although I was expected to recovery rather quickly, I did apparently exceed my doctors' expectations. I was walking and talking like other kids my age in no time, and when I was four I was tested with a respectable 140 something IQ (not really sure what happened there). I'm sure many of you are already aware that a young child's brain can recover remarkably well from shockingly severe damage that would likely leave the average adult in a vegetative state, if not dead. I suppose I'm living proof of this.
I do have plenty of quirks, but again, I don’t know how many of these (or to what extent for that matter) are a result of remapped brain functions, genes, or environmental influence. I’ve only taken an intro psychology class, so my knowledge in this area is rather limited. What I have learned, however, seems to indicate that many of these oddities were at least enhanced by the surgery. Here are a few. Feel free to comment and make of them what you will.
-I’m fairly clumsy, and I have poor hand-eye coordination. However, I will often react with surprising ease in situations where I don’t have time to think about what I’m doing.
-Though I have decent peripheral vision, it is somewhat difficult for me to register minor movement not directly in my concentrated field of vision. Learning to drive has actually been a pretty difficult process for me because of this.
-I have a horrible short term memory.
-My first time attempting something new is usually subpar to others, but I learn and improve upon repetitive skills quite a bit faster than most people I know.
-If I think about a person, I have a hard time picturing their facial features. I tend to identify people by their voice and body language rather than specific physical details.
There’s more, but I’m getting pretty sleepy.
Anyway, just so you know, this isn't a touchy subject for me. I actually rather enjoy the reactions I get. Please feel free to comment or ask any other questions you might have.
[ May 19, 2007, 02:22 AM: Message edited by: rollainm ]
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
rollain, glad to know it's not a touchy subject. Especially since I was the first to start asking questions...
I know what you mean about not knowing what's attributed to brain surgery. It's not like you have an exact twin as a control. Still, it sounds like you're (reasonably) normal (whatever that is), so that's always good.
Yeah, I figured the half a brain bit had to be related to the brain tumour bit, but it's still interesting to hear your story. Thanks for sharing. Posted by Qaz (Member # 10298) on :
Modern medicine is wonderful.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
quote:1) The first vote I ever cast was for a Republican, New Jersey's distinguished senior senator and favorite son, Clifford B. Case.
2) I had a crew cut all through junior high, high school, and most of college.
3) My favorite guilty pleasure movie is SUMMER LOVERS. I want to go to the island of Santorini and have a menage a trois with Darryl Hannah and Valerie Quinessen.
4) When I was in my twenties people used to tell me I looked like Kris Kristofferson. Now they tell me I look like Jerry Garcia. And he's dead. I don't like this trend.
5) I like writing when it's going well, but I LOVE having written.
6) My favorite song is Kris Kristofferson's "The Pilgrim, Chapter 33." (See him busted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeans, wearing yesterday's misfortunes like a smile). I am also very fond of "Me and Bobby McGee" and "To Beat the Devil" and "Silver" and a lot of Kris's other songs. Maybe that's why I was pleased when people said I looked like him.
7) I have never been defeated at RISK when I have the red army. Never. And I started playing RISK in grade school. Foemen tremble when I rattle my dice. Except when they make me play green or black or some other color. Then I am merely mortal.
8) Windows sucks. I use it, under protest, for the internet, but all my fiction is written on a DOS machine, using WordStar 4.0. I'm a word guy. When I want to copy something, I like to type "copy." When I want to delete it, I like to type "delete." I don't like puzzling out these stupid little cartoons they call icons, or dragging them around with a mouse. The day WordStar 4.0 stops working is the day I retire.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
quote:8) Windows sucks. I use it, under protest, for the internet, but all my fiction is written on a DOS machine, using WordStar 4.0. I'm a word guy. When I want to copy something, I like to type "copy." When I want to delete it, I like to type "delete." I don't like puzzling out these stupid little cartoons they call icons, or dragging them around with a mouse. The day WordStar 4.0 stops working is the day I retire.
Damn, that's hardcore! I have a new idol...
Posted by Sean Monahan (Member # 9334) on :
1) I have a strange phobia about putting air in my tires. I go to great lengths to get other people to do it for me.
2) My greatest fear is spending my life waiting for a day that will never come... tied with spiders.
3) I didn't try guacamole for the first time until I was 36. And I love it.
4) I too once jumped out of a perfectly good airplane, and I did not enjoy it. I will not do it again.
5) I am SUCH a procrastinator, that I once kept a single NetFlix movie for 10 months. And that would not shock anyone who knows me.
6) One semester in college, I actually earned a GPA of 0.0. I was on the Dean's List for the next consecutive 17 semesters (my God, how many years is that??).
7) I have lived in 3 different state capitals, all with area codes starting with "61". I can never remember which one I'm in now.
8) The last time I asked a girl out, I was SO nervous, I threw up. We did not go out.
Posted by Snail (Member # 9958) on :
1) I've attended physics lectures at CERN and voted in the European Parliament main conference room (or whatever the official English name is).
2) I once interviewed the Finnish Minister of Justice.
3) I learned to read when I was 4, but only learned to swim and skate when I was 9.
4) I wrote my first play that was performed when I was 14. (Only performed at our school, but still...) I also have a finished manuscript for a book sitting in my drawer, took me six years to write it.
5) I don't really enjoy the subject I'm studying at the university.
6) My favourite past-time activity is cooking. Especially cooking things from Jamie Oliver books/shows.
7) I love my summer job. I've been working in this place for four summers now, and coming back here is like coming home. I wouldn't want to work here forever, though.
8) When I was in high school I drew all my notebooks full of cartoon snails.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
9) My high score with the hacky sack is 111. 10) Every notebook and every piece of note paper I’ve ever used gets filled with doodles. The higher density of doodles, the less interested I was in what was being said in the class or meeting I was in.
Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :
1. I can't park if I must turn left into a spot. 2. For the first time since I was three, I'm not currently enrolled in a school. 5. I love Monty Python. 4. I have never been kissed.. and have no desire to be either - did you know, anywhere from hundreds to millions of bacterial colonies are swapped in a kiss, depending upon the intensity? 3. I make [very poor] short movies in my free time. 6. I can't tell time with an analog clock. 7. I invited my two [current] favorite actors to my graduation party. Neither RSVPed. 8. The nails on my index finger peel off.
Posted by Snail (Member # 9958) on :
9) Chatted with the Finnish Minister of Basic Services (the title doesn't sound as daft in Finnish, honest) today. She was way nicer than the previous minister I'd talked to.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
quote:4. I have never been kissed.. and have no desire to be either - did you know, anywhere from hundreds to millions of bacterial colonies are swapped in a kiss, depending upon the intensity?
MMMMmmmmm, bacteria!
Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :
*Some* bacteria can be mighty tasty.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
1. I like green shoes and stripes. 2. I have my grade ten in singing, and my grade nine in piano, and I've sung competatively and done fairly well, I play the flute and teach music successfully to children, but my actual musical-brain abilities are wanting. It's hard to explain. 3. I've been writing the same novel(s) on and off for the last ten years and plan to continue them until they're done however long it takes. 4. I've never ordered pizza over the phone and I don't particularly like ice cream. However, I've been drinking coffee, and liking it, since approximately the age of seven or eight. 5. I could ride a bicycle without training wheels when I was three. Similarly, I have been able to skate well since the first time I ever did tried. I therefore assume I have good balance. 6. My computer runs on Windows 2000. 7. I am an introvert. (But I love people and find them fascinating) 8. If I were good at math and science I would love to study/work in the field of astrophysics and the like. Since I am not, I merely read about it in my spare time .
Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :
That may be true, but not mouth bacteria.. It's not so much thinking that it would hurt me, but rather the idea of it makes me shudder.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
How would you know if you've never kissed anyone? I think kissing is delicious, although I don't know if that's due to the bacteria or not.
Added: That is, how do you know that mouth bacteria isn't tasty, not how do you know the idea makes you shudder, as that is self-evident.
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)![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
*bends thumb back to the arm* Do you bend them backwards hand/wrist up or hand/wrist down? I imagine up.![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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