It’s 8 About Me

I've been tagged by Sam for a meme. I'll be able to do most of it bust as far as passing it on, I'm afraid I'm a dead end. I'll explain at the appropriate time.

Here are the rules.

1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged must make a post about their eight things and post these rules.
   
4. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don't forget to leave them each a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.
   

Okay, here goes.

1. The only car I've ever owned was a 1964 MGB that I bought for $450, and probably overpaid for. It was almost literally held together with spit and bailing twine – well really it was solid core electrical wire and paint and if you think I'm kidding you'd be wrong. The car had a battery box at the back for two six volt batteries and the battery box was so rusted away that the only thing holding the batteries in the car was some wire that connected the two sides of the battery box. Damn I loved that car and it killed me to sell it.

2. I failed my driver's test three times, the last time before I even got out of the parking lot at SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance, which also handles driver's licenses in this province). That was about 25 years ago and while I'll probably have another go at it soon I really haven't missed it.

3. When I was 8 years old I was hit by a speeding car while I was writing my bicycle. The only thing that was broken was my bike. And that was in the era before bike helmets. In fact the only bone I've ever broken was one of my toes when I stubbed my toe on the frame of my brother's futon nine years ago. I set it myself because I know that there's nothing a doctor can do for a broken toe.

4. A university final exam (one) cost me my only chance to take a trip to Disneyland, and another final exam (one), several years later cost me my only chance to take a trip to Europe. And yes, I was pissed off, particularly when the one exam (the one that kept me from going to Disneyland with my mother and little brother) lasted only one hour instead of the scheduled three.

5. My musical tastes tend toward '40s Big Band Jazz – Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, and the Dorsey Brothers. I would love to know if there is any recording of Ken Curtis with the Tommy Dorsey band during his brief time as one of many replacements for Frank Sinatra (Curtis, who played Festus Hagen on Gunsmoke, had a truly beautiful singing voice which heard particularly well in the John Wayne movie Rio Grande). I also own a set of five CDs of Canadian Big Bands, which seem to be pretty rare (they aren't even available on EBay).

6. I went to high school with a Playboy Playmate of the Year (Shannon Tweed, who is now featured on A&E's Gene Simmons: Family Jewels) – she was a year behind me and I don't recall ever meeting her – and the Vice President of R&D at Pixar (Darwyn Peachey) who at the time was a close friend. Neither of which gives me much more than a very good Kevin Bacon number – I graduated with Darwyn; Darwyn is credited on Toy Story which starred Tom Hanks; Tom Hanks worked with Kevin Bacon in Apollo 13.

7. I wanted to be a naval officer until it became abundantly clear that my eye sight would mean that I'd fail the physical even for a reserve commission.

8. Five Pin Bowling is the only sport that I've ever really been any damned good at – if you don't count Poker as a sport.

I won't be passing this on. I know that virtually no one on my blog list would respond, so why bother. I mean Sam got Ivan, and basically I know that Tim Gueguen and Tom Sutpen won't respond and Ronniecat probably wouldn't so that basically leaves Linda, who I know loves these things, but if I can only come up with one responder why bother.