64 posts tagged “qotd”

What won't you miss about 2007? 
Submitted by uncagedbird.

Music-wise, what was the first 45, single or download you bought? 
Submitted by Paddy Melt Wagon.

First LP:  Blondie, Parallel Lines

First 45:  Prince, Little Red Corvette

First Tape:  The Cars, Heartbeat City

I am way more 80s than you.  

(Caveat:  When I was in first grade, my teacher's daughter gave me the gatefold double LP of the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, and I wore the grooves out of that album.  Mom & Dad:  I'm sorry.)

Have you ever won anything at a carnival, arcade or midway game?

When I was like, 10 or 11, on a visit with my dad, he took me and a couple of my friends to Wildwood New Jersey.  He showed us the tricks to EVERY SINGLE game on the boardwalk. You know all those boardwalk or carnival games?  There's a trick to each one, like to land the frog on the lily pad, you have to place the frog a certain way and hit it at a certain time to land it on a lily pad.  All of the games have a "trick."Now remember, this was like 1983 or so, it was before the internet, so it was like MAGIC!  My dad was suddenly the coolest dude in the UNIVERSE!  We won so much stuff we couldn't even carry it all, it was ridiculous.  My parents both got really financially devastated by their divorce, so I know that it was probably really financially tough on him to splurge on me and my friends at Wildwood all day.  My friends and I came home laden with crap, sunburned, having eaten nothing but pretzels and hot dogs and cotton candy all day.  Nobody could stop talking about what an awesome dad my dad was... It was the best summer day ever.

It turns out that my dad had spent a couple of weekends prior to my visit going to Wildwood and figuring out how to win all the boardwalk games (there's a trick to each of them), and that's how he'd figured it out.  He'd watch the attendants' demonstration and figure out the "trick" and then move on to the next one, until he learned how to win each of them.  He's a PhD microbiologist, so he just went at it with the scientific method.  Leave it to my dad to use science to win carney games.

My dad is cool for a million reasons, but this still stands out in my mind as one of the coolest things he's ever done, ever.  Sure, he's working on a cure for autism, but WHATEVER, I WON A THREE-FOOT STUFFED ELEPHANT WEARING PINK OVERALLS!!!

Have you ever ridden in a hot air balloon or a helicopter?  Where did you go?

Yes.  I rode in a Helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef, and in a Balloon over Uluru.

The Helicopter was incredibly noisy, but I liked it better than the puddle-jumper flight, it was much less terrifying.  (There was bad turbulence the day we flew in, and the puddle-jumper prop-plane got thrown all over the place.)  The view through the glass at my feet was amazing, and I quickly got over my fear of heights just because I was busy snapping photographs.

The Hot-Air Balloon was incredibly noisy, and the steam dripping condensing and falling through the propane flame to land as hot water droplets was unpleasant, and my fear of heights was immense and I thought I was going to vomit, and then we finally landed, and we had to roll up the goddamn balloon and put it away.   FUCK HOT AIR BALLOONS.  Also, Uluru is amazing, but don't spend more than a day there if you ever go to Australia.  It is beautiful and massive and impressive, but it is a GIANT ROCK, and there is not much to do there, because even walking around is sort of frowned upon, because it is a sacred aboriginal place.  So, yeah.  Spend that time in Tasmania, instead.

What movie did you expect would be terrible, but was actually really good?

This is embarrassing, but NIGHT WATCH.  I mean, it wasn't REALLY good, but it was watchable, we talked about it afterwards, I was somewhat engaged.  It was pretty high budget for being a Russian "horror" film.  We were impressed with the special effects.  It is kind of about vampires?  I'm not 100% I really understood it, but whatevs, that hasn't stopped me before.

Now I am even more embarrassed to admit that Day Watch is up next in our Netflix Queue.  I hope it has the totally awesome souped-up fix-it van.

Drew Carey recently replaced Bob Barker as the host of "The Price Is Right".  What game show would you like to host?

My friend Carter once rode his bike from Richmond Virginia to Los Angeles California to be a contestant on the Price is Right.   He got all the way out there, and he showed up at the studios, and was alerted that they only film the show a few months out of the year, and filming didn't start for another six months.

So he rode his bike back home.

When he got back, he was really dark tan and had a gigantic beard.  I ran into him at Ellwood Thompsons and I said, "Wow, Carter, you look amazing!  You look like a pirate!"  and he said, "Thanks!  That's the best compliment I've ever received!"

I've had an unfulfilled crush on Carter for as long as I've known him.  He is basically one of the coolest dudes I know.

Do you have a green thumb?

It is still mostly flesh-colored, but I am fairly good with growing things, when I have the time and energy to do the necessary weeding and watering.   When the shit hits the fan, my gardens suffer.  All of them were weed-infested and needed re-evaluating this year.  The herb garden just fell to shit, and the vegetable garden got neglected after the tomatoes all got Fusarium wilt and died.  Oh well.  This year was not my gardening year.  Next year, I am ON THE SCENE.   Watch the fuck out!  Salsa Garden 2008 FTW!!!

What one year of your life would you like to re-live, if you were given the chance? 
Submitted by Ross. 

This one.  I would hire a different contractor, or just get subcontractors to do all of our work.  I would do it all differently.

What is the silliest thing you've ever spent more than $30 bucks on?
Submitted by Terri.

USB Rocket Launcher for my brother for giftmas.

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could never fail? 
Submitted by BeckyPink. 

Win Megamillions.