After just posting 50 uncommon things I had done in my life, I thought it might be time for the dumb things I have done. Not sure I can make 50, but here goes.
1. Jumped fences in Bel Aire (Think Beverly Hills on steroids) California to be chased by the dogs. (We were, and after about the the 5th house, when the Rottweiler nearly got us, we decided this activity was not really worth pursuing.)
2. Stole golf cart path marker plastic chain from every hole on an exclusive country club. Then we got a bit of conscience and threw it all back over the fence the next night, except for the little bit my friend kept to make a hippie door.
3. Cruising in the mountains around Lake Arrowhead California at 110 mph whilst riding on the trunk and holding onto the roll bar of a two-seater Datsun 2000 convertible.
4. At age 14 I had a summer job working at a YMCA camp at Big Bear Lake in California. It was a great job, but I quit half way through the summer because I was home sick.
5. At the summer camp, I stepped on a scorpion with my bare foot in the shower. Major mistake.
6. Lit a firecracker and held it in my hand whilst it exploded to see what it felt like.
7 Threw water balloons at passing buses with open windows while a missionary during carneval in Peru in 1972. Hit a lady with a baby. That was what got me thrown into the South American Jail, from which I escaped. (They were going to keep me in jail for 24 hours and then send me to the judge. After the shift changed, I told the guard that the arresting officer told me I could go home after 5 hours, so they let me go.
8. Ate food from street vendors everywhere I went while serving as a missionary in Peru. Only got sick once, when I found out that what I thought was barbecue beef heart was actually dog meat. And I found out it was dog meat the next day, so it was purely psychological that I got sick.
9. Fell asleep while driving the Mitsubishi Lancer and rear-ended a Mercedes. Not wise at all.
10. Played soccer barefoot on the beach whilst a missionary. Broke my big toe when I got a shin instead of the ball.
11. I guess the missionary experience yielded several dumb things. I was way overweight on the luggage coming home, so I threw out my journal I had faithfully kept for 2 years.
12. Not sure how I did this, but whilst carrying a potted plant past the pool out to the car to use as a visual aid for a Sunday School lesson, I suddenly ended up in the pool wearing my suit and tie. My children have regaled everyone they know telling that story.
13. Worked late and got my truck stolen for my troubles. (obviously age and experience do not preclude me from continuing to do dumb things.
14. While we were driving around the mountains in the Datsun at 110 miles per hour we stopped at every snowman made on the side of the road and picked them up and put them right in the middle of the road. There were about 30 of them.
15. After a relative got pulled into the Pacific ocean by a fish he had caught and lost an expensive fishing rig in the process, he got back into the boat dripping and sopping wet, my first question to him was, "Uncle Sy, is your watch waterproof?
16. Tripped one of the train robber actors at Knott's Berry Farm in California. It was a glorious fall, let me tell you. He got up and whacked me on the knee with the butt of his very real gun.
14.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
50 Uncommon Things I have Done in My Life:
50 Uncommon Things I have Done in My Life:
1. Been on a hijacked airplane.
2. Stared down a wild bear about 5 feet away from me.
3. Been in three major deadly earthquakes.
4. Been chased by three tornados at the same time.
5. Been chased by three different lightning bolts within 5 minutes.
6. Dug up and reburied a human body.
7. Met a US President, the world’s richest man, and Walt Disney.
8. Climbed to the top of Huayna Picchu above Machu Picchu in Peru.
9. Climbed to the top of the pyramids of the sun and the moon at Teotihuacan in Mexico.
10. Seen Michelangelo’s David up close and, ah, personal. And a bunch more Michelangelo works.
11. Had dinner across the street from the church where Michelangelo practiced human dissection.
12. Been thrown in a South American jail.
13. And escaped from same.
14. Played at Carnegie hall – figure that one out.
15. Stood in 4 states at the same time.
16. Stood in the eastern and western hemisphere at the same time.
17. Crossed the equator man times.
18. Been skinny-dipping in the Pacific ocean. We will just leave that one alone.
19. Been on the field and in the locker room of the Rose Bowl during a football game.
20. Made nitroglycerin.
21. Been on ground zero at the World Trade Center
22. Walked DOWN the 687 steps in the Washington Monument.
23. Crossed the Rio de la Plata From Argentina to Uruguay.
24. Stalled an RV on a ferry and couldn’t get it started – kept all cars waiting for 20 minutes until they could get a tow truck down the ramp.
25. Worked as a chef in a restaurant on Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood, California.
26. Seen Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose before it went on public display
27. Kept a boat about 50 feet away from where PT 73 from the TV show McHale’s Navy was kept.
28. Fired a machine gun.
29. Flown (piloted) an airplane (I was in it, it was not on the end of a string).
30. Been nearly blown out of the water whilst trying to see the battleship New Jersey from the sea. (They were giving public tours from the dock inside the ship. We figured it was OK.)
31. Been quoted and pictured on the front page of a newspaper.
32. Kissed my wife under the Eiffel Tower.
33. Been a TV cameraman with my work on the air.
34. Held a real Oscar statuette.
35. Been an actor in 19 plays.
36. Have a full scale guillotine in my back yard that I built myself.
37. Sat in the US House of Representatives and Senate Chambers in Washington DC.
38. Seen the Space Shuttle land and take off on the back of its 747 whilst being transported from Edwards Air Force base in California. (Awesome).
39. Seen numerous missiles from Vandenberg Air Force base in California deliberately blown up in flight to prevent the errant missiles from landing on a populated area (Also awesome).
40. Touched a piece of the moon.
41. Saved a friend from drowning (After I convinced him he could dive into 15 feet of water).
42. Directed an archeological dig.
43. Know what the phrase “raising the level of the Thames” means.
44. Seen a ballet performance in the old Paris Opera House (Cinderella)
45. Saw Les Mis from the center seat in the 4th row two weeks before it closed on Broadway
46. Watched the filming of an episode of the original Starskey and Hutch TV series.
47. Been to 49 of the 50 US States (missing Hawaii).
48. Been inside Hoover Dam on Lake Mead.
49. Seen the Rosetta Stone
50. Watched Sandy Koufax pitch a no-hitter baseball game in Dodger Stadium.
1. Been on a hijacked airplane.
2. Stared down a wild bear about 5 feet away from me.
3. Been in three major deadly earthquakes.
4. Been chased by three tornados at the same time.
5. Been chased by three different lightning bolts within 5 minutes.
6. Dug up and reburied a human body.
7. Met a US President, the world’s richest man, and Walt Disney.
8. Climbed to the top of Huayna Picchu above Machu Picchu in Peru.
9. Climbed to the top of the pyramids of the sun and the moon at Teotihuacan in Mexico.
10. Seen Michelangelo’s David up close and, ah, personal. And a bunch more Michelangelo works.
11. Had dinner across the street from the church where Michelangelo practiced human dissection.
12. Been thrown in a South American jail.
13. And escaped from same.
14. Played at Carnegie hall – figure that one out.
15. Stood in 4 states at the same time.
16. Stood in the eastern and western hemisphere at the same time.
17. Crossed the equator man times.
18. Been skinny-dipping in the Pacific ocean. We will just leave that one alone.
19. Been on the field and in the locker room of the Rose Bowl during a football game.
20. Made nitroglycerin.
21. Been on ground zero at the World Trade Center
22. Walked DOWN the 687 steps in the Washington Monument.
23. Crossed the Rio de la Plata From Argentina to Uruguay.
24. Stalled an RV on a ferry and couldn’t get it started – kept all cars waiting for 20 minutes until they could get a tow truck down the ramp.
25. Worked as a chef in a restaurant on Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood, California.
26. Seen Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose before it went on public display
27. Kept a boat about 50 feet away from where PT 73 from the TV show McHale’s Navy was kept.
28. Fired a machine gun.
29. Flown (piloted) an airplane (I was in it, it was not on the end of a string).
30. Been nearly blown out of the water whilst trying to see the battleship New Jersey from the sea. (They were giving public tours from the dock inside the ship. We figured it was OK.)
31. Been quoted and pictured on the front page of a newspaper.
32. Kissed my wife under the Eiffel Tower.
33. Been a TV cameraman with my work on the air.
34. Held a real Oscar statuette.
35. Been an actor in 19 plays.
36. Have a full scale guillotine in my back yard that I built myself.
37. Sat in the US House of Representatives and Senate Chambers in Washington DC.
38. Seen the Space Shuttle land and take off on the back of its 747 whilst being transported from Edwards Air Force base in California. (Awesome).
39. Seen numerous missiles from Vandenberg Air Force base in California deliberately blown up in flight to prevent the errant missiles from landing on a populated area (Also awesome).
40. Touched a piece of the moon.
41. Saved a friend from drowning (After I convinced him he could dive into 15 feet of water).
42. Directed an archeological dig.
43. Know what the phrase “raising the level of the Thames” means.
44. Seen a ballet performance in the old Paris Opera House (Cinderella)
45. Saw Les Mis from the center seat in the 4th row two weeks before it closed on Broadway
46. Watched the filming of an episode of the original Starskey and Hutch TV series.
47. Been to 49 of the 50 US States (missing Hawaii).
48. Been inside Hoover Dam on Lake Mead.
49. Seen the Rosetta Stone
50. Watched Sandy Koufax pitch a no-hitter baseball game in Dodger Stadium.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
My Back Yard
General Douglas MacArthur said he would, but I actually have returned.
It is highly likely that I have the only back yard in Tarrant County, possibly in all of Texas, with an 11-foot tall guillotine in the yard. There is also a buckboard wagon, a lobster trap, and a pump in the yard. In the garage is a cradle, in the house is a bar, now used for my art supplies. All were made for various theatrical productions in the area. It has been great fun to build them, all from scratch, so I thought I would show off a few pictures of things that I have made for theatre. Some of the murals I have painted on theatre walls as part of sets for various other plays will be in the next post.
One not pictured here that I did was an old style ladder with dowel rungs I made for The Miracle Worker . I aged it and made it look like it had been sitting in a barn for years. I had originally made it 8 feet long, but we had to cut off a foot of it to get it through the stage entrances. When the theatre had to vacate the costume and set storage area of the theatre by order of the fire marshall, the ladder was one of the things that got thrown out. I was in an antique store about a month after the ladder got thrown out, and there was my ladder -- advertised as a “Vintage 7 foot ladder’ -- and on sale for $110.00. I laughed long and hard over that one. I guess I did pretty good work at aging it, for it to be worthy of being sold as an antique.
The 11-foot tall 7/8 scale guillotine was made for The Scarlet Pimpernel at Artisan Center theatre in Hurst in 2006. It has a real steel blade, which falls very quickly and makes a wicked nasty sound. But it is theatrical special effects, designed by me and enhanced by Christopher, and is perfectly safe. We had 2 people put their necks in it every performance, and they survived to do the show the next night. Wax images of the actor’s heads were made, so on stage they actually pulled their heads out of the basket. It is missing a piece of the lower yoke, which was made of foam rubber. The actor in the guillotine pushed his neck down on the foam so it looked liked his head actually got chopped off. Very nice special effect.
The Buckboard Wagon started out life as the Wells Fargo Wagon for the Artisan Center Theatre Production of The Music Man in 2008. Unfortunately I have no pictures of that iteration, but it had a canvas canopy over it with Wells Fargo Express painted on the sides. However, the wagon was modified to appear in the Plaza Theatre Company production of Smoke on the Mountain in Cleburne, TX, also in 2008. That version of it is pictured below. The wheels were borrowed from Chris White’s father. The box in the front of the wagon is a tool box, hand-made in about 1910 by Almer Ernst Libby, a great uncle of mine. The wagon does have a steering mechanism and is functional. It is about 9 feet long.
Up next are a bar, made for the 2008 Artisan production of The Foreigner, a cradle and a working, movable pump made for the 2007 Artisan production of The Miracle Worker, and an old-style lobster trap, made for set dressing for the 2008 Stolen Shakespeare guild production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Notice the weathering/aging effects on the pump housing and the lobster trap. It was fresh wood when I started. On the pump housing, you can see a replacement piece of cedar (the first top plank on the left) which is fresh wood. The wood in the pump housing and the lobster trap was aged with india ink diluted in water. My own invention -- and it works great. If you look at the cedar fence in the background, which is truly weathered, you can’t tell the difference. You can also compare the two aged pieces with the raw wood of the cradle, and you see how well my aging method works.
And the last of the set pieces is the trolley for Meet Me in St. Louis at the Artisan Theatre. It was 7 feet tall and in three pieces so that it could be easily stored off stage and so that it could come on stage easily from the corners. It was nicely detailed with decorative trim and advertisements from the early 1900’s. My favorite part of it were the old fashioned candle powered carriage lamps I put on either end, which I manufactured completely from scratch. The three pieces gave a really good impression of a full trolley car when on stage and packed with townspeople. Well into building the trolley I got called upon to be the trolley driver in the show, so it was fun working with the piece I had built on stage
It is highly likely that I have the only back yard in Tarrant County, possibly in all of Texas, with an 11-foot tall guillotine in the yard. There is also a buckboard wagon, a lobster trap, and a pump in the yard. In the garage is a cradle, in the house is a bar, now used for my art supplies. All were made for various theatrical productions in the area. It has been great fun to build them, all from scratch, so I thought I would show off a few pictures of things that I have made for theatre. Some of the murals I have painted on theatre walls as part of sets for various other plays will be in the next post.
One not pictured here that I did was an old style ladder with dowel rungs I made for The Miracle Worker . I aged it and made it look like it had been sitting in a barn for years. I had originally made it 8 feet long, but we had to cut off a foot of it to get it through the stage entrances. When the theatre had to vacate the costume and set storage area of the theatre by order of the fire marshall, the ladder was one of the things that got thrown out. I was in an antique store about a month after the ladder got thrown out, and there was my ladder -- advertised as a “Vintage 7 foot ladder’ -- and on sale for $110.00. I laughed long and hard over that one. I guess I did pretty good work at aging it, for it to be worthy of being sold as an antique.
The 11-foot tall 7/8 scale guillotine was made for The Scarlet Pimpernel at Artisan Center theatre in Hurst in 2006. It has a real steel blade, which falls very quickly and makes a wicked nasty sound. But it is theatrical special effects, designed by me and enhanced by Christopher, and is perfectly safe. We had 2 people put their necks in it every performance, and they survived to do the show the next night. Wax images of the actor’s heads were made, so on stage they actually pulled their heads out of the basket. It is missing a piece of the lower yoke, which was made of foam rubber. The actor in the guillotine pushed his neck down on the foam so it looked liked his head actually got chopped off. Very nice special effect.
The Buckboard Wagon started out life as the Wells Fargo Wagon for the Artisan Center Theatre Production of The Music Man in 2008. Unfortunately I have no pictures of that iteration, but it had a canvas canopy over it with Wells Fargo Express painted on the sides. However, the wagon was modified to appear in the Plaza Theatre Company production of Smoke on the Mountain in Cleburne, TX, also in 2008. That version of it is pictured below. The wheels were borrowed from Chris White’s father. The box in the front of the wagon is a tool box, hand-made in about 1910 by Almer Ernst Libby, a great uncle of mine. The wagon does have a steering mechanism and is functional. It is about 9 feet long.
Up next are a bar, made for the 2008 Artisan production of The Foreigner, a cradle and a working, movable pump made for the 2007 Artisan production of The Miracle Worker, and an old-style lobster trap, made for set dressing for the 2008 Stolen Shakespeare guild production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Notice the weathering/aging effects on the pump housing and the lobster trap. It was fresh wood when I started. On the pump housing, you can see a replacement piece of cedar (the first top plank on the left) which is fresh wood. The wood in the pump housing and the lobster trap was aged with india ink diluted in water. My own invention -- and it works great. If you look at the cedar fence in the background, which is truly weathered, you can’t tell the difference. You can also compare the two aged pieces with the raw wood of the cradle, and you see how well my aging method works.
And the last of the set pieces is the trolley for Meet Me in St. Louis at the Artisan Theatre. It was 7 feet tall and in three pieces so that it could be easily stored off stage and so that it could come on stage easily from the corners. It was nicely detailed with decorative trim and advertisements from the early 1900’s. My favorite part of it were the old fashioned candle powered carriage lamps I put on either end, which I manufactured completely from scratch. The three pieces gave a really good impression of a full trolley car when on stage and packed with townspeople. Well into building the trolley I got called upon to be the trolley driver in the show, so it was fun working with the piece I had built on stage
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