As a sister thread to the life's desires thread, what are some of the coolest things you've done or places you've been?
I've:
Walked the Via Dolorosa and all 14 stations of the cross in Jeruselum.
Entered Christ's tomb
Sat atop Mount Olive and looked down upon the Golden Gate
Seen the River Jordon and the Sea of Gallilee
Sat and talked with Joe Namath in the Jets locker room in 1972 when I was 10 and he was at the peak of his popularity
Toured the battlefields of Gettysburg, The Alamo and Pearl Harbor
And this is a strange one:
Talked with James Caan on the phone one Sunday morning when he was in Red Square in Moscow and I was sitting on my toilet in Grosse Pointe, MI.
__________________ Yankee by Birth, Rebel by Choice
Was scared to death of heights, so I went sky diving. 16 jumps later....no fear of heights. Was also the first time ever in a plane (do you know they take the doors off the cesna when you sky dive?)
And the coolest, most wonderous thing of all.....myh son's birth!!
__________________ "I'm growing older but not up. My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck. So let the winds of change blow over my head. I'd rather die while I'm living then live while I'm dead."
So, no one wants to know what it feels like to be in Christ's tomb but everyone wants to know what it's like to talk to Jimmy Caan while taking a dump.
Nice, fellas. Nice.
__________________ Yankee by Birth, Rebel by Choice
So, no one wants to know what it feels like to be in Christ's tomb but everyone wants to know what it's like to talk to Jimmy Caan while taking a dump.
Nice, fellas. Nice.
I am definately interested in the Jeruselum experience, too. In fact, that is more interesting. However, the James Caan story is so random and obscure it peaks our interest.
How about this... Please give us details about all of your cool stories.
So, no one wants to know what it feels like to be in Christ's tomb but everyone wants to know what it's like to talk to Jimmy Caan while taking a dump.
Nice, fellas. Nice.
Yup, I've been in a hole in the ground before.. ...but never spoken to a celeb....
__________________
Take care of your lawn
and
the grass will be greener on your side of the fence
- Biking around the perimiter of Michigan's Upper Penninsula. This trip included being baptized in Lake Superior and riding my bike across the Mackinaw Bridge at sunrise.
- Honeymooning in Hawaii. Aside from the normal cool honeymoon highlights , we also toured Pearl Harbor. Highlights also included an amazing hike on the Na Pali Coast of Kaua'i, and a helicopter tour that gave us views like this:
- I ran in two 1/2 Marathons in 2005. The 2nd of which was in my hometown of Detroit. We actually ran across the Ambassador Bridge into Windsor, ON and came back to Detroit through the tunnel that runs underneath the Detroit River. This was an amazing experience. It was topped off by sprinting across the finish line at the 50 yard line in Ford Field (home of the Detroit Lions).
-Another amazing experience was driving cross country with my brothers from Las Vegas to Indianapolis. To most, this wouldn't be anything special, but we don't get to spend a lot of time together anymore, so 2.5 days trapped in a car with eachother led to some major bonding.
Yup, I've been in a hole in the ground before.. ...but never spoken to a celeb....
OK, here's a fun one for you. It's 1988 and I'm on a spring softball team that plays in a town outside Detroit. Let's call it Southfield. I have a 7:30 game but I go straight to the park after work. The 6:15 game has started so I go to the little bleachers to sit, put on my spikes and eat a burger. Not surprisingly there is only one other person in the bleachers watching the game. Surprisingly it's Dennis Rodman.
This is not the current-day, freak-show Dennis Rodman, but the "Bad Boy" X Factor Dennis Rodman of the Pistons. They had just lost in 7 games to the Lakers in the Finals. So I sit down near Rodman and thank him for such a great season. He says you're welcome and we start chating about various things. It ends up his manager's brother plays on one of the teams on the field and he's waiting to meet his manager.
Over the next 30 minutes we talk about all sorts of stuff, just the two of us in this busy park in Southfield. The funniest part was the two of us doing the wave. I wish I had a picture of that. Eventually his manager showed up and the two of them took off. My teammates showed up shortly thereafter. I had a hard time convincing them that I'd just spent the last 30 minutes talking with Dennis Rodman, but the part about doing the wave convinced them. They figured even I couldn't make that up.
Someday, if you're good, I'll tell you about how Tim Allen got me laid in Bea's Comedy Kitchen in Detroit. That's a good story with a very happy ending.
__________________ Yankee by Birth, Rebel by Choice
10. Competed in a 36 hour adventure race.
9. Visited Jim Morrison's Grave in Paris.
8. Saw Stevie Ray Vaughn warm up for B.B. King on a river boat in New Orleans.
7. Rode with the First Lady of Arkansas (Janet Huckabee) in her state trooper car around Mt. Magazine and then had lunch with her.
6. Beat JP to the top of the Met Bank Building (40 stories, where his gym is) in an adventure race. Yeah, on his own turf. His team passed mine later in the race.
5. Fell asleep in a gutter outside the Tokyo Bar in Rota, Spain. (Of course half the U.S. Navy has done that.)
4. Competed in a 100 mile mountain bike race in Oklahoma in June.
3. Climbed a mountain in Narvick, Norway (above the Arctic Circle) in February with no experience and little equipment.
2. Four-Wheel drove a creek bed for 3 miles in Canyonlands National Park. Water was coming over the hood of my truck.
1. Hiked the Inca Trail with ODBsGirl to Macchu Picchu.
__________________
***
Today's mighty oak was once just some nut who held his ground!
Oh I almost forgot this one....My brother and I got lost in Downtown Mazatlan on New Year's eve when I was 18...I was too drunk to be scared...I sobered up quick when some dude offered to sell us some weed and we said no, then around the next corner is the Federale...that's a oh crap I just avoided a Mexican jail.
__________________
Take care of your lawn
and
the grass will be greener on your side of the fence
Some of these so far are awesome! Howie's are hard to beat, though. I can't tell if he's lived a bizzarely awesome life or if all the fried food and sweet tea is improving his tall-tale telling.
Here are some of mine:
- Vienna, Austria; Arrested and subsequently released for the theft of a pair of sandals from a shoe-store. Apparently there was another red-haired American kid in the area who couldn't keep his hands off things. Scary then... funny now.
- Krakow, Poland; I ask a Polish woman if she speaks English. She does not. I indicate I want food. She makes her arms into the imitation of an elephant's trunk and points. All sorts of Polish jokes run through my head. What the hell? I indicate food again. She laughs, draws elephant ears in the air. I smile now and indicate food one more time. She laughs out loud and points again. Finally, I say thank you and go in the direction of her pointing. Two blocks later, I see a large, pink elephant above a restaurant. American food. It's a 50's style place with pictures of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. Hehe. This was in the 90's. I got an interesting look at how the rest of the world sees us.
- Auschwitz, Germany; not really "cool", but being there and seeing the remnants of the camp there was a hell of a reality check.
- Paris, France; played a pick-up game of basketball about 50 yards from the Eiffel Tower. My friends went up... I wanted to play some ball.
- Prague, Czech Republic; Sitting on the Charles River Bridge with a damn good coffee and watching the sun rise... in my bag were a collection of Kafka's short-stories and a writing pad full of my own sad stories of my girl who had just told me she cheated on me... the day before I got on the plane.
- Berlin, Germany; The hostess of the house brings out 'dessert': a large bowl of strawberries immersed in vodka. 'Nuff said.
- Manhattan, NY; A genuine red-dressed hooker walks up to me and my drunken buddies, "You boys want some sex?" Classic! Soon after I proceeded to leave my mark by vomitting on Broadway. That's on Broadway.
- Atlanta, GA; Shook hands with Hank Aaron and Lou Brock at an old-timers game.
- New Orleans, LA; First time eating authentic gumbo... delighted to find a whole crab at the bottom of the bowl! That with the foot-long cigar made for a memorable dinner... even if the cigar was absolutely wretched (couldn't put it out in front of everybody though, hehe!)
- Been lucky enough to see Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Slayer, Metallica and Megadeth live.
-Rappelled from a helicopter hovering at 150 feet.
-Stood in a minefield in the DMZ between North and South Korea.
-Ran/ hiked up and down Pikes Peak, twice.
-Watched the borth of my daughter. Duh.
-Chatted with Ted Nugent backstage in Pueblo, CO.
-Snuck down and stood on the sideline at a Broncos/Raiders game at old Mile High Stadium.
-Was almost arrested backstage at a Roling Stones concert in Birmingham, AL.
-Was surrounded by humpback whales while out on a small boat in the middle of Monterey Bay.
-Lived in my car for three weeks when I moved to Michigan. Oh, wait. That wasn't cool. It was in February. It was freezing.
These are in no particular order and I could probably think of a few more. I was considering a thread like this a while back after reading about how Shark was trapped at his parent's house.
Some of these so far are awesome! Howie's are hard to beat, though. I can't tell if he's lived a bizzarely awesome life or if all the fried food and sweet tea is improving his tall-tale telling.
When my stories involve bass fishing, Danica Patrick or being backstage at a Brooks & Dunn concert you'll know the sweet tea and fried food have done their job.
BTW, I like your stories, but no mosh pit stories?
__________________ Yankee by Birth, Rebel by Choice
When my stories involve bass fishing, Danica Patrick or being backstage at a Brooks & Dunn concert you'll know the sweet tea and fried food have done their job.
BTW, I like your stories, but no mosh pit stories?
Hehe... they don't make much of a story... fuzzy details, grunting, can't really see what's going on or who's there... you kind of have to be there!
I spent about a day and a half with Warren Spahn. I was working with the Kenosha Twins in 1991 and we had Warren in for a promotional night. I picked him up at the airport, then he insisted I have lunch with him. I hung out with him while he signed autographs at the game. We talked baseball then and now. He told me stories about Stan Musial, Ted Williams and many others. The next day we went to breakfast before I took him back to the airport and let me wear his 1957 World Series ring and his Hall of Fame ring. Being a baseball nut, this was very close to a religious experience for me.
We also had Morganna in on antoher night and I was able to get a hug, not a kiss, from her.
__________________
Motivation determines what you do...Attitude determines how well you do it
-- Hiked to the top of the continental divide in Costa Rica and could see both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at the same time.
-- Survived the class IV white water rapids of the Pascua Section of the Reventazon River.
-- Soaked in the hot springs that run down from Mt. Arenal, an active volcano, and watched the lava spewing from the top.
-- The home births of both of my children. I didn’t just watch either, I was an active participant!
Smuggled two goupies out of hotel past wife of international pop star's wife, when she arrived unexpectedly...
Chatted to Martin Sheen (one of the nicest guys I've ever met!) in the lobby till 3am about wayward kids and alcoholism.
Was adopted by a bunch of hookers, who called me "Butterfly" and bought me all my drinks for 3 days in Bangkok. Also fed an elephant on the way home one night.
Had Lesley Garret sing for her supper one night - real lady.
Surfed in a thunder storm off Cocoa Beach.
Stretched with a bunch of Shaolin monks before breakfast..the kids are amazing!
Joined a Tai Chi class at dawn in a park in Sydney on the way back from the pub.
Threw Mick Hucknell out of a hotel - what an asshole!!!
Hugged an 8ft octopus at 30m - very affectionate really, and hand fed sardines to a conga eel in an underwater cave (scary!).
Damn it, I'm sure I've done more than that....
__________________
Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. -- Sidney J. Harris
Was adopted by a bunch of hookers, who called me "Butterfly" and bought me all my drinks for 3 days in Bangkok. Also fed an elephant on the way home one night.
This ties the Dennis Rodman "wave" for best, in my book.
So, no one wants to know what it feels like to be in Christ's tomb but everyone wants to know what it's like to talk to Jimmy Caan while taking a dump.
Nice, fellas. Nice.
Here are some of my attempts at capturing the Holy Sepulchre experience:
Hmmmm...let's see. My personal fun/cool things that I've done? "Personal" as in, they were things that were cool at least to me.
Met John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, Frank Miller, Richard Tyler (WETA-dude) and Lawrence Makoare (Lurtz in FotR) - on different occasions. Coulda met Bruce Campbell - guess will have to wait until next year.
Rode a bike for 200-miles around Mt. St. Helens. This was in 1985 - five years after it had erupted. Talk about spectacular.
Ran in the Hood to Coast (largest relay in the world). And after less than two months of training, was able to accomplish 7-8 minute miles! That was surprising.
Was the reference model for Wonder Woman. Worked with cover artist extraordinare Adam Hughes (am on like, 6-covers I believe).
Won a strongwoman contest (the under 140-lb class) and the following year, won my class in a bodybuilding contest. That was personal competitive satisfaction right there.
Saw samurai swords that have been around since the 13th Century in Japan. Also samurai armor that have been around since the 15 and 16th Century and 1000-year old temple built with NO nails. Amazing stuff. I can't possibly name all the incredible things we saw while in Japan (twice), there's so much there - history, culture, art and the most gracious people - it'd take a LOT to even TOUCH what we saw. Helps we experienced all this with relatives of Ko - ah, the memories.
Two things I can say about our Japan trips: both times, standing in the busiest crosswalk in the world, Shibuya. There's like at least seven different crosswalks there, actually. Crazy! And during the last visit, having our first blowfish (fugu) dinner. We're still alive and winter is the "in-season" for blowfish, btw. And it's the best damn fish I've ever tasted. Yummy.
Meeting Marjo and Hannu Selin and also having a dinner with them and Robbie Robinson. BTW, none of Marjo's photos have ever done her justice; she's so damn gorgeous in person, words fail me.
I accidentally left one out in my 1st attempt... I was kidnapped once.
This was definately NOT cool at the time, but it kind of follows along the cool/crazy stories theme that we've got going here. Please bear with me- it's a long one...
Back in the spring of 2000, my girlfriend (now wife) and I went to meet some friends at a movie. We were running late, so I gave her my wallet and dropped her off to get the tickets while I parked. Anyway, as I got out of my sweet 1993 Dodge Caravan, I turned around and 2 guys were in my face. One of them had a gun. I offered them my van, my stereo, basically any material possession that I had at the time. When they realized that I didn't have any money (and since we were right around the corner from the police station) they made me get in the backseat of the van. I tried to reason with them, but the gun made a pretty convincing argument.
Once in the van, they skidded out of the parking lot while pointing the gun directly at me. I was pretty much shocked, scared, nervous, prayerful, and pissed all at the same time. I tried to cry in an attempt for sympathy/mercy, but I couldn't force the tears out and just made myself look and sound like an idiot.
They drove me around the city (Kankakee, IL) for about 20 minutes, as I tried to reason with them in every way imaginable. I offered my CD's, my CD player, my van. I even offered my basketball shoes (Jordan's)- which I usually keep in the car- because I remember kids being held up for Jordan's when I was a kid. They were interested, however, when I went to grab them, I remembered that I had actually left my shoes in my apartment. DOH! This didn't make them happy.
As they drove around, they just kept yelling at me to not look at them and "Don't remember our faces". The driver/leader threatened that if I told anyone about this his brother would find me and shoot me- which was weird because he had a gun himself. These guys weren't very bright. They were basically running from the law and going 45 mph through neighborhoods and blowing through stop signs.
Anyway, we finally zig-zagged our way to a house about 5 miles from the theatre. The first thing that came to my mind was being tied to a chair in a dingy basement... not a pleasant thought! Anyway, after threatening me some more, they made me give them my t-shirt- which they used to wipe all of their finger prints away. After wiping the van down, they grabbed my CD's and made me get out of the van. Then, they told me that I was free to go.
At that point, I was a little shell shocked and equally relieved. This is where it gets silly... As I was about to get into the car, I asked for my t-shirt back, which the guy handed me. Then... I told them that I didn't know where I was and asked how to get back to the theatre. Ridiculously, the guy actually gave me directions! I hurried out of there, while making sure that I got a glimpse of the street sign when I pulled away. Unfortunately, when I took a cop back there, I couldn't pinpoint which house it was and they never were able to figure out who the guys were.
The moral of the story- "Don't go to the Paramount Theatre in Kankakee, IL."
I hope you all enjoy this glimpse into the craziest night of my life.
What Are Some of the Coolest Things You've Done?
"I'm growing older but not up. My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck. So let the winds of change blow over my head. I'd rather die while I'm living then live while I'm dead."
...but never spoken to a celeb....
, we also toured Pearl Harbor. Highlights also included an amazing hike on the Na Pali Coast of Kaua'i, and a helicopter tour that gave us views like this:
Linear Mode
