Nope... I came here from the Detroit area back in 1970. My father was transfered here in '69, and my mother finally came here in 1972 after selling the house back in Michigan. I had joined the Navy by then, and when I got out in late 1973 I came here.

Renaissance Man? I kind of like that... guess that beats Mr. October.

Hmmm... wonder what the group would think of me if I were to post the shot of a dance group I was in three years ago? I actually studied ballet (the owner's mother (who was my age!) called me Mr. Limber in that I was able to lift my leg over the high barre at the tender age of 57!

I took dance lessons since I was doing figure skating (!) at the time. Had to give it up though about six months later when the rink closed (and I had to undergo surgery to fix a completely torn rotator cuff... that should teach Mr Not-So-Limber not to act like a 15 year old!)

In reality, I thoroughly enjoyed both the skating (how cool is that when it's 100+ degrees outside?) and the dance. We actually did a recital at the time (the photos were taken at a dress rehearsal at the Leo Rich theatre downtown). Hopefully I'll be able to find the photo, and scan it in...

Renaissance Man indeed!!!

I *love* haggis.

When I have more time, I'll transfer a video so I can upload it. During a choir tour in Scotland and England in 1997, a friend(RIP) had a running gag about haggis for the entire trip. We joked about coming back to the states and opening a chain of fast-food haggis restaurants, to be know as the International House Of Haggis, aka IHOCH. There was a videographer along on the trip, so we got together and taped a "commercial" for the chain ("These sheep had the guts - so should yew!).

We spent the first wo days of the tour in Tobermory, near the Isle of Mull. Our second night's dinner featured haggis in a Drambuie and cream sauce as one of the starters, so I used as that as an opportunity to co.-opt as many of the choir members as I could to try it. After all, how could anything taste bad drenched in Drambuie and cream?

Bill, how do you rank your time on das Boot compared to your other accomplishments?

Oh, and, how many times have you seen *it*?

I have to admit that it was an interesting time in my life... I'm not so sure that the crew was one of the best, but you deal with it. I got some interesting and funny stories out of it.

And I have never seen das Boot... maybe I should rent it sometime. I do own several novels based on the American Submarine service during the second World War, as well as the two volume history written by Clay Blair.

I still am enamored by the idea of Haggis-on-a-stick... served with a hearty dollop of Drambuie and cream sauce. Of course, drench darn near anything in enough Drambuie and it will taste decent.

Eventually.

Think it'll sell?

When the Guardfish was at MINSY, there was a theater in Vallejo showing Das Boot every night at midnight for $1. This went on for months, and submariners were there every night to see it.

If you rent it, be sure and get the extended remixed version, and watch it with subtitles rather than dubbed. For some reason, it works better.

It is, beyond a doubt the best submarine movie ever, by a long shot.

I'd love to hear what you have to say about it.

Haggis-on-a-stick? A home run, definitely.

Good ol' MINSY... I went to NucSchool there. Best 6 months of my entire Navy career.
Something was bothering me about Das Boot, so I went to my hoard of DVD's and, yup, you guessed it... apparently I already have a copy (and yes, it's the extended version). I think my wife gave me a copy for Christmas a couple of years ago, and I stuck it there and forgot about having it. So I don't have to rent it...

And it's actually Deep-Fried-Haggis-On-A-Stick... wanna be the first franchisee?

Yes, I'm all over it.

"Crazy Jim's House of Rescue Pianos and Deep-Fried-Haggis-On-A-Stick Parlor."

Kewl!

quote:

In reality, I thoroughly enjoyed both the skating (how cool is that when it's 100+ degrees outside?) and the dance. We actually did a recital at the time (the photos were taken at a dress rehearsal at the Leo Rich theatre downtown). Hopefully I'll be able to find the photo, and scan it in...

I'm holding you to that!

Kathy, I'm hoping I can find the picture... but if not, never fear, the photographer's studio has them still available (see link)
Linky
Of course, looking at my partners, you can understand why I enjoyed being there...

OMG, what a sport! So what was the number? You look like you should have been the sand man or something.

Kathy, that was the prop that the photographer brought. We did an easy dance (we were all beginners!) to Shostakovich's Lyric Waltz from one of his Ballet Suites. Neat stuff... and it was my introduction to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. I still have that watercolor blouse around the house somewhere... as well as the face mask (gold with black maribu feathers which wasn't as gauche as it sounds.) The ladies all had matching ballet dresses, with differently colored shirts underneath the dress which was a bit low in the cut (see the picture). In fact, it was kind of fun...

Bill obviously had the role of the Bee. How else would he have attracted all of those hunnies?

Maybe I should now change my name to 'BoyBee"...

Do you paint (or draw) in any medium other than watercolors? Do you have any more paintings (or drawings) you'd like to share with us?

I've had a certain thing for the submarine service since I was a boy watching "The Silent Service" each week on television. WWII interests me the most because of the intensity of combat with what had become relatively efficient weapons by that time. I suspect I might find the nuclear era more interesting if more of the actual operations were declassified.

Big Al