What? I’m IT? I didn’t even know I was in the game?!?! I was tagged by Pete, so here goes:

Rules for this 8 interesting things post:

• Each player must post these rules to begin the meme.
• Each player starts with eight random facts or habits about themselves.
• People who get tagged must blog about their eight things and post these rules.
• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I absolutely love playing team sports. I played church slow-pitch softball last night (played shortstop) and while we lost I still had a great time. There’s nothing like playing as a part of a team!
2. I’m a “movie-holic”. I’ve got friends that call me “a walking IMDB“. While I haven’t seen every movie, I have watched a lot of obscure stuff. I especially enjoy indy movies that Hollywood hasn’t put it’s money-grubbing hands on.
3. My wife and I play a kind of twisted game. You see, I’m completely and passionately in love with her, but I still look at women as they walk by. When she catches me gawking she asks, “So what…. 7? 8?” And I’ll usually answer her honestly. (Of course, she’s the only 10 I know!)
4. When driving on the interstate highway for any length of time, I silently play the “Alphabet Game”. It’s a game we played when the kids were small and we drove to a vacation spot. You have to get words from signs and other vehicles that begin with each letter of the alphabet. (Hey, it helps pass the time!)
5. In high school, I was a geek much like I am now. When the film projector broke down it was always me that the teachers asked to fix it.
6. I’ve rebuilt an engine. It was in a Ford Econoline van that we bought in an auction. It needed a ring job and a head gasket desperately, so I did it myself. While I did have to get more new parts, it ended up running like a top. All I had to go on was a Chilton manual and common sense.
7. When I was in high school, I was in band. REALLY in band - marching band, concert band, jazz band, etc. I nearly made all-state band; I got a recall but didn’t quite make it. When I went to college it was a toss-up to be in band or go out for sports. Sports won.
8. My dream vacation will take about 6 weeks and involves watching a baseball game at each of the major league ball parks in Major League Baseball. (Even the wife would like this!)

And now, for the eight people to tag:

• Busy Mom - I hope she isn’t too busy!
• Deltus - He’s been leaving comments…
• Murph - He needs something to write about.
• Jason - I helped him with the initial setup of his blog
• Aprille - A fellow Iowa blogger whose style I like
• Christine - Another great Iowa blogger
• Sara - Yeah, looks like I’m trying to keep it in-state
• Mikey - He took some time off this year

Saw this on Mikey’s site who got it from Girl who got it from…. well, anyway, here it is. All about me:

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you.
   Who to choose from? Andy Warhol, Michelle Yeoh, Kevin Mitnick, Geri Halliwell and Asia Carrera were all born on the same day as me.
2. Where was your first kiss?
   Non family member? I was in sixth grade and did it as a dare on the playground at school. Oh yeah, I didn’t hear the end of that one.
3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else’s property?
   No, not seriously. But I have done a lot of ‘TP’ing in my day!
4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex?
   Well, I’ve spanked my daughter if that counts.
5. Have you ever sang in front of a large number of people?
   Yeah; I was in choir in school.
6. What’s the first thing you notice about the preferred sex?
   TITS! No, seriously, their eyes. They have been called the ‘window to the soul’ and when a gal has lively eyes it’s hot.
7. What really turns you on?
   TITS! Well, not really. To me it’s got more to do with WHO she is than her goods. If she is confident and intelligent without being stuck on herself, that gets my blood boiling.
8. What do you order at Starbucks?
   Not a damn thing. I don’t drink coffee and besides, the nearest Starbucks is about 35 miles away.
9. What is your biggest mistake?
   Spending some years teaching. I liked it in the beginning but later it became an albatross on my neck.
10. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose?
    Only if you call playing basketball and getting so sore the next few days hurting yourself.
11. Say something totally random about yourself.
    I like watching ‘chick flicks’.
12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?
    Nope.
13. Do you still watch kiddy movies or tv shows?
    Of course. I loves me some Tom and Jerry cartoons - they are the best. Also, I watch Disney every so often.
14. Did you have braces?
    No, but I probably should have.
15. Are you comfortable with your height?
    I’ve grown to be comfortable with it (pun intended). I’m 6′7″ and when you are that tall, weigh about 160 pounds and all your friends are 5′11″ (my situation in high school) you get VERY self conscious about your height.
16. What is the most romantic thing someone of the opposite sex has done for you?
    When KC organized a semi-surprise party. No one had ever done that for me before and she did it all for me. (Yes, I DID marry the best woman in the world)
17. When do you know it’s love?
    Well, it took me about an hour. After I’d talked with KC for an hour I knew it. That was 31 years ago; we’ve been married 27 of those years and I’m still hopelessly in love with her.
18. Do you speak any other languages?
    I know enough Spanish to get myself into trouble.
19. Have you ever been to a tanning salon?
    What for? When I’m in the sun, I tan; I very rarely burn. Why pay for something I can get for free with no effort?
20. What magazines do you read?
    On-line I read a lot of tech magazines. In print I usually stick to The Sporting News or Sports Illustrated, but not regularly.
21. Have you ever ridden in a limo?
    Lots of times, but I’ve never paid for it.
22. Has anyone you were really close to passed away?
    Yeah, of course. You don’t get to be 49 without that happening.
23. Do you watch mtv?
    I haven’t watched it since they quit playing music videos.
24. What’s something that really annoys you?
    Geez, ya want a list? How about bad parking, drivers that don’t use common sense, overt stupidity and bad manners for a few.
25. What’s something you really like?
    Chocolate, eating, sex, basketball, softball, fellowship.
26. Do you like Michael Jackson?
    When he did ‘Off The Wall’ and later ‘Thriller’ he was great. Once he went into the ‘turning white’ funk where he had all the surgery and such he just was too far out there.
27. Can you dance?
    I think I can dance after I’ve had too much to drink. To paraphrase a movie: white men can’t dance.
28. What’s the latest you have ever stayed up?
    I pulled a lot of ‘all-nighters’ in college. I’m not sure why, but about once or twice a year I stay up all night for no reason at all.
29. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room?
    Not in an ambulance, but I have been driven to the emergency room at high speed.
30. Do you actually read these when other people fill them out?
    Of course. How do you think I end up putting one on my site?

So I’m over at Stacy’s and I see this meme. I thought it was pretty cool, so here we go!

So I’m a statistic. So what else is new?

Saw this over at Miss Zoot’s and thought, “I need to do this one!”

1. What kind of pajamas do you wear? Pajamas? WTF? Well, when I do wear pajamas, I wear baggy basketball shorts.
2. Do you bite your nails? Yeah, and without even noticing I’m doing it. I’ll look down and find I’m down to the nub and wonder what happened.
3. Are you a city mouse or a country mouse? I guess I prefer some of the country setting; I like the greenery. However, I’ll live anywhere I can get high speed internet. That is an absolute essential!
4. Have you ever performed publicly? Other than in high school, I haven’t performed as an actor (school play) or singer (swing choir) publicly. In basketball I’ve performed in front of thousands at Hilton Coliseum (Iowa State’s home court) and at the Iowa Field House (where Iowa used to play) as well as all the colleges in the Iowa Conference. I’ve also led presentations at my company’s national sales meetings and had hundreds in the crowd.
5. Does your family have an evacuation route from your home in case of fire? Nope; there’s another thing to put on my to-do list.
6. Diet Sodas: Nectar of the gods or beverage of satan? Nectar of the gods! I used to drink only regular soda, but got on diet when my wife had me try it. Been drinking diet soda (and hating regular soda) ever since.
7. What triggers your gag reflex the quickest? Cleaning up someone else’s vomit. (Don’t have a problem cleaning up my own) We even get that bad-ass red stuff that is supposed to soak up the odor and liquid so it is easily swept up like they use in schools, but I still get nauseous.
8. Sunglasses. Are you a loser or a keeper? Keeper. When I find a pair of sunglasses I like, I hang on to them. If there’s a pair I don’t like, I “lose” them.
9. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater? Goldfinger
10. What do you put on your hamburgers? Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo, mustard and ketchup. Also, if I can get them, sautéed mushrooms.

I was tagged by Sean and now I’m “IT”. Here we go:

1. Total number of films I own on DVD/video:I’m not sure of the exact number, but it is somewhere around 100. I have a number of them lent out to friends and have some of theirs in return.
2. The last film I bought: Top Secret (in t he $5 bin at WalMart)
3. The last film I watched: The Incredibles (just tonight)
4. Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me:
   • Bull Durham (my favorite film of all time)
   • For Love of the Game
   • The Incredibles
   • The Last Boy Scout (is there a movie out there with more hilarious one-liners?)
   • Bachelor Party
5. Tag 5 people and have them put this in their journal/blog: (I’m not sure if they will participate, but who knows?)
   • Busy Mom
   • Deltus
   • Dell
   • Mikey
   • Miss Zoot

So I’m over reading some of Joelle’s. (She’s always got interesting material. And OH! those EYES!) Anyway she’s talking about the AFI’s Top 100 Movies and is talking about how she hasn’t seen some. I thought, “I wonder how many I’ve seen.” Well, here’s the list and I’ve bolded the ones I’ve seen. (Maybe I’ve started a meme here, huh?) Comes to 68 of the 100, if I counted right.

So I get this really cool email from Judy tonight; it had me in stitches. Even KC came down to see what I was laughing at. Here goes:

Tooling around, I ran across this meme from Mattel Michele. My favorite bands from A to Z. It was harder than I thought. And I don’t have a true entry for X. Anyway, here’s my list.

So I’m over at Dell’s Diner checking out posts (it’s been a while - I’ve been on vacation, ya know!) and I see a pretty cool music meme. Progressive Rock, huh? Sounds about right.

Well, I´m down here in Playa del Carmen, Quintoro Roo, Mexico, blogging this. I found an internet cafe (not like it´s hard to find an internet cafe here!) and thought I´d put up a post. No, I´m not taking away from my fun activities. KC and I have been having a great time. We arrived on Sunday and we´ve done so much already. Today I went over to Cozumel with a number of folks in the group while KC went scuba diving. We have done all of the rest of the stuff with different members of our group. I´ll have further explanations when I get back and I plan to post a number of pictures; not only the ones I´m taking but some from others who have their cameras here. (Hopefully they will send me copies of their photos either electronically or on paper.)

Well, there´s lots to do and lots to see yet. We are going to spend the this afternoon and tomorrow morning on the beach. Tomorrow night is Corey and Andrea´s wedding, which was the main reason we came here at this time. Saturday will probably be a day of recovery and Sunday we return home.

Well, it´s time to hit the beach and soak up some sun, salt and sand while sipping down cervezas!! Hasta luego, amigos!

Well, I must be famous now. I was asked by Mikey to be a panelist (It’s SUCH an HONOR!) for his Match Game; it’s patterned after the old TV show The Match Game, but involves bloggers. Go on over to Mikey’s Place and post your own answers to his Match Game; ya know you can’t resist it!