100 Things About Me

Here's a few things about me that won't fit on my profile page.

I was just reading the blog of Mark Lee, guitarist from Third Day. On his "about me" page, he has a list of 100 things about him. Reading his list inspired me to make my own. We have a few things in common, and other things are just similar.

1) I was born in Brisbane.
2) My parents were missionaries in Ghana, West Africa, and that's where I grew up.
3) There's nothing quite like playing soccer barefoot in bull-dust.
4) My favourite meal is riceballs and groundnut (peanut) soup.
5) My day-name in Twi is Kofi... same as the current UN Sec-Gen.
6) That means "Friday-born" - October 30 was a Friday back in 1981.
7) I started teaching myself guitar on my mum's old Yamaha acoustic.
8) The first song I taught myself to play was "Praise Song" by Third Day.
9) Mum got that guitar when she was about 17.
10) Mum didn't let me bring that guitar to Japan.
11) I bought my first guitar in Japan.
12) It's an electric-acoustic made in Indonesia.
13) I'm not superstitious about this number.
14) I work as an English teacher in Naha, Okinawa.
15) This is my first full-time job.
16) Before that, I worked at my local public library while a university student.
17) I have also delivered newspapers, and worked in a photocopier spare-parts warehouse in my time.
18) I think "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" is the best Star Trek movie.
19) I am a geek, not a nerd.
20) I like ST:TOS and ST:TNG... the others didn't really catch my interest.
21) I also like Stargate (the movie and series).
22) I like Science Fiction and Fantasy... like you couldn't already guess.
23) I'm an avid reader. My library job rocked.
24) I'm usually a fast reader.
25) My first memory that I really remember (not photo-album-induced) is of seeing Challenger blow up on TV.
26) The first CD I bought was the soundtrack to the 1978 animated version of "The Lord Of The Rings".
27) The second CD I bought was Jars Of Clay's self-titled debut.
28) A friend and I performed Jars Of Clay covers on the Impromptu Stage at Sonfest 2003.
29) We were going to start a Jars Of Clay cover band, then I got this job in Japan.
30) My favourite Third Day album is "Time".
31) "Wire" comes pretty darn close.
32) My favourite U2 album is "The Joshua Tree".
33) "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" comes pretty darn close.
34) My favourite Beatles album is "Sgt Pepper's".
35) My favourite movie after the LOTR trilogy is "Yellow Submarine".
36) My favourite Beatle was George.
37) I was on a team that won the regional finals of a Maths competition back when I was in Year 8.
38) I won tickets to a preview screening when "The Lion King" came out, and that movie rocked.
39) Then I wanted to be an animator when I grew up.
40) I won tickets to a preview screening to "Dark City" at a university open day in 1998, and that movie was cool.
41) I pronounce the letter H "aitch" not "haitch".
42) I can always re-read The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy, and it's always just as good.
43) I hope the HHGTTG movie they're making is good.
44) I entered a busking audition for the Queen Street Mall in Brisbane.
45) Twice.
46) My brother and I used to have chameleons as pets.
47) One was called Peter. (named after the guy who brought us the chameleon)
48) The other one was called Alex. (named after Alexandre Dumas for some reason)
49) I like heavy rock.
50) I also like light rock.
51) Yes, I like Garth Brooks.
52) Is the number of cards in a deck.
53) I don't really listen to radio.
54) I have a LOT of CDs.
55) I share a birthday with Henry Winkler, aka The Fonz.
56) I prefer British comedy to American or Australian comedy.
57) #56 refers to TV comedy.
58) I love "The Castle".
59) I studied Film & TV in high school.
60) I wanted to make movies when I grew up.
61) I applied to Queensland University of Technology to study Film, with Creative Writing as my second choice.
62) I got in to Creative Writing, and planned to cross over (same faculty) after a semester.
63) I liked Creative Writing so much I stayed.
64) After getting my BA in Creative Writing, I went back to uni for one more year and studied Honours.
65) By this stage the Faculty of the Arts had split into two, The Arts and Creative Industries.
66) So I think the letters after my name would be BA(CWP),BCI(CW)(Hons)?
67) I like movies based on Shakespeare plays, especially ones that give it a bit of a different slant.
68) Check out the version of "Hamlet" with Ethan Hawke and Julia Stiles.
69) Or "Richard III" with Ian McKellen... Gandalf as Hitler? Interesting...
70) I applaud Kenneth Branagh for making a 4-hour movie of "Hamlet".
71) I will never watch the 2-hour version.
72) I like writing parody songs.
73) The quickest I ever wrote one was in about an hour.
74) It was called "Lay Down Sammy", about Samuel woken up by the voice of God.
75) You can read the lyrics here.
76) I wrote it while on YWAM Impact Summer at the Gold Coast, and performed it at our final night.
77) The first two parodies I ever wrote were "He Who Fed The Thousands" (Anthem For The Year 2000) and "Eloi Lama Sabachthini" (Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me).
78) I once co-wrote a parody retelling The Lord Of The Rings to "Bohemian Rhapsody"... we called it "Middle Earth Rhapsody".
79) Patchwork quilt = an eclectic blanket.
80) I am often guilty of making puns.
81) Yes, I just made that one up as I was typing this list.
82) Sometimes a groan is as good as a laugh.
83) I drink coffee, not tea.
84) I started drinking coffee soon after starting university.
85) I am currently watching the Matrix trilogy... haven't seen #3 yet, don't spoil the ending.
86) I own one of Dogstar's two albums (their debut "Our Little Visionary", released only in Japan).
87) I like reading the dictionary and finding new words.
88) I like long words like reinvigorate and antidisestablishmentarianism.
89) I suscribe to A-Word-A-Day... a new word emailed to me every day!
90) Like Mark Lee, I love making lists, and can relate to John Cusack's character in "High Fidelity".
91) At the same time it's hard to make Top Ten lists.
92) I had my parents tape State Of Origin rugby league in NTSC (in May-June 04) and post the videos to Japan.
93) I watched the games slowly over a couple months, then my VCR ate up the final game at half-time.
94) It was September by this stage, so I rang Australia to find out the results of a sports game that had been played three months earlier.
95) Queensland lost... :(
96) Only four more things to put on this list after this entry.
97) I am slowly trying to teach myself a little bit of Finnish through a website of the University of Helsinki.
98) I want to travel on the Trans-Siberian Railway next year, and head into Europe through Finland.
99) The English word "sauna" is borrowed directly from Finnish... where the first syllable is pronounced "sow" to rhyme with "cow" not "saw"
100) My favourite drink is Bundaberg Ginger Beer.