Spanky's Place

• 3) I used to do stage construction (high steel) and lighting work for Rock & Roll shows. I never went on tour, I was a part of the local crew in both Phoenix and Los Angeles. I have worked shows for Faith No More, Guns -N- Roses (multiple shows), Metallica, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Bob Seiger. Something interesting I discovered while working these shows is that some of the folks you think would be cool are absolute assholes, and some of the folks that have a "bad" reputation turn out to be totally cool froods. My buddy Terry and I can be seen in the Rolling Stones "Steel Wheels" concert video. Well, actually you can't see my face. The camera was on the ground, and we were "clipped in" to the steel about 60 feet up. Terry was a few feet above me, and needed a light. The camera "shot" us as I was reaching up to light his cigarette for him (when working high steel, everything -even a cigarette lighter- is attached to you by a saftey line, which means I couldn't just hand him my lighter). So what you see in the video of me is my ass end holding the lighter for Terry. Great shot of him though (back in the "hair" days).


• 4) I used to run movie theaters for a living. I started working my junior year in high shool at the Big Sky drive in, cleaning the field in the afternoons and doing tickets & Snack Bar (trivia note: at a Drive-In, the place where you get your food is a Snack Bar, at an indoor theatre this is called a Concession Stand -I have no idea why this is). By the middle of my senior year in high school I had worked at 4 of them (the Big Sky, Rodeo, South Twin, and Nu-Vu -all owned by Transamerica Theatre Corp) and was managing the Nu-Vu (the only Spanish drive-in in Arizona). After I returned from my Marine Corps service I went back to work in the movie theatre business, only this time for indoor multiplexes. I spent 10 years in this field (try having 2 full-time careers, it can be quite tiring) before I finally "had it". I have worked for every major theatre chain in Phoenix: GCC (General Cinema Corporation), AMC (American Multi Cinema), Harkins Theatres, Mann Theatres, Plitt Theatres, Syufy Theatres, UA (United Artists) Theatres, and Blair Theatres. I used to teach a union approved projectionist's booth school, and have run every major type of projection equipment from carbon-arc with 20 minute changeovers & mono sound to fully automated Xenon bulb projectors using continuous loop platters and THX certified sound systems.


• 5) My grandmother taught me to shoot (with a bb gun) when I was 5 or 6 by having me color pictrues of indian's faces on paper plates, suspending them in the branches of various apple trees, and then shooting at them from the tree-fort I was "defending". I know this isn't very PC, but this was the 60s and I was a little kid. Thanks to her instruction, I became an expert shot (earned my "Expert" rifleman's badge while in Basic Training) with the rifle. I'm okay with my pistol (Combat .45), but not nearly as good as I am with a rifle.


• 6) I joined the U.S. Marine Corps during my senior year of high school. I had had an allergic reaction to a bee sting when I was five, and lied about this to get in. Just before graduation, during a "last chance to tell the truth or you go to jail" meeting with my Drill Instructor (Drill Instructor Corporal Petrovitch -remind you to tell you about this guy some time), I admited this to him. I was then pulled from training, and given a full back scratch test at Balboa Naval Hospital. It was discovered that I was no longer allergic to bees (yay! I get to go back to training); however I was (and still am for all I know) extremely hypersensitive to the Asian White Faced Hornet. (WTF?) Because of this, they decided that I was not physically fit for training. I was perfectly fit for duty, and had this not come out until after basic I would have simply been issued a "bee kit" and sent back to duty. So, I was given an Honorable Discharge, with an RE-3F rating (which means that I can only get back into the service if the supply of children, infirm, and old women is exhausted). This really bummed me out at the time, but considering the events that have occurred since, I think my life has turned out MUCH better than it would have if I had stayed in. It is aparrent to me that God has a plan for my life.


• 7) I have been electrocuted too many times: I have taken a full 220v 3-phase blast across my chest (left hand grounded, right hand cutting into a live feed) causing a blackout, a trip to the hospital, and blood in my urine for a week. I have taken a blast through my entire body (feet grounded, left hand on live feed) from an 10,000v carbon-arc rectifyer (ouch) resulting in a blackout and a trip to the hospital. I have taken a 24v, 10amp blast across the chest (right hand working on amplifier power supply, left hand grounded) causing a "lock on" (couldn't let go) until the breaker tripped. This one also resulted in blackout and ambulance ride (this was the most serious of all -that much "juice" should have killed me instantly). I have taken dozens of 110v zaps as well. The really irritating part about this is that all of my major and most of my minor "zaps" have been caused by somebody else. Meaning, in all three of the "big ones" I had personally ensured that the power was disconnected (breaker locked off or equipment unplugged) before beginning work, only to have somebody else plug it in or switch on the breaker while I was working. It has gotten to the point now that I don't let anybody help me (in fact, I scream bloody murder if you even try) or even come near me when I'm working on anything electrical.


• 8) I can play the recorder or pennywistle with my nose.

All right, that's enough. Time to lock the closet for now, lest any more skeletons manage to break out.