27 Random Things About Me

Ok,… so as indicated earlier in my About page,- here’s 25 26 27 random things about me that you may find interesting, abstract or just plain weird!,.. and BTW ,- they’re in no apparent order (just like my life!). I’ll add some nice interesting images from my photo album later,… but for now this will have to suffice.

1. I drink copious amounts of tea! This must stem from my English heritage where everyone drinks tea. Our family was no different and we’d constantly have the kettle on. I guess I’d probably consume around 10 cups everyday,.sometimes a bit more. I prefer Lipton’s Yellow Label (sponsorship offer please Mr Lipton!), and it certainly helps keep me moving and awake because apart from having good natural anti-oxidant content it also has as much (if not more) caffeine in it than coffee (yeah, I was amazed at that when I first heard it too). My average going to bed time would be around 1.30 am to 2.00am and sometimes as late as 3 and 4am at least once a week. I get up between 10am and 11am usually,.. sometimes at noon and sometimes 8am.
2. Jobs I’ve had (those I can remember). *Painting & decorating apprentice, * Newspaper delivery boy, *Gardener, *Waiter, *Newsagency shop assistant, *Warehouse manager (2), *Music store salesman (3), *Desk sales clerk, *Professional musician/entertainer, *Music Sales rep (4), *Door-to-door fire extinguisher salesman, *Market Stall attendant/salesman, *Restaurant and events photographer, *Advertising Space sales manager, *Life Insurance sales agent, *Home products show and expo presenter, *Water filter manufacturer, salesman/marketer, *Painting & Decorating contractor, *Real Estate Agent, *Seminar salesman, *Property developer/marketer/entrepreneur, *Property renovator, *English teacher, *Internet entrepreneur (which my wife says is ” not a real job”!) Whew!,.. that’s it… now you know why I don’t like Linkedin (you should see my “education” list….. it’s a doozie!)
3. I’ve produced 8 9 kids with three women (oh yeah,… and I confess there’s been lots more women to boot but I’ve been “serious” with at least three of them). With my first wife I had 5 kids (all grown up and left home now except the youngest boy who’s presently 16. I have 1 boy (Brandon,… who is 13 and lives in Australia with his mum) under a defacto relationship that ended when Brandon was about 3 or 4 years old, and the other 2 boys (Channon 4, Natthan 2, and Benny 2months) to my present wife Pet (I think this shall be the last,.. I can’t afford any more,- this has cost me a freaking FORTUNE guys…so don’t you go trying it at home!!)
4. I’m unofficially what you could call an “anti-establishment-arian”,… meaning that I loathe government control and incompetent and arrogant bungling at higher (and lower) levels of government office. In Australia one thing I hate is the evolving Nanny-State mentality and control that is becoming very prevalent across all states in the nation. ( I could harp on for chapters here but will be polite and sensible and just leave it at that!).
5. I like to go cycling on my mountain bike,..especially when Brandon comes to visit.. or when there is someone else to ride along with. I have an ambition to someday take a bike tour around the provinces of Thailand and at the same time raise awareness for some kind of humane or local interest or to spread the word about the healing ministry of Jesus amongst the Buddhist peoples,…. which sounds like a formidable or even arrogant task (to some),.. but you’d be surprised how receptive simple people can be to hearing stories of miracles and historic consequense,.. especially when it has so many natural and healing benefits that go with it. ( More on my “Christian” perspective in later bullet points!….. oh I know,.. you can’t wait!!).
6. My favorite food is Thai food,.. I love Pad Thai and Gai Pad Mat Matmuang,..( a kind of mild spicy chicken and vegetable rice dish with cashew nuts, pineable and fried chili). Also really love pasta and bolognase,.. and lets not leave out the occasional pizza washed down with generous amounts of Cocacola.
7. As a boy I went to 11 different schools over a 10 year period in both England and Australia. Despite the gaps in my education I ended up with a well rounded and capable academic experience that served me well in latter years (does anyone really learn anything substantial at school anyway?). So the life lessons and “how to deal with bullies” have come in handy over the years.
8. I’m the son of a serial entreprenuer/ideas man who had/has some kind of Romany gypsy blood in him and couldn’t stop moving around and trying out new ventures. He was a skilled painter and decorator for the most part of his life and he passed the trade on to me. I think every school holidays and countless Saturdays I spent “on the tools” with dad from the time I was about 9 years old until I was 16. Later, this came in handy when I was out of work I returned to the trade and stayed at it for 9 solid years and built a contractor business with 2 teams and had several apprentices working for me. Ultimately I gave this away as it was too stressful and tiring constantly managing the business and keeping my tradesmen in work.
9. I started working out in the gym when I was 19,..and within about 12 to 18 months had become very muscular and as fit and strong as a racehorse. I kept up this training throughout my life on and off and even though now I’m a bit out of condition I’m still lean and muscular. So the argument that body builders go to fat when they stop training is just pure bunk. It depends on your metabolism and whether or not you’ve stuffed your system up (kidneys mainly) with too many steroids (which I NEVER took.).
10. I have a brown belt in martial arts (freestyle karate) and although had plenty of opportunity to go for the black belt I never did (must be something to do with that danged drive to consistently move on to newer things before completing those already in process). I also love Thai Chi which I practiced for many years (still do very occasionally) and I’d one day like to practice true Aikido and maybe even eventually go back to my original sensei Gary Johnson who has been a personal friend for over 23 years and is now a 8th dan master  (Hanshi level) and formally certified by the emperor of Japan (yeah.. go Gaz) and operates his own Martial  arts academy “Munen-Muso” on the sunny Central Coast of NSW Australia with his lovely wife Leanne (also a 5th dan black belt,… but I reckon she’s tougher than Gary and could actually beat him up anytime if she really wanted to!).
11. When I was in my last year of high school I became interested in playing guitar and singing. A primary motivator there was that being a “pop star” seemed like a much better idea than having to work for a living,..and it really didn’t look that hard for all the famous people that were doing it. Although I did play “professionally” (like full time “half starving” musician for about a year back in 1979/80.) I mostly just played part time. I appeared on TV a few times,.. the height of which was in May 1980 when I was on “New Faces” with my singing partner Brian,… we won that show and went back on a couple times afterward but nothing ever came of it except shattered dreams and disappointments. During the 80’s I had regular gigs playing in restaurants and small venues which helped with family finances quite a lot. Since then I’ve only ever played for my own enjoyment and for a while (quite a few years) I didn’t really play at all. Now I play everyday and have my three guitars set up in my office,- which is really great and I just love it!
12. My favorite TV show is Boston Legal (I have the first 2 seasons and part of season three on DVD). My favorite character from the show is Alan Shaw and I love the episodes where Denny Crane gets his gun out and shoots something or someone. The best episode ever was when Denny and Alan decided to get married for tax reasons and were challenged by the gay rights movement for making a mockery of them.
13. The most fascinating present day mystery to me is that of the alleged alien spacecraft crash landing at Roswell New Mexico in 1947 in which it is said that alien beings and a spacecraft were apprehended and then secreted away to “Area 51″ which has been denied as being existent, by the US military… but I reckon that it’s probably true and that the Stealth Fighter Bomber single wing aircraft was modelled along the lines of the captured alien craft. That’s why the Stealth Fighter Bomber was designed in the 1950’s (way ahead of its time) but didn’t get launched until the 1990’s because 1) the technology to make it wasn’t available until then,.. and 2) people weren’t ready for such radical changes to aviation and perhaps could have “made the connection” between the Roswell incident and the new avaiation technolgy and design. Anyway,.. that’s what I reckon (told you I was whacky).
14. I’ve never tried hang gliding but I reckon I’d like to. Bungy jumping doesn’t appeal to me (OK,.. it freaks me out).. and I reckon although I’ve been on high scaffolding, roofs  and high ladders when I was a tradesman, I think I’m probably scared of heights and have a phobia about falling out of high buildings or falling over balconies of multi storied shopping malls.
15. Although I was raised in Australia and lived there for 29 years in all, I never went surfing on a real fibreglass surfboard. Just body boards and such (which were awesome fun for sure!). Having said that I love body surfing and I’m very good at it (OK….. used to be very good at it). In 1994 I almost drowned in a tidal rip at Avoca beach NSW because I was too proud and overly confident that I could swim out of it. The jet-ski lifeguards hauled me in and I knew it must have been a close shave because I couldn’t even stand up for about 10 minutes after I hit the shore. Since then I’ve been very conscious of the need for ample rest prior to swimming (especially body surfing) and to never be too proud to ask for help (before it’s too late).
16. I believed in Santa Claus right up until I was about 12 years old,.. and although I’d figured out the Christmas eve routine and heard from all my mates for about 2 years prior that “it’s really your mum and dad doing it all”,…I can  recall being disappointed to finally hear that the jolly fat generous guy in the red suit was really a fake and that it was in fact “your mum and dad pretending”. After that, nothing seemed the same and I started to harbour serious doubts about all adults and wondered what else my parents had been lying to me about,… the tooth fairy or the Easter bunny perhaps??….. oh nooooooo!!!!
17. I have a healthy disrespect for most lawyers and see them as being parasites within a system that is somehow sincerely striving for function and balance (Not sure if my views are in spite of the fact that I studied law or because of it). The majority of them would be better assigned to the role of boat-anchor in Sydney harbour. I just don’t get it about these freaking morons that charge $450 per hour to listen to your problems and then try to find ways to make your life and your issues even more problematic so that they can suck even more money out of you,… and charging $400 every time they send a letter or fax to the “other party”…. it’s just some kind of warped and cruel joke. I’ve heard it rumored that many lawyers upon leaving the stressful life of law practice then go onto to very lucrative careers as Intenet marketers,.. must have something to do with the attraction of similar standards of ethics required by the two professions!
18. I am interested in other languages and can speak a little French which I took for a couple of years in high school. I also learned a few Cantonese phrases and how to count in Cantonese which came in handy when I was in Hong Kong on honeymoon in 2004 with my wife (the latest one!).,… Oh yeah… and I made a complete dick of myself in a restaurant in Ho Chi Mihn City when I tried to look smart by  speaking in French to the waiter,… who had been raised in Paris!!!… OMG…what a freaking disaster (for me). I once took 10 lessons in Mandarin Chinese but never kept it up as the Chinese girlfriend I had at the time split up with me  (very smart girl) so it kind of seemed pointless. One day I’d like to learn more but for the time being I’m focusing on speaking Thai which is going quite well. The trouble is that I’m spoiled a bit because my wife speaks fluent Thai and English and she interprets and expresses for me whenever I ask. Learning their alphabet seems like an impossible task because there are 44 characters and 28 vowels and everywordisjoinedtogetherwithanotherandnospacing!,.. go figure that one out!
19. Smartest thing I’ve ever done?,….marrying my present wife Pet (hi honey). I know she doesn’t mind me referring (cataloging?) her as my “present” or “current” wife,… but my first wife did object whenever we went to a function and I would introduce her like,… “and this is my first wife,… Jacqueline”!
20. Dumbest thing I’ve ever done?,…. getting married at the ripe old age of 23 years and 2 months!
21. Most awesome thing I’ve ever experienced,… childbirth  of my own kids (as a witness and not a mother!!!). For those fellow “dads” out their you’ll know what I mean,.. and for all those not yet having experienced it,.. get busy copulating and you’ll see,… otherwise just visit your local hospital and ask if you can sit in and watch …….  (joking… only works if you’re a med student!)
22. Dumbest thing I ever said ,…..”actually honey,… your arse does look a little lumpy in those old jeans!”. Actually,.. the next dumbest thing I ever said (out loud in fact) was to the counter assistant in the pirate DVD store in Burma… “I can see Rambo 1, 2 and 3. on the shelf ..but do you have Rambo 4?“… honestly, the shop quickly emptied and I realized that in that part of the world they don’t understand things like “humor” (or freedom of speech). I understand that old man Rambo (AKA Sly Stallone) is banned from Burma… yeah… officially!!!
23. Smartest thing I ever said,.. (to my first wife) “Goodbye“
24. I have  grappled with having a short temper all my life and have a tendency to want to whack any opponents or would be smart arse assailants to the ground (probably comes from having  had an overbearing father and being the subject of much bullying whilst growing up I think). This is in stark conflict with my fundamental  “Christian” values and I have a hard time dealing with the “turn the other cheek” instruction,.. even though I am trying to deal with it. My wife said she’d gladly stand toe to toe with me in the kitchen slapping me across the face backwards and forward until I got used to the idea,.. maybe that would help!
25. I have a subliminal ambition to act in movies and would one day like to give it a go. In fact I did have a small role in my school’s productions of “The Log of The Bark Endeavour” and “1001 Arabian Nights”  when I was 12 in 1970 which were masterfully written and produced by my favorite 6th class teacher  and multi talented Mr John Speight,.. and I did take a drama class in 1983 in Sydney with Greg Bepper (he was in the Mad Max movies). My ambition will probably never eventuate “Hollywood style”,… but hey, now that we have Youtube the sky’s the limit right?
26. I am the second son of a second son (it’s meant to have some kind of prophetic significance) and was one of 5 sons my parents raised (a job they did to the best of their ability and which only required 2 years of therapy to iron all my kinks out). All my brothers live in Australia (one lives mostly in Korea as he’s an airline pilot) and one of our brothers is deceased having fallen victim to suicide in 1991 at age 28.  Dad  still alive but we lost mum to stroke and brain tumor in April 2010. Dad currently lives on a few acres in the upper Hunter Valley region of NSW and is still as mad as a hatter and likes to talk to dogs, horses, birds, insects and any human beings that don’t mind listening to him rave on for hours on end about any topic even though his favorite is the Holy Scriptures and man’s quest to find his own identity and fundamental relationship with the universe!
27. I don’t subscribe to religion and although I have embraced lord Jesus as my personal saviour and role model for ideal human conduct and attitude towards living and harmonising with my fellow human beings and the planet in general. I don’t subscribe to mainstream Christianity as I see it filled with way too much dogma, rigmarole and hypocracy. The closest denomination I would subscribe to would be Pentecostal Full Immersion Baptist but even amongst this sector there is much misinterpretation and  self righteous hypocrisy (“With their lips they worship me but their hearts are far removed”,- Jesus). The closest label that I might apply to myself would probably be along the lines of  “a free radical and  self confessed hypocritical aspirant to Jesusian prinicple”. I believe in, fear, and love God with all my heart and I pray for the world and it’s leaders to rise above the error, greed  and carnage that must some day come to an end in order for us (that remain and  that are saved) to live harmoniously  on the planet as was originally intended.

So that just about wraps up the list folks. As I mentioned earlier, I’ll add images soon (everyone loves a picture to go along with a story don’t they?). I’m sure I’ll feel the temptation to add to and amend this list later (hey,.. I do already), but I’ll probably leave it as it is.

Thanks for reading,.. and feel free to leave any comment you like.

…. and finally,… God bless you my dear readers!

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