04/20/24
November 08, 2004
***SPOFI LOCKER ROOM INTERVIEW #22*** chicobangs:: "I'm entering a glamor whore phase these days." Our latest interview and my 100th Locker Room post, to boot! Let's see who or what chicobangs!
posted by worldcup2002 to navel gazing at 06:54 PM - 93 comments
Based on the user page, he's fucking brilliant, and therefore deserves all the glamor (or shit) we heap on him.
posted by dusted at 07:32 PM on November 08, 2004
LOL, these artistic types! Trying to work the sex angle in every which way they can.
posted by billsaysthis at 08:08 PM on November 08, 2004
I missed it the first time... very good, wc!
posted by dusted at 10:02 PM on November 08, 2004
Q1a) Are you ever going to post to your blog again, you brilliant bastard? (and don't even make me bring up the kimmy thing)
posted by Ufez Jones at 01:20 AM on November 09, 2004
bzsht. Houston, we seem to be experiencing a communication problem. Over. bzsht.
posted by rocketman at 10:49 AM on November 09, 2004
To start. The story of the nickname is simple. I was moving from Toronto to New York about 4 years ago (I had just finished my second album, which I will pimp here shortly), and I was sitting at the bar at this club where I had set up a few gigs, and the owner of the bar and this writer friend of his were talking, and one of them said, "We should start a pool to see which chick he bangs first." So the writer called me Chickie Bangs, which I hated, and eventually that became Chico. I'm also a fan of Lester Bangs, so I'm willing to accept this nick and move on with it. Two, I'm in a true hiatus with the blog now -- I'm going to redesign it and moveservers (I have eviltwintheory.com, though there's nothing there now), and I'll start working on that in earnest next month. I'm doing Nanowrimo this month, so once that's done I'll have more time to think about the rest of this crap..
posted by chicobangs at 10:51 AM on November 09, 2004
(Sorry. Busy morning.)
posted by chicobangs at 10:53 AM on November 09, 2004
'bangs' is so crude. i prefer doink myself.
posted by garfield at 12:04 PM on November 09, 2004
I can start answering questions at random. Also: Doink? That's less crude than "bangs"? Here I thought I was being cutesie in that Ricky Martinish kind of way. Well. There you go.
posted by chicobangs at 12:40 PM on November 09, 2004
Q2. I see from your SpoFi userid that you're one of the "old-timers". How'd you get here, what made you join, and what keeps you coming back?
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:41 PM on November 09, 2004
It never occurred to me that "she bangs" was about, you know, banging. I've seen too many William Hung renditions, I guess. And if we're listing euphemisms, don't forget cornhole. I bet you hesitated to click on that link.
posted by dusted at 01:05 PM on November 09, 2004
I made that link!
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:07 PM on November 09, 2004
heh eh heh mheh heh. Cornhole. mhe heh meheh heh. I'm an old-timer in number only. I followed a link from MetaFilter here like most oldsters, signed up, made a couple of posts, and then took a year or however long it was off to marry one of my backup dancers and get out of the white-hot spotlight for a while. Actually, I just spent some time getting my music stuff back together after a couple of years and one failed band here in NYC. I joined because for my entire adult life, I never ceased to be amazed at how many artsie types and so-called intellectuals who looked down their nose at sports, or just refused to acknowledge it. This always seemed silly to me, especially for the artists and would-be rockstars I knew. Directly or indirectly, sports have taught me pretty much everything I know about dealing with others, how to get past setbacks, being gracious in both victory and defeat, and how unimportant 99% of the things that happen really are. There's always another game (pace, NHL), people come and go, greatness appears and fades, someone or something else always appears, like the tides, like Jennifer Lopez's next husband. No point in getting hung up over something, because the next issue is always on the way. Deal with it, rock it, throw the TD pass, walk off the field, deal with the next thing. I always held that truth to be kind of self-evident, and when other people wouldn't (or couldn't) talk about sports with me, I was always surprised. Sport is a common language that crosses class. It's life simplified into a series of parables, and it's excellent to have a place where I can go and talk about the meanings of these parables with other people who know a thing or two about a thing or two. I like SpoFi best when we mess with meanings and motives behind the actions on or off the field. Almost like we're a bunch of rabbis, parsing stories told thousands of years ago. (I'm not jewish, so this is as close as I get to those types of conversations. Thank you for that.) To pick one example at random out of a hundred that come to mind: Tiger Woods or Lindsay Davenport winning a million tournaments and then finding true love and suddenly questioning their desire to keep acting like kids when adulthood is beckoning is a riveting human study to me.
posted by chicobangs at 01:12 PM on November 09, 2004
Wow. Dude, you're deep.
posted by rocketman at 01:31 PM on November 09, 2004
Q3. Way deep. Now you're a writer-type, optimally-tuned for SpoFi environs. What's your favorite post here (you can include your own) and why?
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:42 PM on November 09, 2004
Geezus. Nothing about who my favorite Backstreet Boy is, or what-kind-of-flower-would-you-be. Well, okay. Two come right to mind. The post and ensuing thread about Bill Buckner's bitterness was fascinating, even when it teetered on the edge of the rails for a while, because it really revealed how not just Buckner and his family, but the fans, the city of Boston, and the fine citizens of Spofi were dealing with the idea of the Curse, and how they rationalized it continuing (or ending, if ever). The responses ran the gamut from scholarly to visceral, and I thought it was fantastic. On the other side, but in a similar vein, the where-are-they-now story on Diego Maradona broke my heart. Here was this man who had a monstrous talent and the world at his feet, and who was undone by the same hustler's mentality that drove him to the top of the sporting world. His lack of remorse for the things he'd done, even when they caused great pain to others, ultimately hit me as a logical reaction to the hand he'd been dealt, and I asked myself a few questions about how I hew to my own morality because of that story. Conversely, this thread featured me at my worst; incoherent, unable to explain my position, on the verge of throwing tantrums at everyone, and generally a great steaming pile of fun to be around. I blame roid rage. I'm on a better cocktail these days. Virtually undetectable. You're welcome.
posted by chicobangs at 02:25 PM on November 09, 2004
Good choices.
posted by dusted at 02:40 PM on November 09, 2004
Q3. Wow. Nicely done, and so eloquently explained. Tell us about your writing gig. What do you write about most? What's your favorite thing to write about? How'd you get started?
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:11 PM on November 09, 2004
chico, given your answer to Q2 I'm tempted to get you this for Christmas.
posted by squealy at 04:23 AM on November 10, 2004
Okay. I'll make a long story a little shorter if I can. (Nothing like having a heavy deadline to make you write long and eloquent crap about other things, eh?) I've wanted to be a writer since I was about 14, and I've written pretty much every day since then. (You don't want to catch me on days I haven't been writing. I'm a real sonofabitch.) Towards the end of my high school years, I sat down and banged out a novel, and showed it to a few people, including some, like, famous writers who I temporarily had the nerve to hunt down and approach, and to a one, they told me it sucked. It was unrealistic, the plot was contrived, the thing was a real insomnia cure. To a one, of course, they were right. So I promised myself I wouldn't try again until I learned a thing or two about human nature. I went to Journalism school and got into music writing (which I've been doing on the side ever since), and after college (being a music critic, you see 8000000000 bands a week that suck for obvious reasons, and eventually I thought I could do better) I fell into songwriting. Well, a decade on, I've released two albums (with two more on the way; there' lots of stuff here to listen to if you want) and toured across Canada a few times, and that was why I moved from Toronto to New York: to see how good a songwriter I was. Turns out I'm pretty good at the songwriting, but the picking bandmates part still needs some work. The thing I like best about songwriting was that if you wrote something and it was shite, you'd know the same day. With a novel, it would be somewhere between two months and two (or more) years wasted before you realized you were barking up the wrong tree. This novel I'm working on now is a coming-of-age tale set in the local indie music scene, and it might ultimately rock or suck, but it certainly feels a lot better to write than the one I was working on ten years ago. I'm all optimistic and shit now.
posted by chicobangs at 09:50 AM on November 10, 2004
Squealy, that's an amazing site! I might get the Gandhi one for myself, and a couple of others for a couple of others.
posted by chicobangs at 09:55 AM on November 10, 2004
chico, if you could spare an extra copy of your spofi cd swap mix, i'd love to take a listen. and if you are participating in the new swap, i want the new one too.
posted by garfield at 12:34 PM on November 10, 2004
This interview is turning into a bazaar. T-shirts, books, albums, CD swaps ... I should start charging for this.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:53 PM on November 10, 2004
But I do it for love. Q4. What do you do "for love"? What do you do outside of the writing/music work? Or is it all the same for you?
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:55 PM on November 10, 2004
Gin and trim, baby, just like Colin Farrell. Look. I do everything for love. I write because I am never, ever, in my whole life, as happy as when I've written something really good. I've gotten into performing because I find I'm more comfortable in my own skin with a bright light in my face than I am even in my own shower. I write in public (and post to sites like Spofi and Mefi and one or two others I probably shouldn't mention) because I like the validation that someone agreeing (or disagreeing) with me brings. I love a good rock and roll song, I love the rush of reading a great piece of literature, I love that pang of jealousy that comes when a friend of mine succeeds. I love hating Roger Clemens and Randy Moss. I'd love it more if they just got out of my universe, but hey, one thing at a time. But in answer to your question, and to avoid me getting any more Crash Davis on you than I already have, is that I make no effort to separate what I enjoy from any part of my life. The meaning of life, and I've written this into the book in large doses, is: Find something you love to do, and do it as much as you can. God, that's corny. Well, there you go. Hobbies? I've gotten into photography a little bit. I'm not really a hobby kind of guy. My brain's pretty full these days.
posted by chicobangs at 01:56 PM on November 10, 2004
And garfield, you'll get a copy of that mix when and only when I make one for goddam. She's been hearing empty promises from me for months. And wc2k2, perhaps a commission. Set up one of them there amazon/cafepress/paypal linkthrough commission things.
posted by chicobangs at 01:58 PM on November 10, 2004
a) "and one or two others I probably shouldn't mention", why not? I need more places to waste my time instead of looking for work or doing projects. b) where did you get your J degree? I did mine at USC oh so long ago.
posted by billsaysthis at 02:50 PM on November 10, 2004
a) One of them's a closed system, and another is a message board for a Punk Rock Karaoke night that used to happen at this one club here in NYC, up until last week actually. (They're moving the act somewhere else, but the community is sticking together.) There I talk about music-geeky stuff. So, there. That's another hobby. b) Ryerson. Journalism is all they do, or at least it was when I was there. They had a football team that had one of those long-ass losing streaks going, and I tended bar at night and completely ignored all of it. (USC, eh? Sweet.)
posted by chicobangs at 03:10 PM on November 10, 2004
Hey Chico, I really like what I heard of "I loved Annie First" and "The I in Iconoclast". It's sort of like Bob Dylan and Weird Al getting in a traffic accident (no one gets hurt though, they exchange insurance information and go on their separate ways). Come play at Maxwells in Hoboken.
posted by Samsonov14 at 03:28 PM on November 10, 2004
Man, I'd kill to do Punk Rock Karaoke. Too bad they don't have Guns of Brixton as an option. I Love Living in the City would be fun as hell, though. Tell 'em to come to Dallas.
posted by Ufez Jones at 03:30 PM on November 10, 2004
Samsonov: Okay! Maxwell's is an awesome club. (Though when I recorded that stuff I was still new to the whole "making music" thing. Now that I'm a seasoned vet, well, take out some Weird Al and add in some Jeff Tweedy & Leonard Cohen.) And ufez, one of the band's options during this little hiatus until they find a new club is to maybe tour. (Also, they learn new songs all the time. They really are a tight fuckin' band at this point.) But -- you mean there's no live karaoke in Dallas? That knows any Fear or Bad Brains?
posted by chicobangs at 03:38 PM on November 10, 2004
There's a touring band that does punk rock karaoke, but I don't know how far of a range they cover. They're playing my local joint on December 20.
posted by LionIndex at 03:40 PM on November 10, 2004
Also, 12 Monkeys (Numbo 19) is going on permamnent rotation on my system.
posted by Samsonov14 at 03:42 PM on November 10, 2004
But -- you mean there's no live karaoke in Dallas? That knows any Fear or Bad Brains? Not that I'm aware of. When I saw the pics that Adam posted after he and K went, I got all excited and asked around to all the scenester shits that I tangentally know in the area. All of 'em shrugged and continued smoking Pall Malls.
posted by Ufez Jones at 03:48 PM on November 10, 2004
You were asking the wrong people, then. Next time, check with the Parliament smokers.
posted by LionIndex at 03:56 PM on November 10, 2004
posted by LionIndex at 04:06 PM on November 10, 2004
Heh, LionIndex. Scenesters come in a variety of flavors (which is why I didn't use the word hipster). The majority of the ones that I tangentally know around here are psychobilly/punker types. They're too cheap to smoke Parliaments.
posted by Ufez Jones at 04:11 PM on November 10, 2004
Good god, I think I've lost control of this monkey brigade. Punksters everywhere!
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:21 PM on November 10, 2004
Q5. OK, on to the music then. What's up with the punk rock? Why do you love it? I thought it went out with the Sex Pistols (ok, I'm ignorant). Hot punk bands? Hot places to hear punk music?
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:25 PM on November 10, 2004
Right on, cupper, mate! Two big fingers up yer mum!, etc. etc. I know there's a PRK band in Atlanta, and one in Chicago... I guess I just assumed most cities of any reasonable size would have one. (There might be a market for one, if you were interested in being a rockstar for one night a week. Scenefuckers (my preferred nomenclature, dude) love this crap.)
posted by chicobangs at 04:26 PM on November 10, 2004
Two kinds of people in this world, brother. Hot people and cool people. Punk is based on being uncool. It will never, ever go out of style. Sure, it'll change -- popular culture requires constant change, by its very definition -- but it's never going away. Here's my take on how it works: The geeks and outsiders come up with a musical style, be it bop or swing or rockabilly or folk or glam or reggae or mullet-rock or "punk" or disco or skronk or cheese-funk or trance or gangsta rap or antifolk or drum & bass or whatever, and as the scenefuckers discover it and give it the popularity it (usually) deserves, then the suburban kids and the fratty assholes start getting into it, and the cutting edge gets dull, and the geeks and losers take their needle a little deeper into the haystack and find a new beat to dance to. Either you identify with the outsider culture, or at least you see what's cool about it and then you move on with your life, or you just don't understand how the kids can be so deaf and stupid as to actually like that awful racket. Me? I just happen to love that awful racket. Gimme that stuff, that funk, that stuff, that funky stuff. Punk isn't necessarily spiked hair and safety pins and I Hate The Bloody Queen anymore -- at this point, Neil friggin' Diamond has more punk attitude in one square inch of his ever-expanding fivehead than Franz Ferdinand, Sum 41 & Good Charlotte have in their entire expense-accounted, Pepsi-stocked, Paul Mitchell-sponsored tour buses combined -- but if you want music of rebellion that you can dance to, it's fucking everywhere, baby.
posted by chicobangs at 04:45 PM on November 10, 2004
That was beautiful, man.
posted by Ufez Jones at 04:58 PM on November 10, 2004
Wow, I think I need a smoke.
posted by worldcup2002 at 06:20 PM on November 10, 2004
Q6. How about the writing? Favorite books? Authors?
posted by worldcup2002 at 06:23 PM on November 10, 2004
How's this for outsider punk cred: Back in the day, in the '70s, I used to hang out at Mud Club wearing lumbjerjack shirts and a polyster, down-filled coat in September/October. Didn't even cut my hair into a mohawk or die it. But I loved the dancing and the music.
posted by billsaysthis at 06:31 PM on November 10, 2004
Who's Sum 41? Good Charlotte? Who are these bands? And where do they get their awful names? Neil Diamond... now, that dude's got mojo.
posted by rocketman at 07:19 PM on November 10, 2004
chico, do you find the nanowrimo "event" gave you the impetus to get going on a book? Do you do your 1600 words a day, or do you just write until you feel like you're done writing for the day? I'm on year 3.5 of a non-writing slump, so I'm interested in process and what works for other people.
posted by rocketman at 07:22 PM on November 10, 2004
gimme that good ol mainstream drivel er, wrong thread.
posted by garfield at 09:04 AM on November 11, 2004
Yeah? How about the writing? Sorry, I haven't written for Nanowrimo in two days, and today doesn't look good for more than an hour's work neither. (Maybe I can work this interview in somewhere. Or at least my part in it. Actually, maybe...) I write until I stop, however long that is. I've been aiming for 2000 words a day minimum, figuring I'd miss a day or not make it some days. But up until yesterday, it's not been a problem. Favorites? Well, like brussels sprouts, I stuck with Ulysses till I liked it, and now I love that book. It took me like three tries to get through it, but it repaid the effort a hundredfold. I've always liked Faulkner and Kafka, but it was the Latin American stuff that really got me going. If you're looking for recommendations, I'd say Three Trapped Tigers by G. Cabrera Infante, Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar, and, yeah, okay, One Hundred Years Of Solitude, which has the best finsl five pages of a book I suspect I'll ever read. Outside of that range, I can't recommend the work of Salman Rushdie enough. Satanic Verses was his worst novel. (Talk about mainstream drivel.) Everything else I've read of his is unbelievably rich and nuanced.
posted by chicobangs at 09:25 AM on November 11, 2004
But yeah, rocketman, I might write every day, but I usually just push words around. I live alone, and sometimes I could use the extra pep talk and incitement that something like Wrimo brings. I did it three years ago, and it got me four drafts into a manuscript, which was an excellent exercise. The story kind of fell apart, part because of overwriting and partly because I didn't really know how to make a story like that yet. This time I feel rather more prepared. I'll keep you posted. Oh, and billsaysthis? I know a half-dozen people like you that still carry the local scene. You could fit in here any ole time you like.
posted by chicobangs at 09:32 AM on November 11, 2004
My favorite Backstreet Boy is Harpo. If I was a flower, I'd be broccoli. I love broccoli. As a kid, everyone in my neighborhood idolized either Darryl Sittler or Mike Palmateer. I mean, I knew Ken Dryden was The Man in the late 70's and Vladislav Tretiak was the greatest goalie I'll ever see, and he carried the best team on the planet for the better part of two decades, but I could identify with Palmateer. I was always the smallest kid, so I wound up in goal from when I could stand, and I staed there my whole life. I love playing in the net. You can see everything, you're always involved, the pressure is on you more than anyone else maybe in any sport, you have more padding than anyone else so you can get into the face of kids twice your size, it's awesome.
posted by chicobangs at 12:01 PM on November 11, 2004
Chicobangs, that was so 25 years ago. I don't even drink any more much less go to those type of clubs. I could just see it, a 43 year old guy dressed wrong in some no-cover punk bar. Talk about asking for a beating! Anyway, none of today's bands make music I really enjoy, not like back then when I couldn't get enough Pistols, Clash or Jam. I'm pretty much lost in a pre-1980 haze.
posted by billsaysthis at 01:29 PM on November 11, 2004
Hey, maaaan, you think there's no one from that time left here? Shee-it, they's in the majority, even now. I've heard more first-hand stories about people who did Romilar with Lester or who got kicked in the face at a Dead Boys show than a dozen copies of Please Kill Me could ever tell. Those people are friggin' everywhere. If you have good war stories, you'd love it. (There's a Quizno's on St. Mark's Place & Coney Island High is gone, but aside from that you'd be right at home here.)
posted by chicobangs at 01:45 PM on November 11, 2004
Hey bill, if the Wrangler Brutes play in a bar near you, check them out. They're fucking great. It's not like they're some young whipper-snapper punk band either. A couple of the guys in the band used to be in Born Against and Mens Recovery Project.
posted by NoMich at 02:18 PM on November 11, 2004
Q7. What flower would your favorite Backstreet Boy be? So, back to the sports. Your profile shows that you have a colorful assortment of favorites. Why?
posted by worldcup2002 at 03:39 PM on November 11, 2004
I think my being in Mountain View, CA, and not New York, NY, might get in the way. Plus, Coney Island? Are you kidding me?
posted by billsaysthis at 06:18 PM on November 11, 2004
Coney Island High, the club, not Coney Island, the, uh, Island. That's still going plenty strong, thank you very much.
posted by chicobangs at 08:48 AM on November 12, 2004
Anyway. I like a lot of sports because it's not the particular athletes but the effort they put in that makes sport compelling for me, and that comes through whether it's basketball or Aussie Rules football or curling. Alright, then. Let's see. The Leafs allegiance comes from childhood, and is hardwired into my genetic code. The Saints allegiance comes from a trip to New Orleans I took at the end of high school. I almost went to LSU to study literature under Walker Percy, but then he died the summer before and so, uh, never mind. I have admittedly started to grow an affection for the New York Jets, partly because I admire Herman Edwards and Chad Pennington's work ethicses, and Curtis Martin seems like a right fine chap, and the Giants are now the team of Kurt Warner, Father Coughlin and Eli Manning, who pulled an unforgivable draft-day stunt that was just as reprehensible when it was done by Eric Lindros, Steve Francis and John Elway. I got into Aussie Rules Football after playing it in Toronto for a few years. (It's a great game, and I'd still be playing it if the Australians I knew weren't afraid of going out to an occasional party or something. Really, mate, put the serious demeanour down for a second and get out to a pub, fergodsake.) Hawthorn were my team's colors, so that's kind of random. Still. I wore a Seattle Storm t-shirt out to a bar last night, and a bunch of people yelled "front runner!" at me. That was awesome, but false, as I've been a fan of Lauren Jackson's since she was a teenager and went toe-to-toe with Lisa Leslie, and would have developed an allegiance to any team with whom she wound up. I prefer the WNBA to the NBA in general, though, and not just because I dig tall chicks (which, okay, doesn't hurt). A fundamentals-heavy team game is way more pleasing to me to watch than the showboaty, in-your-face fuck-you style that the NBA is selling so hard these days, and you'll never hear, say, Sheryl Swoopes or Dawn Staley (let alone Jackson or any of the other foreign players) complain that they can't feed her family on 14 million a year, even if she was actually making that much. The women's game is a team game. The NBA is all gimme-the-ball and watch-this-dunk. That said, I got into the Mavs because of Steve Nash. I like Dirk and Finley, but Nash was my boy. We'll see how this whole Suns thing pans out, but I'm withholding judgement. And if the NHL comes back, I'm afraid I'll care about the NBA a lot less.
posted by chicobangs at 09:18 AM on November 12, 2004
but Nash was my boy Sigh. Still got J-Ho, though. I love that kid. Going to Nash's return to Dallas Tuesday night. I can. not. wait.
posted by Ufez Jones at 09:44 AM on November 12, 2004
And you, Ufez. You made being a Mavs fan easier. Seriously. Holla, etc.
posted by chicobangs at 10:00 AM on November 12, 2004
The women's game is a team game. Would you say it's like the Detroit Pistons brand of basketball (from last year)? Because if it is, I could seriously get into WNBA. That shit's a ton of fun to watch.
posted by rocketman at 11:04 AM on November 12, 2004
Yeah, actually. Commitment to play at both ends, lots of passing, strategy out the ass, midrange jumpers, that's the standard. The quality of players isn't obviously as high as the NBA, but it's still pretty damn good, and really, everyone's happy to be there. You realize how important that is once you compare it to the soulless whored-out cashporn that, say, the NBA has become.
posted by chicobangs at 11:42 AM on November 12, 2004
soulless whored-out cashporn that, say, the NBA has become. Amen.
posted by garfield at 12:16 PM on November 12, 2004
SportsFilter: Soulless whored-out cashporn.
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:22 PM on November 12, 2004
My other problem with the NBA (since you asked, even though you didn't) is that the first 40 minutes of every game flat out don't matter. Ever. I don't understand why anyone even bothers watching the first half of any game. I mean, it's just warmup, like short-track speed skating. Eight laps of doot-doodly-dootdoot, leisurely showboating and suck-yer-pecker-for-a-nickel, and only in the final lap of the race is there anything that even looks like actual competitive action. Here's my idea: Why couldn't the NBA play doubleheaders? Two 24-minute doubleheader games, three fouls a player, you play twice as many games, you could foul out in the first game and still come back, there'd be more commercial breaks, and you'd have twice as much relevant play every night? Does that idea make any sense to anyone? Because the first half is always a worthless exercise. Always. It's practice that Allen Iverson actually makes it for. That's all.
posted by chicobangs at 12:29 PM on November 12, 2004
The NBA is getting a bad rap here. It's one of the most athletic sports, and there most definitely is team play (even outside of Detroit). Heck, every once in a while you get to see something like LeBron James passing to his center to take the game-winning three-pointer. I can't stand some of the assholes doing dumb stuff, like Artest and Latrell "Got to Feed My Kids" Sprewell, but the games themselves are great to watch.
posted by dusted at 01:26 PM on November 12, 2004
because I dig tall chicks I feel ya, though I'd rather feel one of them. Tall chicks, mmmmmmmmmmmm! One of my fondest memories of college is being friendly with some of the women on USC's women's basketball team, though not biblical friendly dammit, and this was when Cheryl Miller was leading us to glory.
posted by billsaysthis at 01:28 PM on November 12, 2004
Q8. Do you have any buddies IRL that are also SpoFiers/SpoFites (sp?)? Have you made friends here at the SpoFi that you've then gone on to meet IRL?
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:31 PM on November 12, 2004
dusted, I'm not saying the athleticism isn't occasionally spectacular, and every time a new passing guard appears, there's a glimmer of hope. What I am saying is that when teams can and do make up 20-point deficits in the 4th quarter, a 10-point lead at the half is essentially meaningless. And I have a problem with that.
posted by chicobangs at 03:03 PM on November 12, 2004
Well, it looks like I'm meeting Ufez for the first time next month, and I knew him from other online fora. And adampsyche was active here when I started, though he's rather not nowadays. Past that, though, not a lot. I only know the vast majority of you people through your posts and your sterling personalities. Metafilter people seem to be very good at meeting, but I don't know if a NYC Spofi meetup would be worth organizing? I bet a Toronto one would probably be worth the trouble. Something West Coasty? (Vito90?) London? I don't know. I'd love to get to know some of you better. Others, not so much. But some of you, why the hell not. If we could develop a critical mass of banter, we could take it to ESPN or something.
posted by chicobangs at 03:07 PM on November 12, 2004
you guys all come out to Calgary. how about in February? ok maybe not.
posted by sauril at 05:22 PM on November 12, 2004
Q9. Can't let you go without talking about food. Favorite food and drink?
posted by worldcup2002 at 08:53 PM on November 12, 2004
I was raised on pasta pretty much every day of my life, and frankly I can eat it with anything. It's nature's perfect food. But my favorite meal, and a sign that the day is going to be a good one, is brunch. Brunch means two things: that you don't have to be anywhere early in the morning, that you got the chance to sleep properly the night before and woke up when you bloody well felt like it instead of when your alarm clock dictated, that you're taking advatage of the chance to nourish yourself properly for the day ahead (it's the most important meal of the day, don't you know), and that a little grease, cut with strong coffee and eaten at a leisurely pace, brings great peace to the insides and calms them down after what may have been a tumultuous evening the night before. Four things. I meant four things. And I'm flexible on this point, but any establishment that has Smithwicks on tap and at least one decent gin (Sapphire, anyone?) will get repeat business from me. I used to be more of a scotch drinker than I am nowadays, but that could very easily change.
posted by chicobangs at 12:06 PM on November 15, 2004
Smithwicks, ah Smithwicks. I recently spent a week in Ireland and I lived on this stuff for the duration. I've been dying slowly since my return.
posted by 86 at 03:57 PM on November 15, 2004
pronounced 'smiticks' from what I could tell.
posted by garfield at 04:09 PM on November 15, 2004
Aye, garfield, that's the stuff. In NYC it's Dempsey's downtown, McCaffrey's in Astoria, it's the breakfast of champions. Of course, d.b.a. is the ultimate, but sometimes I don't want to get blasted, no matter how unbelievable the Belgian beer menu is, and I find it hard to resist the repeated and sundry charms of all the world's wonderful brews when they're all laid out before the eye like I'm in a Vegas brothel on a Saturday night with a roll of c-notes. You know.
posted by chicobangs at 04:47 PM on November 15, 2004
Q10. So, how has all this brunching and boozing affected you? Specifically, tell us (this is for the ladies!) what you look like. And also, who should be interviewed next.
posted by worldcup2002 at 08:09 PM on November 15, 2004
So, how has all this brunching and boozing affected you? 
Well, now we call him Chico "Bacala" Bangs.
posted by dusted at 11:56 PM on November 15, 2004
Alright, dusted. You think you're funny? My satyrical bon vivant lifestyle is a source of amusement for you? Is there something in my demeanour and carriage that provides you with a few yuks as you go through your day? (Also: is "Bacala" ready to give birth yet?) Well, if you're so full of levity and joie de vivre and shit, you can be interviewed next. Unless I missed your name in the anals of history on here. Well, Mister Cup, you can tell the ladies that I've been playing hockey most of this year, which has kept me bruised but more buff than my lifestyle might portend. The boozing has left me with a healthy appreciation for the finer things in life (and a kidney-sized scar I somehow picked up my last night in Reno, I can't remember), and the brunching? The brunching has kept me level-headed and, whaddyacallit, wise and stuff. My pictures are all over the web, unfortunately. I've been to a few too many Metafilter meetups and have too many friends with blogs to keep my identity a secret. If you want a description of my physical appearance, think [Matthew Broderick as Lex Luthor.] (Reload this page and a new description will fill that window. Go ahead, try it!)
posted by chicobangs at 11:25 AM on November 16, 2004
Selective google image searching returns some interesting results. *runs*
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:06 PM on November 16, 2004
Unless I missed your name in the anals of history on here. No, I'm pretty sure he's listed in the anals here.
posted by yerfatma at 12:18 PM on November 16, 2004
And yeah, care to explain some of the images listed here?
posted by yerfatma at 12:20 PM on November 16, 2004
No. Though --funny story, this-- there are two other people sharing my name in show business. One is a singer in an R&B quartet in Washington DC, who has co-produced a couple of Lionel Richie's albums and who has done the name more or less proud. (I got introduced to Lionel at a job I did a few years ago, and we all had a good laugh about it.) The other Tony H. is a professional wrestler, who's adopted it as his stage name. He's wrestling in the Carolinas, in one of those semi-pro one-step-above-backyard circuits where they work in high school gyms and community centers. He's apparently a total heel, and how cool is it to have a wrestling heel take your given name? Well, I think it's cool. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm related to this guy, as he comes from the same part of Texas as my dad and they look more than a bit alike, but the porn guy, Hank H., is related to me only in impressive pulchritude and libidinal skill, and not, far as I know or care to admit, by familial connection.
posted by chicobangs at 01:08 PM on November 16, 2004
Let it be known, though, that I am vastly more popular in the only arena that matters than any of those jokers.
posted by chicobangs at 01:10 PM on November 16, 2004
That's a nice fan club you got there Mr. Bangs.
posted by NoMich at 01:22 PM on November 16, 2004
Wow, that GIS has some funny porno pics. And that guy looks like he has a ... uh ... High Tower. Hoohoohoo! OK, thanks for doing the interview, chico. Now, dusted, do you wanna be next? Let me know if and when you're available.
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:44 PM on November 16, 2004
That was fun. Thanks, wc2k2. Now if you'll excuse me, the fluffers are here. Back to the mines, as they say. A studpuppet's work is never done.
posted by chicobangs at 02:16 PM on November 16, 2004
I'd be up for one too, wc, if you need another stooge...
posted by sauril at 02:26 PM on November 16, 2004
Sure, fire away!
posted by dusted at 03:06 PM on November 16, 2004
We're on, dusted. You're on deck, sauril.
posted by worldcup2002 at 05:47 PM on November 16, 2004
you'll get a copy of that mix when and only when I make one for goddam. She's been hearing empty promises from me for months. damn straight! and i've met adampsyche and he knows where you live. [/empty threat]
posted by goddam at 08:56 PM on November 16, 2004
hi h r u all i am a young boy of college...
posted by siraaj4ever at 07:21 AM on November 21, 2004
Q1. Talk to me, chico. What is up with that nickname?