XMariner

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What's the story behind your name? I used to sail as a Merchant Mariner (not a Marine) and gave up the sea when I met my lovely wife (turned out to be the best decision I ever made!). Plus, I’m on the outer cusp of being a generation “X”er (at least, that’s what the Times Magazine story said). Hence, X (or ex) Mariner became my AOL screen name in 1994 and it has hung on ever since.

Where do you live? Suffolk, Virginia, in a small suburb a half hour away from the largest Navy base in the U.S. (Norfolk, VA). Lots of gun nuts and guys with short haircuts here (in other words, Hippies are scarce).

How old are you? I am as old as Star Trek and Speed Racer! So I’m in good company. I think 1966 was a damned fine vintage. Except the best song that year was Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Were Made for Walking” and the best movie was “A Man for All Seasons”.

Tell us briefly about yourself. White. Male. Traditional. (Oh, that’s the answer to the three word question coming up’). I started off in the ‘Nati in Ohio (where my Dad started as a Lutheran Minister), made a left turn at New Jersey, and wound up staying in Virginia. So I went from saying “Youse Guys” to saying “Y’All” -- I’m not sure when the transition happened. I went to an all-Boys Episcopal high school, then through the least known federal service academy (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, NY) and was a Marine Engineer on research vessels (saw a lot of dolphins but no Aquaman). Somehow I found a wife through all those female-deficient environments, and returned shore-side in more computer related jobs (some logistics, some programming and a sprinkle of graphics design and mad Photoshop skillz, yo). Through some freak of nature, I have three super-kids, known as ‘The Freight Train’, ‘Power Princess’, and ‘Monkey Boy’. I recently came back to working with the big diesel engines and steam turbines on ships again. Hooray! However, as a necessary evil, I work for the Government. Boo!

How long have you been reading IMAO? I’ve been reading on almost a daily basis for about two years. I got here after another blog (I think it was Rightnation.US) was featuring your Simpsons Trivia. Since I’m an old SCTV, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Space Ghost C2C devotee, the satire here fits me like a glove. Umm, that may or may not be a compliment…

[Who couldn't love MST3K? The highlight of my college career was when Mike Nelson gave a speech at my school. -Ed.]

What's your favorite IMAO post? The one with the Democratic debate where Dennis Kucinich had to explain he wasn’t a garden gnome. I literally laughed for a day afterwards and sent the link to every like-minded conservative I know (what’s that, three people’). And I normally don’t forward links.

[Thank you. So few people give a specific post as an answer instead of a category. -Ed.]

If you were to describe IMAO in three words, what would those be? Crotch-grabbingly Good Fun (Thanks to my younger brother for the hyphenated adjective).

What's your favorite political issue? It’s usually the Global War on Terror, because I’ve been over to Dubai and Bahrain and know first hand how nutty those camel jockeys are. A close second is Government spending. That might sound strange to someone on the government dole, but we’re one of few organizations to actually produce something that’s needed and cost-effective (cargo transport, usually for shipping heavy equipment for the Middle East effort). For example: www.phantom-planet.com/marad/duke

Do you have a website? If so, please tell us briefly about it. I have my own domain name (phantom-planet.com, from the old Sci-Fi movie) but I haven’t really done much with it except post pictures, especially after I found out that there is a stupid band also called Phantom Planet. However, my HTML pride is that I completely designed and run the entire website for our local little league organization. Go ahead and click so our Google ranking goes up, and then decide for yourself whether it’s the best looking little league website you ever saw: www.bennettscreek.org.

Who would you give a Nobel Peace Prize to? Big Bird and the Snufalufagus. In the last three years, two ‘entities’ were given the peace prize, one completely outrageous and one was so worthless that it’s just about a figment of the imagination (http://www.nobelprizes.com/nobel/peace/peace.html).

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If you commented in the last post asking for participants, you're still in the running. Thanks to everyone who has participated so far; just because you may not think you're interesting doesn't mean we won't enjoy your story.

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