"Tag" – 5 Things You Don’t Know About Me

StartupGarden: Tag in the Blogosphere

OK, this is not Lean related, but I try to show a little personality around here once in a while. My friend, and fellow blogger, Tom Ehrenfeld, was pulled into a blogger game of “publish 5 things about yourself that most people don't know.”

I'll bite. Sorry to anyone who finds this not “Value Added.” Maybe this post is a goofy Christmas present of sorts, or just a waste of time.

1. I've met and shaken hands with Vanilla Ice. I was seated directly behind him on an America West flight from Phoenix to Fort Lauderdale (in first class) in late 2002. He was pretty happy to be recognized, especially since I knew his real name, “Rob Van Winkle.”
2. I am a classic “band geek,” having played drums in my high school marching band for 4 years and the Northwestern University Marching Band. Before the movie “American Pie” came along, I actually told stories that started with the phrase “This one time, at band camp….”
3. I've met and shaken hands with MC Hammer. Met him in a Daytona hotel lobby in 1996 or so. He was happy to talk about my hometown team, the Detroit Pistons (who were associated with “Hammer Time” back in the 1989-90 championship season, or so).
4. I sat in the front row (right behind home plate) for all 19 innings of the 1984 Detroit Tigers loss vs. the Cleveland Indians. I was 10 years old, I refused to leave the game before it was over, to the chagrin of my family. The game was one of the 5 losses in the Tigers 35-5 start. Just my luck, eh? But still, a very memorable game. I remember most of the details, including how Tigers pitcher Glenn Abbott committed two fielding errors in the 19th to basically lose the game. Can you blame him, it was 1 AM or so (I remembered that before googling it).
5. I've been seated at a Roulette table next to the rapper Flava Flav (at the Bellagio in Vegas, 2004). I was about to say hi when the guy sitting to the other side of him tried to say hello and Flav said “Don't touch me when I'm playing.” I decided not to say hi.

All true. I swear it.

Maybe I can get fellow lean bloggers, Bill Waddell, Kevin Meyer, Joe Ely, Jon Miller, and John Hunter to play, by posting 5 things about themselves on their blogs (or posting comments here).