Post a random fact about yourself

[nate]

OK, post a random fact (or facts) about yourself!

I shall begin!

I've been on the Discovery channel
I've co-hosted BET's "Rap City"

Not on the same day though

[Ravenlord]

i freelance selling swords, axes, spears, armor, leather goods, and other assorted "odd" things.

[Bip Roberts]

long

[Highlifeman21]

I enjoy the music of Celine Dion

[The Operator]

As a kid, I was on Star-64 with "Christa", I believe, because they came to my school. Remember them? They went to like a different school every day.

In High School, a teacher once told me "If you'd put half the energy into being a drummer (I play drums) that you do into being a smart---, you'd be the best drummer the world has ever seen." One of my favorite teachers.

I've met Josh Homme. Which to me, is a big deal. Lol.

In High School, I got the nickname "Wild Thang" after an errant fastball during an indoor baseball practice left a huge hole in the cinder block wall of our gym. Although the ensuing laps sucked, I'm glad I left my mark on the place.

[camisadelgolf]

OK, post a random fact (or facts) about yourself!

I shall begin!

I've been on the Discovery channel
I've co-hosted BET's "Rap City"

Not on the same day though

Links or it didn't happen.

[*BaseClogger*]

It took me nine tries to beat "Schism" on bass with medium difficulty in Guitar Hero World Tour...

[PedroBourbon]

I enjoy the music of Celine Dion

I would have exercised the "random" part of the question on that one.

[camisadelgolf]

My mother's father is a Catholic priest.

One time, I was lying down in the back of a Suburban, and during a wreck, the Suburban flipped in the air and rolled over three more times on the ground. Even though I wasn't wearing a seat belt, I was unscathed until I scraped my knee when crawling out of the car.

I'm a relative of Ty Cobb's and Chris O'Donnell's.

I have advanced to the state spelling bee three times but have never won.

My family won a lot of money in the lottery (enough to buy a new house in Blue Ash).

I'm a type 1 diabetic.

I love to speak German and will be living there again later in the year.

I was in a car chase and pursued by the FBI for almost three hours.

My father's father, who passed away before I was born, was very good friends with Pete Rose. Mr. Rose and my family are no longer close, but I've still heard a lot of interesting stories that fit in with our impressions of Charlie Hustle.

I was once arrested for driving with a suspended license. I didn't know it was suspended, so I went to court and filibustered until they dropped the charge.

I'm ashamed of this, but it's interesting: two of my great uncles (one of whom is my father's namesake) murdered a police officer and weren't found guilty of it until several years later. (My apologies if this is stirs up any emotions for anyone.)

Age 29
Served: 5 years
April 30, 1956 to March 11, 1961

On March 11, 1961, Walter Walls, Jesse Walls, and Charles Jillson were in the Downtown Lincoln Mercury car lot, 715 Reading Road, for the purpose of stealing a battery from one of the cars. The Wallses entered the lot on foot while Jillson waited in the car. About 3 a.m., Patrolman Donald Martin, of 4300 Foley Road, a recipient of three bronze stars during the Korean War, pulled his patrol car onto the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) parking lot at 721 Reading Road, exited his vehicle and walked onto the car lot. A violent struggle ensued; so violent that Patrolman Martin’s blouse was ripped at the lapel and several buttons were torn from his uniform. Walter Walls, possibly with Jesse’s assistance, gained control of Patrolman Martin’s .38 caliber service revolver and shot Patrolman Martin in the chest. Patrolman Martin turned and ran with Walter Walls in pursuit, firing into Martin’s back.

At 3:10 a.m., Jack Wenner, Hugh Moore, and Harold Stiver, all of Pitt, Ohio, were northbound at 721 Reading Road when they observed the chase and continued shooting. They observed Patrolman Martin with his hands in the air, Walls fire again into his back and, after he fell to the ground, Walls firing a final shot into his head.

Jillson drove away and Walter Walls fired a shot at Jillson’s Cadillac. Walter Walls ran across Reading Road and up Dandridge Street. While going up a muddy embankment, he fell, pushing the revolver partially into the mud. Walls discarded Patrolman Martin’s gun and his own shirt and jacket into a trash can in the rear of 542 Dandridge Street. Jesse Walls ran eastbound through the Nabisco lot toward the railroad tracks behind the Elsinore Warehouse.

Harold Stiver exited the witness vehicle and tried to assist Patrolman Martin. The others drove to a gas station to call the police. By the time the police arrived, the offenders were gone. Sergeant Max Abel was the first car on the scene. Detective Elam took photographs.

Patrolman Martin left a wife, Alethea, and children. They were also in the process of adopting an infant. Mrs. Martin was the daughter of then Chief of Detectives, Henry Sandman.

Numerous detectives worked the case initially and sporadically over the next four decades. A young detective who had just been trained in a “new, state-of-the-art” process of plaster casting, made an impression of the hole in the mud made by the Martin’s revolver in the muddy embankment, confirming Walls’s route. The jacket in the trashcan was examined and found to have “Negroid” hairs attached. Therefore, the early investigation focused on a black suspect or suspects. A specific man, a black male named Murph, was being considered by Lieutenant Martin (no relation). He worked on a “Tip Sheet” and determined that Murph was in jail on the day of the murder. He closed out the Tip Sheet placed it in his Desk Bin. That day, Lieutenant Martin suffered a massive heart attack and died. The closed Tip Sheet was not found until some time later, which probably stalled the investigation. Later, it was concluded that the hairs transferred to the jacket when it was placed with commingled trash.

This crime went unsolved until 2005 when a tipster called the Homicide Unit with some information. That information turned out to be inaccurate, but it caused the case to be reopened. Two Homicide Unit detectives, Ballman and Schare, neither of whom was born yet when Patrolman Martin was slain, found Jesse Walls. After further investigation, they found that Jillson was never heard from again, probably also killed by Walter Walls. Walter Walls had died during 2004. They talked to Walter Walls’ son and daughter who immediately asked why it had taken the detectives so many years to ask them about their father killing “that policeman” in 1961. Walter Walls was such an abusive father, husband, etc. everyone was too frightened to tell the story until after his death. The detectives and Hamilton County Prosecutor closed the case by the “death of the offender”, Walter Walls.

I could keep going, but that's enough for now . . .

[durl]

I can juggle.

Can't seem to get beyond 3 objects, though.

[*BaseClogger*]

I was in a car chase and pursued by the FBI for almost three hours.

More info please!

[nate]

Links or it didn't happen.

It did! But it would require finding a much box digging, a VHS machine, video capture card and no shame due to what I might've been wearing.

[RichRed]

I have been cancer-free for 11 years.

But enough about me. I want to hear more about this lottery and car chase.

[redsmetz]

I was at Roger Staubach's wedding when I was a kid. His wife was our neighbor and she and her sister babysat us when we were little. Actually, the day my first sister was born, Staubach and his girlfriend came home from a dance and watched us boys while Mom and Dad went to the hospital. In the summers when he was home from Navy, he would play street football out in front of our house.

I once panhandled off of guitartist Freddie King prior to a Leon Russell concert at XU. His car stopped by us to ask how to get to the back of the armory. We asked for some money to buy tickets and he said he was there to make money, not give it away.

In high school, I hitchhiked everywhere around town. I loved hitchhiking back then. It was mostly safe and it's a shame it's not safe at all, because it was a great way to get around. In college, I hitched back from school in Detroit and made it to the corner I lived at on Miami Avenue in Madeira in three rides!

When I was in high school, I did telephone sales of circus tickets (yes, I know now it was probably a racket) for orphans. One call I made was to Warren Giles. I asked, "Are you the Warren Giles"? It was. At that time, the National League offices were in Cincinnati in the Carew Tower.

Speaking of which, my paternal grandfather (my namesake) was the lead carpentry mechanic in the construction of the Carew Tower, overseeing the hanging of every door in the place.

My maternal grandfather (my middle name namesake) ran for president of the United States in the 1940's as what was then known as a "favorite son" candidate. I want to do more research on that, because if it was the 1944 election, his name was most likely placed into nomination for Vice President at the convention and Roosevelt worked to move Henry Wallace off the ticket and put Truman on.

That same grandpa would emcee shows around town. My mom and her siblings would perform in some of those shows. Her last show was with Jimmy from the Mickey Mouse Club and a chimp. She said the chimp was a gentlemen. Her older sister and one brother would do radio shows after school. Family legend had it that Aunt Rita beat Doris Day in a singing contest, but near the end of her life, she told me she had not beaten her, that Doris Day and her cousin had won, but, she added, "It took two of 'em to beat me!".

That's enough for now.

[RichRed]

My paternal grandfather worked for the Minnesota Twins in their PR department.