Get to know your fellow board members....

[mountmccabe]

John,

Please describe the playlist at your wedding reception. Do you pick it, does Tiffany, do you alternate songs, or do you lovingly handpick the selections together, as one? If you're not going to actually have a wedding reception, or not have music at the reception, humor me.

We will throw songs onto a large playlist together. Then Tiffany will go through it and object to half the songs I picked because they're too mopey, abrasive or about inappropriate subjects because I don't pay enough attention to such things. Though to be fair she's more likely to push for "Prayer To God" by Shellac to be included since that is our song.

[mountmccabe]

John, what would you consider to be your favorite "hidden treasure" in New York?

Maybe Totto Ramen? I mean the place has 20 seats and generally has 30 to 40 people waiting whenever they're open but it's one of the best meals I've had. All their appetizers have been great and the broth is amazing. It's great to be able to sit at the counter and watch them prepare the noodle bowls and ingredients; food tastes so much better after you've seen the chef chop it to the beat of "Crazy Train."

I haven't been here long enough, I think, to have any more hidden treasures.

John, what has been your favorite live music experience in the past year?

Götterdämmerung at the Met. If a five hour of opera is too much I could narrow it down to Siegfried's Funeral March (this is an older video)



I got chills and there may have been tears. I got a ticket to the opera cycle as an engagement "Ring" and the whole thing was amazing. Die Walküre was better dramatically but for the music Götterdämmerung wins.


Ranked next would probably be Swans at ATP Asbury Park.

[Somewhat Damaged]

John, ever been in a fight? If so, how'd you fare?

What is your favorite Halloween memory (aside from hanging out with Jen & me at the Bikini Lounge in 2008)?

If you could act in another film, which director and actor(s) would you like it to be with? What would that film be about and how integral would your character be to the plot?

How frequently do you Google yourself and/or start up discussions on your IMDb page?

[JClemy]

I'm glad this is going strong again!

Where in the world would you most like to travel and why?
What country do you feel has the best style of food?

[amyzzz]

Do you want to have kids, John? I can't think of anything to broaden that question, but feel free to elaborate on that.

[TomAz]

John,

If you were going to write a musical work that required the invention of a new musical instrument to play it, a la the wagner tuba, what instrument would it be?

[getbetter]

So what would be your ideal breakfast scenerio?

[mountmccabe]

John,

We're pretty good friends, but I don't know this about you. What's your relationship with religion?

I am non-religious. I grew up religious but we had a bad breakup and religion got to keep my family and many of my friends.

I was quite serious about it, really believing and trying to live like I should, etc but it fell out from under me and losing that fucked me up for a good while.

[mountmccabe]

John, ever been in a fight? If so, how'd you fare?

I have never been in a fight. That time we saw Bob Dylan at the State Fair is about as close as I've ever been.

What is your favorite Halloween memory (aside from hanging out with Jen & me at the Bikini Lounge in 2008)?

As a young child we lived in a rural area a good ways outside Detroit. Across the road was a field of winter wheat, next to that were soy beans. We didn't live on a farm but there were more animals than humans most of the time (even beyond cats and dogs). So when I was like 6 Halloween was putting on a costume probably made by my mother and walking with my siblings and parents to the 4 other houses on our road. I mean, there was a fifth one but that was about a half mile the other direction. So we'd get like seven pieces of candy and a couple apples.

Then one year my older sister got to go into the suburbs with some friends from church and came home with a pillowcase full of candy. That was probably as memorable as the following year when I got to go to the suburbs. I don't remember what costume I wore or anything just sitting on the floor going through those giant bags waiting for our parents to pick us up.


Or, more recently, when Tiffany visited Phoenix and she was a plane and a I was a dragon, cosplaying a joke logo/t-shirt graphic for another message board of a dragon fucking a plane.

If you could act in another film, which director and actor(s) would you like it to be with? What would that film be about and how integral would your character be to the plot?

How frequently do you Google yourself and/or start up discussions on your IMDb page?

I will have to take time to think about the acting question.

I Google myself every once in a while; my current name isn't all that uncommon so many of the results for First_Name Last_Name are not me. I can't say I've ever shown anyone my IMDb page other than Tiffany.

[mountmccabe]

I'm glad this is going strong again!

Where in the world would you most like to travel and why?
What country do you feel has the best style of food?

I want to go back to Ireland and go to Newgrange. It is a 5200 year old winter solstice observatory, there is a long passage that lights up once a year at sunrise on the winter solstice (well, actually it is old enough that the light now hits a few minutes after sunrise).

I am fascinated by this and other archaeoastronomy sites (Stonehenge, the pyramids of Giza, Goseck Circle, etc); they help me feel connected.

Christmas is a weird time for me. I grew up with a lot of happy memories but now that I have a different relationship with religion most things feel off. I want to spend quality time with family and friends but I don't like the religious observances. The hyper-consumerism aspects rub me wrong, too. And that's what most of the Western world seems to be on about.

But then I realized that 1500 years ago my ancestors gathered around evergreen trees and fires and had feasts to celebrate with their families, with their communities. These were religious occasions, but not Christian ones. And as Newgrange shows this sort of thing has been going on for thousands and thousands of years, with various religions providing the details. Seasonal affective disorder and food spoilage are the reason for the season; midwinter celebrations were and are a way of coping with that, of bringing people together. Of saying, hey, the days are getting shorter again, spring will come and it will be nice again. We can make it.

I like the science of it. I like the engineering of it. I realize that Newgrange and many of these other sites were also built for religious celebrations. But while religions come and go humans will still want to be close to family and friends at midwinter, to be reassured, to be a part of a community.


Note: I do not mean to imply that my ancestors were involved in building Newgrange or any of these other sites. I have no reason to believe that my ancestors even visited any of these sites.

Quick easy answer I'd say that Thailand has the best food. This may be because there are about a dozen great Thai restaurants with four blocks of my apartment.

[ENluv12]

Hi John! I know you mentioned that you have a sister, is that your only sibling?

What is your favorite time of year and why? i.e. is it a season or holiday etc.

[mountmccabe]

Do you want to have kids, John? I can't think of anything to broaden that question, but feel free to elaborate on that.

Mostly? I was more eager when I was younger but that was more or less just blindly thinking that that was what you did without having my own thoughts about it.

But yeah, I like kids. I believe I would be a good father and that my fiance would be a good mother. I would be very excited to have a kid or two.

And while I don't know how I'd feel in ten years... I believe I could also be happy without having kids of my own. I have several nieces and nephews, with more in the queue. I could probably be OK being an uncle and doing other things with my time, energy and money.

[TomAz]

queue? is that what they call it now?

[ThatGirl]

Quick easy answer I'd say that Thailand has the best food. This may be because there are about a dozen great Thai restaurants with four blocks of my apartment.

I think I may need to come visit and we can try them all. I'm obsessed with Thai food.

[mountmccabe]

So what would be your ideal breakfast scenerio?

I like to have a good amount of time to make and eat breakfast.

I wake up and eat some fresh fruit, maybe blueberries and pineapple. I then make some good white tea, not oversteeping. I then make this, more or less:



though I think they use camera trickery to make it seem like that only took a couple minutes rather than like 20. And I probably skip the chives. And maybe add a red bell pepper cut into a few large pieces and cooked just like the tomatoes and mushrooms. And probably some good chorizo from Esposito's. The bread likely came from Amy's.

Something along these lines actually happens a fair number of weekends. Hell, the Friday the start of Coachella this year I made something much like this except all together in a frittata at our condo.

[mountmccabe]

Hi John! I know you mentioned that you have a sister, is that your only sibling?

I have three siblings, an older sister, a younger sister and a brother (the youngest). We are six and a half years apart in age total and are all pretty close.

What is your favorite time of year and why? i.e. is it a season or holiday etc.

I like the fall.

The hot and humid summer (Michigan, New York) or brutally hot summer and hot and humid monsoon season (Arizona) are the least comfortable, weather-wise parts of the year for me and they are followed by the fall. It's starting to get cool, the leaves on the trees change, the air just feels wonderful.

[mountmccabe]

Thank you for the questions, everybody. I am working on your instrument one, Tom. Hmm.

[ENluv12]

Have you been on any big vacations? What is your favorite place that you have had the chance to visit, and what did you like about it?

[H_is_O]

whats your go to piece of advice to people.

[mountmccabe]

Have you been on any big vacations? What is your favorite place that you have had the chance to visit, and what did you like about it?

In 2002 I visited England and Ireland.

Possibly my favorite part of that trip was the overnight ferry from Liverpool to Dublin. It was mostly filled with truckers who had rooms. My 2 friends and I just had seats but we had that entire theater sized room to ourselves. I couldn't sleep so I mostly drank Irish whiskey and wandered around the outside decks watching the sea. This was great by itself because I love boats but as a bonus this proved to be a wonderful vantage point for watching the sunrise over Dublin as we approached.

I also loved seeing Guided by Voices (45 song set, I had been awake for 36 hours straight by the end of it), seeing a Proms concert at Royal Albert Hall, Dublin Castle and seeing Angelica's last show in a little bar in Lancaster.

[mountmccabe]

whats your go to piece of advice to people.

Thinking about the advice that I give the undercurrent tends to be "try understanding this from the point of view of your opponent/target." So much conflict could be avoided/defused/mitigated/dealt with more effectively by considering the words/actions/thoughts of others more generously.

Either that or "yes, you should see a doctor/lawyer/professional about that."

[Somewhat Damaged]

If you were given a horse to enter into the Kentucky Derby, what would you name it?

Which sport do you think is least deserving of being included in the Olympics?

Who are your 5 favorite music artists? What were the 5 most memorable concert experiences you've ever had, and what distinguished them?

[ThatGirl]

What was your school experience like? Did you attend college/post secondary?

Earlier questions reference a movie you acted in. What was it? Do you currently act for a living?

[mountmccabe]

Which sport do you think is least deserving of being included in the Olympics?

Most of my conception of the Olympics is that is it is a lot of crazy sports/competitions that normally aren't much of a thing. It seems crazy that Badminton, for example, is enough of a thing to have Olympic competitions but that's the fun of it. With this in mind my answers are soccer, followed by basketball, tennis and golf (which we'll see in Rio). Soccer has a major international competition that outdoes this one so soccer in the Olympics seems unnecessary.

Similarly basketball, tennis and golf are all a big deal outside the Olympics. And are probably a bigger deal outside the Olympics so why do second rate stuff?

BRB, watching fencing.

[captncrzy]

John, who on this page annoys you the most?

[guedita]

What is the grossest piece of food you've ever found lodged in your mouth for a considerable amount of time after you had originally ingested said piece of food?

[captncrzy]

John, have you ever woken up naked and you didn't remember why? Tell us where the memory ends and the blackout begins.

[mountmccabe]

If you were given a horse to enter into the Kentucky Derby, what would you name it?

McCabe's Mount.

Who are your 5 favorite music artists? What were the 5 most memorable concert experiences you've ever had, and what distinguished them?

The Mountain Goats, Spiritualized, Superchunk and I am not sure who else. Maybe the Magnetic Fields? Or, taken a different way Dmitri Shostakovich, Richard Wagner, Stephen Sondheim, Charles Mingus and Jason Pierce.

I will work on "memorable concerts", right now I am trying to distinguish that from "best" or "favorite."

[unit300021]

What is the best luck you've ever had?

Also I totally agree with you and your stance on the Olympics.

[mountmccabe]

What was your school experience like? Did you attend college/post secondary?

I was pretty focused on school during high school. I took near as many advanced/honors/AP classes as I could. I was in band. I was probably a little oblivious.

Then I went to the University of Arizona. In my first or second semester I took Solid State Chemistry as MSE 110 and so much crystallized for me that I took MSE (Materials Science and Engineering) as a major. I had learned some of this in high school but that was "this happens" and here it was "this happens and here is why, which also explains this other thing." I almost graduated in four years but then dropped my senior design/project classes and had to wait a year. My fifth year I took just those one credit classes and worked.

I lived in a small honors dorm on campus my first two years and there was a lot of culture shock. Phoenix is not a small city but I still grew up rather isolated. I made a lot of friends in that dorm and still keep in touch with some of them. We had our own 10-year reunion of sorts a few years ago, renting a house in Tucson for the weekend. I played various intramural sports and eventually played for the club Ultimate Frisbee team, travelling to several tournaments throughout Arizona and California. I was also involved in a campus Christian group my first couple years there - which was also somewhat of a culture shock - until I stopped believing and then most of those people didn't want anything to do with me.

Earlier questions reference a movie you acted in. What was it? Do you currently act for a living?

It was Method, a recent satirical short film directed by Somewhat Damaged. I think a YouTube was posted in the movie corner. I was a production assistant and ended up playing a small on-screen role.

I have never acted or done anything related professionally though on my YouTube account one can see a short film from when I was 7 written, starring and directed by my older sister and another one I wrote for one of my MSE classes directed by a friend who was in the film department and thus had access to a Super VHS camera and editing equipment

I am a chemist now.