First, my apologies to Fireman who is running an AMA now as well. Please ask him questions in his as I intend to do. He did mention he would do an AMA after Guitarman and I totally forgot about it when I said I would do the same at this time. I hope he won't mind sharing the spotlight. There were some kind people that seemed interested in some stories I may have but not sure how much general interest overall, unfortunately after today I will be pretty busy and I think the preseason shenanigans will be in full bloom so today is ideal.
All that being said, I am happy to answer anything anyone might want to know. I specifically want to help use this, as Guitarman and Fireman are, to drive new membership to TKP, so as posted "I have been planning a trip back to VA and/or Blacksburg pretty much every year since the last time I was there which was 5 years ago. So..... IF we get to 300 Key Players before Battle at Bristol and IF I do get back this year I will host a TKP night either at First Down in NOVA or somewhere in Blacksburg. Fortunately for you, and unfortunately for my wallet, I will be traveling to NYC several times this fall for some business so I will be in the neighborhood. And by "host" I mean I will buy fellow KeyPlayers free alcohol, perhaps not everyone if there is crazy turnout, but for majority I suspect. Hell, depending on how the night goes could be for all TKPers."
I am already looking at dates and travel so I will sincerely try to make this happen. I have some fairly massive projects I am working on that will have me globetrotting a lot this Fall so scheduling is key.
As posted, to get some more simple answers out of the way: I am married; I cannot play a musical instrument; I have a nearly 5 year old daughter, a dog, a cat and a goldfish; I have several businesses; am a designer (arch. landscape, urban designer/planner) by education and for the majority of my career; and to top Guitarman in at least one skill I have surpassed him on the no sleep for academic success notch with 3 nights and nearly 4 days with zero hours sleep.
I have traveled a lot and have been fortunate to experience some pretty cool and crazy stuff, so ask anything and we'll see what comes up.
13 people (14 including myself) legged Guitarman's original comment that spawned this, so it may be a conversation for just a few but so be it. I would be honored to have even a tenth of the number of questions Guitarman and Fireman have and will get.
and so....
Comments
Marry, Fuck, Kill
Bruce Pearl, Lane Kiffen, Philip Fulmer
wow you liked that one so much you had to trot it right out there again...savage
Go big or go home, knowwhatimean
I think if it were me, I'd Fuck Lane, Kill Bruce, and Marry Fulmer
Marry Fulmer because he is the only one I can stand to look at.
Fuck Kiffen because there is an outside chance of getting his wife involved.
Kill Pearl because human slime must be wiped clean.
lol...that's dirty
only if we do it correctly
I really can't see how that's a situation that works out well for anybody.
Driving a Miata makes you really angry
What drew you to China? Plan to stay there permanently? What's it like being a Western in China with a family?
I was always fascinated with Asia and Australia growing up. I had originally thought to make my way through Europe to Asia but ended up heading there first and stayed. I was living in Australia when I decided to move to China, which was for work. After I finished my masters in Sydney I had the opportunity to go with my professor and work on the pre-planning for the World Expo in Shanghai. It was my first time to China and I was amazed at how much was happening.
I returned to Australia with the idea to get a job with a design firm there to do "China Projects". basically they all laughed and gave me the "maybe some day kid" because I was young and China projects were a reward for Senior Designers to do crazy shit that they wouldn't normally be able to do. So I changed tactics and looked for jobs in Hong Kong. That day I was in an internet bar searching, found a wanted ad, sent my CV and was called the next day. I went through a phone interview and was told that they would send a friend, and architect, in Sydney to interview me face to face.
Then they called the next day and said they needed someone immediately, and if I was game they would buy me a ticket to Nanjing the very next day. I said "Fuck Yeah!", no I actually said "Sure, I can do that". The directors of the company hiring me however were leaving that very night to go to a Board Meeting in London and so would not meet me before I go to Nanjing. So I was hired sight unseen, and placed into a joint venture office in Nanjing China with a local engineering company. I arrived to Nanjing to 2 Chinese who spoke almost no English with a sign that had my name. They took me to the hotel and picked me up the next morning.
I started the design studio in that local company with one full time staff and one part time graduate student, both local Chinese that also spoke limited English. I lived in the hotel for 6 months, working on a month to month trial contract, until making it permanent. In 2 years I built it from those 2 up to 65 people.
I have no plans to permanently stay or not stay. However I am currently starting on projects that will have me spending a lot more time in USA, the Middle East, Russia and China. So I will be traveling a lot and my family will likely split time 6 months in China and 6 months in USA.
China is vastly different from when I first arrived, and Shanghai/Beijing are vastly different than all other cities. You could live in Shanghai and have almost no interaction with Chinese whatsoever if you wanted. Both cities are extremely cosmopolitan. But the words I would use is EXPENSIVE and SAFE. Everything costs 40% more if you want to do thing "foreign" and you basically are paying for college tuition from 1rst grade on. It's absurd. But China is without a doubt the safest place I have ever lived or visited, and that gives a lot of comfort.
sorry for long answer
No the long answer is what I wanted thanks.
Your life sounds very cool and exciting. I have family who are currently living in China for work and their family loves it. Their kids are fluent in multiple languages now and the education is pretty top notch from what I can tell.
yeah, schools here are very good actually and pretty much every student goes off to college. I would say there is less social distraction but there are a lot for kids to do here as well. It's just different though and kids seem to really focus on school. learning multiple languages is a definite plus. My daughter has been able to switch between Chinese and English since practically being able to speak, which is really awesome to see.
What did wife say when you moved to Shanghai? What does she say now?
My wife is Chinese. She is from Nanjing but we met in Guangzhou while she was in her last year of university. We got married in Nanjing and then moved to Shanghai to further our careers. She works for Activision at the moment, and loves Shanghai except for the pollution. Working for Activision though allows here to go to LA at least once a year, and she loves the Santa Monica area and would love to move there.
Lived in LA once for about 7 years. The Santa Monica pollution can get bad sometimes, but just a little further south in San Diego .... always nice. The ocean is great almost anywhere along the coast from Orange County south. Disclaimer: these memories are over 35 years old, so some circumstances may have changed some.
did you ever christen the 50 yard line in Lane?
no, I wish. I did christen the Steam Tunnels and several other locations though.
Elaborate more about your distrust of American banks and credit systems. As a young man with a finance degree who thoroughly enjoyed my international finance classes, I am very interested to understand why you would choose to base your finances in China.
I don't distrust the American Banking system at all. I just like having simple taxes and if I involve my money in USA banks and financial systems it becomes a nightmare to report. In the end there is not much difference in what I pay but I work in multiple currencies and having to report and justify everything is incredibly laborious. So I have eliminated any and all connections to it, however that is about to change as I am going to be launching some new projects and business there and will all become unavoidable then.
I definitely misunderstood your response in the other thread where you mentioned this. I imagine working across several countries could severely complicate your taxes and I would also probably set myself up to simplify that as much as possible. Really intrigued by your life and being a part of multiple companies I got another question coming up in that regard.
Threw up on 460 after a game. Blamed it on hot chocolate. Like the dirty UT comments. At least you left out Pat Summitt from the tirade.
o.O
I think this was a reply to the marry, fuck, kill question above but I'm gonna go with this answer:
waffles and maple syrup, but only because we couldn't find whipped cream and she had a sweet tooth. hell of a mess to clean up though.
What's your least favorite kid's cartoon?
Also, is Map from Dora a cult leader, yes or no?
How excited are you that our DEs this year weigh more than 220 lbs?
oh you know me so well...
least favorite by FAR is spongebob. I know a lot of people love it but it's the one that grates on me like no other.
No, you've been duped! Boots is the Cult Leader! Think about it, he just happens to always be there to benefit from Dora's exploration and constantly is pushing young kids to "join" in what they are doing. Map is merely his modern day white rabbit leading all the young minds down the rabbit hole. Curse you Boots! Curse you! (Dora is a close second to Spongebob)
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say....
Only on TKP.
I'm with you and Spongebob.
You have a point with Boots. I can see him being the mastermind and having The Map in a "Mandarin from Iron Man 3" type role. I don't know if you have me fully convinced but I wouldn't be shocked to find that out.
How do you watch Hokie games?
Feel your pain brother
Currently, I do one of the following:
a) go to a sports bar and request them to play the game
b) use the espn login some generous fellow TKPer gives out (which if anyone would like to provide would be immensely appreciated), or
c) http://watchsports.live/ncaa-football/
Given your explanation on Fireman's post, you mention that you helped build a design firm from the ground up, but are also involved in several other entrepreneurial endeavors. Any tips on working on side endeavors like that while working full time? This is something I am very interested in doing but I am 23 and don't have the experience to know how feasible my other ideas are from a time perspective quite yet. Would appreciate any and all thoughts on this, long and elaborate and short and sweet answers are welcome.
In 2 days I will have lived here for 16 years. In that time I built 5 company's China operations from ground up or from massive losses to profit. During that time I found other interests were available to me. For example, at one time I was raising millions of dollars and designing wildlife conservation projects/zoo restorations for non-profit all over China as a side endeavor. It was related but removed from what my company's income generation was geared toward, so as long as it did not impede my job I was free to do as I wish. It helped that I was often on my own in China and could if I wanted go do side endeavors, and arrange my own time as I saw fit.
Then i started my own office and ventured into my current stage which is multi-platform business that spans 6 different businesses. The best way to do it is to find someone in the startup financing game, Venture Capital or Accelerator/Amplifier, etc and see how and what they look for to know if something is viable. When you have an understanding of what they are looking for then you can give a pretty fair assessment of whether it will be worth your time. Start here: https://youtu.be/QoAOzMTLP5s with the Business Model Canvas and write it out as they say. If you can't fill in those boxes with bullet points your idea has holes.
Other than that I would say passion. A lot of what I am doing now is driven by my passion to want to do them, but it took me a long time and to meet the right people to understand how to make them a reality and launch them correctly ( or as best as I can). If you are passionate about your idea then you should never rush it. Waiting patiently to launch something while you secure the things that will make it a success, which could take years, rather than rushing to launch often makes the difference in it being successful or a failing.
The best advice I ever got is to not let get too attached to anything. Even if it's your greatest passion what you are currently doing may not have been the best setup or model to succeed. Don't go down in flames trying to make a sinking ship float. Close, learn, regroup and open again with a better model for success.
Wow, thanks so much! I'll be sure to keep this bookmarked.
my pleasure. I you have any following questions ask any time in any future post. if I can help I will be happy to.
I presume Virginia Tech is excluded from this?
referring only to business and financial endeavors. Emotional attachment to the greatest place on Earth is both expected and supported.
You are an omnipotent VT AD. You can change one decision or move from current or past Hokie Football. What do you change and why?
I would have shifted us into overdrive rather than cruise control following the 99 run.
We had our moment and the entire nation was looking at what we would do next. There was momentum, there was never before seen awareness, the hunger, the drive.... the complete and utter lack of shooting for the stars from the AD's office.
This is more my opinion, though I think a popular one, but it seemed to me that we lost the single greatest opportunity that VT has ever had at elevating our school & program straight into perennial powerhouse. The 10 win seasons are not to be knocked but the foundation beneath them kept getting chipped away. We squandered our momentum by not aggressively going for the jugular, where Weaver practiced stay the course on what got us there I believe we should have carpe diem'ed that shit to the next level by directing budgets massively towards awareness, recruiting and staff.
I'm not saying I believe that would have made a difference in the way everything came tumbling down but I feel that the opportunity lost there is too great, regardless of whether it would have been successful or not.
Amen.
I think it was you that told this story before (maybe it was someone else), but can you re-tell your Ryan Williams story?
I want so much for this to be me.... if it is I have forgotten which would be shameful. But I don't believe it is. Can you summarize what you recall of it?
The story I am thinking of was posted on here a long while ago. I thought it was you, or Alum.
Basically, a poster had a friend with benefits while attending VT. Once, while hooking up at a party, they heard a knock at the door of the bedroom they were in. They open the door and it is Ryan Williams, accompanied by two amorous young ladies...
I'll let whomever this story belongs to go ahead and finish it.
damn, now I REALLY wish that was me. Sounds like a great story. Anyone?
VTCEE
http://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/99533#comment-99533
Since you're a Westerner in China, how's your Mandarin/Cantonese? Fluent, professional, conversational, basic, "Google Translate required?"
Did you learn it (if you did) before or after relocating?
fluent in a situational way. When discussing design, construction, business I need no or very little translation. Travel, shopping and a variety of different situational experiences also require no translation. But I am not fluent. If there is a normal everyday conversation among friends where they are jumping topics every few minutes I will get lost.
Listening and Speaking are very different though and my comprehension listening is far better than my speaking.
I have not once studied anything other than a pocket translation dictionary, and now a phone app, to learn Chinese, nor have I ever had a tutor unless you count girls I dated. Everything I learned has been from being immersed in China where no English was spoken. If you have ever seen that movie 13th Warrior with Antonio Banderas, it is kind of like that, though taking me much longer time.
Only in putonghua (mandarin) though, not Cantonese. That's crazy difficult. I do know bits of some local dialects like Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing/DongBei, etc.
For me, I find it less challenging for the speaking (and even singing, more so) than the listening. Without constant, repetitive practice, my brain doesn't process and interpret it as fast as I would like for it to.
I've encountered both of you guys' situations (I teach Spanish). Ultimately I think it depends on the person.
How has censorship effected your lifestyle, TV watching, daughters education?
mostly my wallet for having to pay yearly subscriptions to VPNs. The television is rarely on because i watch most shows online which means I pick and choose what I watch. Hasn't really impacted my daughter so far I don't think.
We have a type of apple tv thing that is in China that basically has most television shows, movies, cartoons up to date that you can watch at any time, all for less than 10 dollars a month. I can usually find what I am looking for there but it takes some searching and sometimes knowing what the Chinese name and characters for that name are.
Censorship largely gets a bad rap though. While I don't like it because it does make things difficult and costs me money, a lot of people forget that China has the largest peasant population in the world and one of the biggest mob mentalities in any culture I have ever experienced. If the Chinese people were able to "see" everything this place would be absolute chaos. That is 100% guaranteed.
I have read and spoken to people that are vehemently against it but they honestly have no idea what damage that would bring, and refuse to see the relaxation of said censorship that has happened over time. I liken it to the time my oldest brother threw me into the deep end of a pool without knowing how to swim at all. I struggled frantically like a lunatic, gasped for air and sank like a stone. That's exactly what would happen if censorship was not present.
You have just provided me with a deliciously evil idea. No, j/k. But seriously
Did that shit really happen!?!?
yes. it looked like this
immediately followed by this
And Joe thought my AMA would take on a "most interesting man in the world vibe." Cool stuff so far.
So here we go.
1. What is the craziest story you have from college?
2. What is the craziest story you have about friends, that did not directly involve you?
3. If you could only eat one food and one drink (assume you can survive on whatever that is) for the rest of your life, what would they be?
1. Most of these would come from my time as HRA and working with counseling office. I dealt with some suicides, overdoses, one time a guy was found to have kidnapped and held his girlfriend captive in his dorm for nearly 2 months, rape, etc. For some reason a lot of that stuff seemed to happen when I was on duty. That by far was the craziest, though probably not the type of crazy you were looking for.
2. Not sure if you meant this to be at college as well, but here it is, or at least one of the craziest stories:
Freshman year, we threw a birthday party off campus for one of the gang. That party had a lot of people and a lot alcohol. At that time which was early 2nd semester everyone on the hall knew each other and hung out with each other. Then at the party everything changed.
During the party the birthday boy had to piss and so he did what anyone would do and went outside to piss in some bushes. While outside he heard some noises around the corner of the building, and went to take a look. Those noises turned out to be 3 people engaged in sexual intercourse. 2 of the palest, skinniest white boys you would ever see and 1 rather large black gal. There is a specific term for what position they were doing which I will not say on a family website. However, this particular gal happened to be said birthday boy's roommate's fiance.
later it all came to light and the roommate was not pleased as you can imagine. It created fractures in the hall's friendships and as a byproduct ended my VT tv acting career.
(If not wanting college story I can provide something for that too.)
3. My blocked arteries would like me to answer: country biscuit and sausage gravy with bacon, and egg nog. My adult me would say pizza drizzled with pesto sauce on top and aged dark rum.
2. Bro Code Article 34:
I'm a recent PolySci grad looking for a career in urban planning. I'm currently interning in Roanoke, but I want to work in/nearer to Blacksburg at least for the rest of the year. Do you have any advice for finding a job between undergrad and grad school?
I am assuming that you a) want a job related to urban planning and b) want to get paid for said job.
The second point is kind of key. If you can go without getting paid or willing to work a second, more trivial job offering to work unpaid will get you into some really great experiences.
I moved to Tucson briefly after VT before going international and found this place called the Consortium for International Development, which turned out to be an office that compiled, wrote and issued RFP's for international AID projects as World Bank, Asian Development Bank, etc which was this small office that tried to place professors of 12 different universities in projects overseas. the idea was that it would further their research and give them and the university they worked for prestige to use in their own funding options. The office had no job openings posted so I just went to the office told them my background and asked for free time to work there for experience. 2 months later they offered me a paid position and soon I was writing said documents. Turned out to be invaluable skillset for future career endeavors because I basically learned how to professionally write for funding.
If you can do that, then do it. It will get you in pretty much anywhere and even if you need to work at Burger King doing night shifts it will pay for the experience you get. Otherwise if it is still around try to get a job at Blacksburg Limosine. I worked there my last year at school and it was a great way to make money off school hours, especially since I was essentially moonlighting from my HRA position.
if you are looking for a paid job in urban planning for one year and are striking out at planning offices try to find things that are adjacent but related. parks & rec services have planning needs, survey companies have planning needs and surveys are good tools for planners, vdot is good for transportation planning, habitat for humanity or some other home charity, property management is actually great experience for planners if interested in land use, real estate development offices, airport planning & management office, heck there is sometimes part time payment for neighborhood watch coordination, school district offices need planning.... find an adjacency that is close to what your interested in.
but I bet you could walk into a town close by and offer to work for minimum wage and get a job. Just keep trying. Like asking girls out, the worst that can happen is that they turn you down.
Thanks, I appreciate the help. I definitely am looking for something paid. My internship is unpaid and far away, and I'm running out of gas money. I'm an Uber driver on the side. This helps in looking for options!
Also something to keep an eye out for are Lawyers that practice Planning Law. If you want to be a land-use planner there is no greater place to learn how to use and manipulate code like a Planning Law office. Offer to be an research intern and that experience will be a huge asset in USA.
Did you attend the Olympics when they were there last ? Is Mandarin the dialect most Chinese use as common language ?
Yep, I went to a lot of the Olympics when it was here. I also designed, or redesigned, a lot of it as well. Worked on several buildings and redesigned nearly half of the Olympic Green Park. Not that I get credit for it publicly but that happens a lot here.
Mandarin, which is called putonghua or zhongwen, is what is known as the official dialect. That's what you hear in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It's like the common denominator of Chinese dialects. Most major cities have their own dialects and languages, some indecipherable to even other Chinese. Mandarin gives everyone a common dictionary to use to communicate. Though in the south Cantonese is used first before Mandarin.
Wow... That's all I can say :--)
There is so much amazing design going on in Asia. Do you have a favorite architect? What do you think of Frank Gehry and others like him? Do you think this style of free-form design will have lasting influence?
I get a kick out of staying at The Hotel Roanoke when I come for games and seeing the ultra modern museum of art close by. My guess is that the local residents are still not sure what to make of it. Do you ascribe to architecture as embracing the past or rabble-rousing to the future?
(meant to be reply to vtiimb)
Favorite architect is tough: Of those I have met, I like Bjark Ingles. Bjark is pretty nice guy, plus his website basically reads as "big dick" (www. big.dk) which is pretty badass. Libeskind is great and very kind. Zaha was bold and a lot of fun if you didn't work for her. Kengo Kuma, I think has a really amazing way at looking at space. Heatherwick produces some of the best lines I have ever seen. Reiulf Ramstaad is a great practice that I think is coming up. Of all time though... hmmm... Corb, Burnham because I am a Columbian Exposition nerd and I love the quirkiness of Buckminster Fuller because I am a futurist at heart.
Biggest dicks I have met in the arch world go to Gehry and Rem, hands down. Those two are so far up their own ass it's ridiculous. But I have no problem with free-form design, and I think we will see a lot more of it in the green movement where the building either conforms with the chaotic, free form of nature or strikes brazenly through it.
Most overrated architect in my opinion (not that you asked): frank lloyd wright
I have not been to the Taubman but I think it looks great. What I hate most is blanket conformity. What I find usually makes things the most appealing is where you set a pattern language and then pick the places where you diverge. London is a great example of this (as are many European cities). London proper was rebuilt after the war to look as it was. But what makes the city really amazing today is how that pre-war conformity is broken up with amazing modern architecture and design. It favors both the old arch and the new arch, making both more attractive.
I was recently gifted this book (if this term is indeed from there) but have yet to crack it open; it's quite the intimidating tome. Something worth the time investment to read?
That's the closest I get to an actual question, but between thoughts on design/entrepreneurship, insights into international living, and the fact that my dad is an architect doing assisted living in China (thus, I hear about it often) this has been a fascinating AMA, thanks!
Christopher Alexander can write a lot about very little things for sure, but the key thing to get from it is that most things function better when it is designed and built with a set "language" (patterns, tiers, layers, etc) that define what it is.
Once you get the gist you can start to recognize how the best designs always follow his principle though perhaps not his methodology or vocabulary. It is a good book for designers to know and understand. But infinitely more fun is watching William Whyte's study on public spaces which basically says the same thing.
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces: William H. Whyte from Nelly Oli on Vimeo.
who does your father work for if you don't mind saying?
He's working for himself in China. Don't know enough about the details to say who the work's for unfortunately. He did most of the Sunrise buildings in US though.
Video looks interesting too, thanks for the recommendation.
Does he live here fulltime? Interesting. If he gets down to Shanghai (or lives here) would be interested to meet him.
Nope, in nova, but goes once a year and Shanghai is usually on the list of stops (basically hits a lot of the bigger cities over several weeks). I'm angling to join in on one of them, will have to look you up if it ever materializes.
Thanks for all the interest!
For informational purposes here are some random things that may also be of interest which would be hard to ask specific questions about if you didn't know.
I am currently involved in the following businesses:
1) Design Practice (arch, landscape, urban design & planning)
2) Land Sourcing for Developers (mostly in China, but also most western markets)
3) Project Financing for large scale construction projects (global)
4) Soil Remediation and Agricultural Enhancement (cleaning China's soil pollution in brownfields and farmlands)
5) Luxury Senior Living development and operation (started in Sydney and expanding to UK, China and USA)
6) Smart City development (global)
If no more questions, thanks to everyone that did ask. Feel free to hit me up any time.
I mean...that's it? What do you do with all your free time?
/s
TKP
I am a super casual observer of architecture, so I will have fun learning about the architects you have shared above.
I like the Taubman also. It gives an interesting energy/vibe to downtown Roanoke. To me, it is the visual complement to the sound of trains chugging through.
FLW was the original diva. Can understand why he isn't your favorite along with Gehry and Rem.
Thanks for the insight.
one last question, have you ever wanted to design anything on the VT campus from residential, academic, or athletic facilities?? I wasn't sure if that was up your alley but based on that list above, it looks like you dabble in just about everything concerning architecture.
I would love to do that! I would probably do it at cost. I have designed, or been a part of the design for, pretty much everything under the sun from a 5 square meter balcony landscape to a city of 300,000 people, and just about everything else.
I am currently designing a K - 12 school that I want to open myself here in Shanghai, and I have designed some universities. Athletic facilities I would love to do and have done as well.
I would be much more modern that VT currently approves though. Would still use Hokie Stone throughout but much more modern.
Hope it happens one day! I couldn't imagine the feeling of permanently leaving your mark on the best place on earth! also, Whit seems to be moving towards modern style like facilities.....but that could be me just thinking they are modern...
Favorite game you've attended at VT?
VT vs FSU, 99
getting close to the sun leaves a burn that you remember forever. I had a great time though.
How are Americans perceived in not only Asia, but elsewhere you've been to around the world? (I've been to other countries but obviously the folks we went to see didn't like us and we didn't like them)
Have you ever experienced prejudice or racism because you're a westerner?
I've never been anywhere that you could sense open hostility towards USA. Tension for sure in some Middle Eastern countries and parts of Indonesia, but nothing openly threatening just because I am from the States. I have never been in a warring state to date, and don't plan to be.
Usually most everyone is pretty gracious on their own and would be so with almost anyone. Some members of my wife's family are military, low ranking, but they buy into the propaganda of USA meddling hook line and sinker. Some times they will start saying some things against USA but usually only when they are drunk. Most of that is just ignorance though.
the only prejudice I ever experienced was primarily in my younger days with males of different countries who weren't too keen on me hitting on the local talent while out and about. Have had more than a few take swings at me. One time a guy brought an entire gang of 20+ guys to beat me up because I unknowingly "stole" his girlfriend.
Does your daughter look mostly white or Asian? And does this have any effect on her fitting in China?
you tell me
whichever it is she is already WAY TOO POPULAR with the boys. I will be following Fireman and RangerHokie's advice on neither confirming nor denying carrying a glock at all times.
Got any pics of her in Hokie gear?
I bought her something when she was an infant and she sometimes where's my wife's pink VT shirt (as a dress) that she got when I took her to VT to watch the last game that I attended 5 or 6 years ago. But I don't seem to have a picture on my laptop for some reason.
Sounds like she's due for a refitting.
Not sure if they ship to China but I just updated Fly girl's wardrobe with the Juliet dress when we were down at the fan appreciation day.
https://campusemporium.com/collections/virginia-tech-youth/category_yout...
Nice picks. I have been damn close to getting some VT threads for her but then I changed my mind. I want to take her to Blacksburg to see a game and let her go and pick some clothes out. I think that will impart a much bigger impression on her, so for the time being I am holding out.
She definitely would like these though.
I hear you. My daughter liked that she got to pick some stuff out. My son damn near tried to buy the entire town.
I'd say she takes after her mom based on that picture, which is probably a good thing if she grows up there.
And about the glock, I don't think anyone will be asking you that question in China anyway. You ain't exactly living in 'Murica no more.
Oh PLEASE tell me you kicked all their arses! That would be so cool (as in make for an awesome action film).
well, I can say there was a huge brawl and I left without getting punched once.
In actuality the boyfriend had the girl call me to the bar to meet her. She did, I came and he met me out front with 5 of his friends. It looked like I was going to fight those 6 no matter what, then some British guy I knew walked out and saw me surrounded and came over to see if I was alright.
He grabbed me and said "let's get out of here" but one of the 5 friends got in his face and said "foreigner go home!" and pushed him. My friend pushed him back and yelled "don't fucking touch me". It was dance time right at that moment. Fortunately for me and massively unfortunate for my friend the 20+ gangsters that "protected" the bar and always were itching to beat up foreigners were all sitting on the curb drinking beers and smoking. As soon as my friend pushed that guy they all jumped up and rushed him. He was encircled in no time and was getting pummeled.
The boyfriend and his 5 friends didn't know what to do and backed off. I remember rolling my eyes at them, calling them "pussies" and turning to go get my friend. Then the most incredible thing happened. I just walked into the fray, grabbed my friend by the arm and shoulder off the ground as he was getting punched and kicked everywhere and walked him out of the melee. Like Moses at the Red Sea the crowd just seem to part and I was never touched once. No one even seemed to look at me.
I took him to the street hailed a taxi and turned to find his girlfriend who had seen it all go down in horror. I told him to get in but dazed he didn't hear/understand me and stayed at the door standing wobbling. I took a few steps away from him motioning for his gf to hurry up and grabbing her hand as she got close when one of the gangsters came up behind and broke a 40 ounce beer bottle over my friend's head. He crumpled to the street and the taxi sped off.
Now bleeding massively from several superficial head wounds that bled like a WWE wrestler I hailed another taxi and we got in and went to the hospital. In the end he had survived with minor bruising and injury and to this day I never let him buy alcohol when we are together.
Whoa....
[speechless and in awe]
Man, but you sound like one of the luckiest guys on the planet to be in the middle of all that and come out unscathed ! Have you bought any lottery tickets lately ? :--)
For whatever reason I have always been lucky in fights. There have been more than a few times where I should have had my ass handed to me, no matter I was in the right or not, and survived with very little to no injury at all.
Unfortunately that luck has never translated to lottery tickets.
GUITARMAN GET A PHOTOSHOP OF FERNLEY AS THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD PLEASE Also we need a Kickstarter to get Fernley's life made into a movie.
haha, thanks. To be honest, and I hope you don't read this pretentiously, we have barely scratched the surface of the more interesting stories and really most of this is old news when I was younger. to be honest the things I am working on now, and who I am working with, are far more interesting I think.
it's an AMA though and I am trying to allude to them without freely giving it up, except for giving some insight into the businesses I am involved with. But like I said without knowing what to ask about those things it's hard to ask questions that will give you the more interesting stories.
And then there are the stories I can't write down at all and will share over beers as goKartmozart suggested.
What's the most interesting thing you are working on right now?
Who are the most interesting people you are working with?
What's the most interesting thing that you can't tell a group of semi-anonymous message board members?
Also if you are ever around DC, and I can get out, beer is on me.
aahhh, that felt so forced to push for those questions. Apologies...
1) I can't say much about it but I am close to launching several Smart City developments that involve multiple country governments, very wealthy businessmen from all over, the biggest tech companies, the United Nations and a variety of celebrities and royals endorsing it. The only reason I can write this much about it now is that we are announcing it in NYC in Sept. Or at least that's the plan, it may all come crashing down. who knows.
2) Tough call here. Right now there are a lot of very interesting people. The most interesting I cannot write down but will tell you over beers. One I can say: I am partners with the grand nephew of Tricky Dick on one of my companies. He is quite the character, has a striking resemblance and comes with a lot of very interesting friends.
3) besides people, one of the most interesting things I can't say ... hmmm.... recently, probably my one day trip to a west African country and back.
will definitely set time for beers. If you can't get out I'll invite the wife and kids out for lunch or something. I buy food, you buy the beers.
Follow up question.
1) Is Bono involved? If not then I don't know if I can believe you. /s
Let me know when you are around the area and we can figure something out.
nah, he's too busy forcing people to listen to music they don't want.
He's also too busy forcing me to sell said shitty muzak.
Book first, then they will make it into a movie. After they make it into a movie, he'll get a call from the plaid avenger to do a Skype call with 2000+ students in burruss....man wish I was in the class that got do it it with Martin sheen.
Ok, maybe I missed something, but why are random people doing AMAs? AMAs are generally conducted by people that have some sort inside info, or an interesting job, or a well-known personality, etc.
This isn't meant to be rude or confrontational, I'm just genuinely curious.
It was in the Post to drive up Key Players Club members. Guitarman and HokieFireman offered to do one each if we hit certain targets on new membership.
Then in Guitarman's someone asked him who he would pick to do one, he very nicely said me, so I offered to do it as well to drive membership up. Hence the offer for few alcohol if we hit 300 members by the Battle at Bristol
Bingo. This was honestly something I just thought up entirely randomly during the TKP Club member drive, and without clearing with Joe at all, I just posted my offer. Thankfully, he gave it the thumbs up and here we are. It's sort of an opportune time to (1) re-invigorate everyone in light of the membership drive and the run-up to the season and (2) to kill the agonizing week before the first game. I also thought it would be cool to engage all you crazy folks in whatever insanity accompanies a normal AMA. In my thread, I was not disappointed, and I am enjoying stories and knowledge from this thread and Fireman's.
I hope that after Saturday, the regular TKP articles, features, and breakdowns take hold again and that ventures like these fade away so that the main focus of the site isn't overcome by other stuff. It's fun now, but I think it should run its course quickly.
yep. everything Guitarman just said. Just killing time and hopefully attracting new members. Then it's football season and our regularly scheduled programming.
.. sorry, wrong spot.
Plus, fernley is well known. And interesting. If I did an AMA I'd be lucky to get 5 questions. Luckier still to be able to answer them. It would be boring.
I feel you. If Fernley is the world's most interesting man, I am the most boring. I do know a lot of people with cool stories.
I asked VTGM who he wanted to have an AMA from. VTGM picked a winner.
Well Guitarman and Firman are pretty well known/very active here on TKP and Fernley won most interesting man award/has an awesome architectural job so that seems to fit 2 of the 3 criteria you listed...
Edit: also this isn't a jab at you if it seems like it. Just geared towards a TKP specific AMA
Oh, I've been on here a few years now, so I do recognize certain users, although I honestly don't really view anyone outside of French differently from one another. I think I'm just not the intended demographic for these.
HEY, I RESEMBLE THAT REMARK!
Right guys?
...guys?
Where's everyone going?
...crickets...
Fernley Hokie, you travel all the time. Favorite airline (and why)? Favorite place/hotel? What's on your bucket list of places you would like to still visit? For those of us who may still get to Asia, what are your top 5 must-see sites or cities?
Favorite airline: Emirates. Best food, on board service, entertainment, customer service, online service, lounge, etc hands down. it's everything you always wanted an airline to be.
Favorite Place, top 5 (combined): man, that is tough... I will list places excluding China.
I love history especially about cities. And I particularly love ancient cities that intersect the sacred-profane. But I try to find ways to learn about places that are not typical lonely planet tidbits.
For example, while living in Tucson I had come across this old book on the construction and numerology-astrological significance of Angkor Wat and its construction and how every dimension was representative of it's religious beliefs interpreted into profane elements. How entering the temple city should be done as transcendence through their idea of time on earth. It was fascinating. None of that was in Lonely Planet, so I called down to the local university archaeological department and "hired" a professor to take me around. He was so amazed that I knew so much about the place that he ended up taking me into the jungle to see ruins that have never been cleared and sit there to this day. "only khmer know where to find" although I suspect Angela Jolie knows as well. Anyway, that was amazing.
I mentioned Bhutan before. If anyone thinks seeing the Himalayas is the trip of their life my suggestion is to go to Bhutan and not Tibet or Nepal. I find it significantly more magical and haunting. Perhaps the most breath taking mountain scenery I have been to. I had gone to school with someone from Bhutan when I did my masters in Sydney and he arranged for me to be shown the "best places".
Palawan in the Philippines is probably the best undiscovered island destination. If you want to see whale sharks, go there. Coron is just a cool place to be. look up videos on youtube, trust me you want to go there.
I mentioned Tokyo Olympics and how unbelievably fun it will be. Tokyo is just amazingly fun. Expensive as phuck, but so much fun. You just got to be adventurous and try crazy things. It's like if Walt Disney was tripping on acid and you were stone sober. great times to be had there.
Abu Dhabi/Dubai in a pure over the top luxury way is quite the spectacle. I was at the F1 races 2 years ago I think and met and was invited to the yacht party where Prince Harry was having an incredibly good time. http://www.ibtimes.com.au/prince-harry-twerks-cuddles-women-smokes-hooka... I can confirm there was a lot more going on than that. I am by no means a high roller but I have interesting friends that can open doors. But winter in UAE is absolutely gorgeous and if you stay at a hotel the private beaches are incredible. The mosques are fantastic architecture, the food is incredible and you meet people from all over the world.
Bucket List: hmmm..... Norway/Finland/Sweden, Iran, Bora Bora, Burma (will go there in November, hopefully), Iceland and many others. lol, too many.
I highly recommend Australia and New Zealand as well. Oh, and Seoul.
So besides following up on Joe's tweet about buying Mike's, we'll also open a travel agency. Nice.
what's the most almost arrested you've ever been?
I would say two times.
First time was the summer after my first year at VT. I was back home and had gone with old HS friends to a house party. The girl was rich and her parents bought her this house to live in, so naturally everyone (a mix of HS and new college aged kids) went absolutely bananas terrorizing the neighborhood. Also naturally said neighborhood got fed up and called the police. When the red and blue flashing lights came on people scattered. In less than a minute 30+ kids were up and gone running away through the night. My friend Donald was super drunk though and out in the street yelling at nothing like a dumb-ass. That and since I was over 18 I decided not to scatter. me, the girl, donald and another friend waited for the cops and started to talk to them. We calmed donald down and they were about to leave after giving the girl a stern talking to and telling her that they would be contacting her parents that actually own the house. Then one of them asks 'Any of you under 18?' and by this time the alcohol was REALLY hitting me and I said "yeah I am." (I was not) So the cop asked me to stand-up and turn around. He handcuffed me and said they would need to call my parents to come pick me up. I was well drunk now as he leaned me against the patrol car. My friends tried to talk them out of it but they weren't budging. After a few minutes of talking one of the cops grabbed me and turned me around swiftly... which caused me to throw up... on the patrol car and the cops leg.
Throwing up, as it often does, sobered me up enough to start thinking again. And I then told the cop that no, actually i AM over 18 and actually a college student. Here's my wallet with my VT ID officer. There's my car with VT window decals officer. My keys are in the house officer as I am staying the night here officer. They eventually let me go and I was passed out in the house about 20 minutes later.
Second time was in Laos. My two friends and I hired a boat and guide to take us up river into areas that tourists don't normally go to. There are amazing waterfalls and temples in that area and we knew some people that had gone up there, so decided to go on the adventure. We made it quite a ways passing only a few other riverboats when we then heard the sound of a much more powerful boat coming downriver. The boat rounding the bend and you could see heavy machine gun in the front, soldiers with AK's and an armored boat. They came right toward us. 20 minutes later the 3 of us were tied up on the soldiers boat sitting cross legged while our "guide" explained that we were only going to the waterfalls and not trafficking drugs. Full dumping of our bags and clothes we were wearing, and 200+ dollars later and we were back on our boat heading toward the falls with the soldier's boat continuing downriver.
This isn't bad, but it's also amateur hour up in here...
The question was about being almost arrested, not times I should have been arrested. Not sure i could share some of those though... For legal reasons
Fair. The distinction is important
dammit, I thought this was resurrected to say fernley jumped ship for TSL!
you read that wrong broski. It wasn't "I had gotten my hopes up that Fernley left"
definitely misunderstood but also was joking, now though...
Which would you rather:
1.) Win a championship in football and both men's and women's basketball but UVA goes on a 10-year win streak against all three.
or
2.) Win only Conference championships and bowl games but UVA has 20 years of no wins in anything.
These questions are so interpretive so I going off the grammar you used.
I would choose 2, because in option 1 we are a fluke that wins one championship but then never again and we maybe don't even win conference and we definitely lose to loluva. In option 2 we don't win championship but we are perennially winning conference and bowl games for 20 years. If we do that then we go to playoffs most of those years as well. So that's powerhouse, blue blood building winning, 5 star recruit getting performance. I'll take the long game and set the Hokies up for a new era.
woah, why is there an ama for a user here?
http://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/441628#comment-441628
;)