Ok - there was some interest in this, so we'll see how this goes-
I'm Chris, age 55 in a couple weeks. I went to VT from '86-'92 for architecture.
I am currently an architect in NJ working for the same firm I worked for during college summers.
I have a wife, Christine, A 19 year old daughter Liz, and A son Tyler who passed at age 18 in 2014.
Leave your questions and I'll answer tomorrow after work, and nominate the next participant.
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What is worse, zombies riding velociraptors, or zombie velocitaptor? Show you work.
So I'll start answering a few of these during lunch and I'll answer more tonight let's say I'll take questions through end of workday tomorrow.
Zombies riding Velociraptors are worse cause if you kill the zombie you still have to deal with the Velociraptor. If it's a zombie velociraptor, you only have to kill one thing. 1 is better than 2!
Ahem, Deinonychus > Velociraptor
Although my favorite was always Diplodocus
Dialing up the Wayback Machine on this one. I remember having to work hard to pronounce Deinonychus.
Diplodocus was the Manute Bol of sauropods, though.
Was always a fan of Ankylosaurus. "Wanna fuck with me, T-Rex? [SMASH] Now try walking!"
At one point, little French's master plan for riches, women, and joy was to become a palentologist in Utah.
Fortune and glory, kid... fortune and glory.
What flavor of architecture do you do and which project that you've worked on so far has been your favorite?
a follow up: when are we grabbing that drink?
We do a little bit of everything- we are a small 4th generation family firm. We do residential, commercial, public...just about anything. The website link below is to my favorite project on our website- the Carteret Performing Arts Center. Scroll down and there is running band of like 30 interior and exterior photos.
I'm up to grab a beer with you anytime. Let me know- cmahler (at) potterarchitects (dot) com
https://potterarchitects.com/performing-art-center
Those marble floors.... stunning.
Nice work, the building looks super nice and I would for sure would go see a show/play there.
They're actually epoxy done to look like marble.
nice work Chris!
Thanks Scott- looking forward to golfing with ya in July!
Yeah man! Me too
GGC- Hit me up at the above email-not only do we have to get together for a beer, you need to come to my 4th of July party (saturday 7/1)- 60 to 80 or so people, township fireworks literally next door to my house in Central jersey farm country! Smoked meats...killer food and sides and desserts courtesy of my wife and all our friends! When it gets dark we turn our chairs around and it's like they are doing the fireworks just for us!
ooh baby july first could be doable for me, i took off the whole week. sounds epic, and i think you extended the invite once before, pre-pandy. shooting over an email now!
Which statement is more true and why:
1. Architects should make life easy for the builder and limit their creative impulses accordingly
2. It's the builder's job to bring the architect's plans into reality, regardless of the difficulty of implementing the design.
I think there's some truth in both statements- Architects should be aware of the realities and sometimes the difficulty of trying to actually build a creative concept. A good builder should also be able to communicate effectively with the architect regarding the realities of implementing the Architects vision. A good Architect also understands the real nuts and bolts of how buildings are actually built.
Do you like to travel? If so, what is your most memorable travel experience?
What is your favorite thing to do outside of work? (TKP doesn't count)
What can you do that nobody else in your family can do?
Who is your celebrity crush?
As an architect, how often do you trash engineers at work?
We love traveling. We tend to do a lot of road trips for vacation. Costa Rica this past February was amazing. I also have fond memories of driving cross country and back with the wife and kids in 2010.
Outside of work, I like to Golf.
My family is pretty good at most of the things i can do...except maybe golf.
I don't think I have a current celebrity crush, but I always had a thing for Maryanne on Gillilans Island. Also l loved to hear Karen Carpenter sing.
I've been lucky to have some long term great relationships with structural, MEP, and civil engineers, who we try to use as often as we can.
I can't think of many who we didn't work well with.
I have always been fascinated with stadium design. How niche is that in the industry? I feel like that would be the Sportscenter of the tv personality world...if that makes sense.
Super niche as I understand it. Way beyond what our firm size (6 people) can handle.
And if you mess it up it can become pretty embarrassing.....
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/highschool/2014/06/09/allen-texas-...
A bit of a Twilight Zone feel for me:
I'm Chris, age 55 in a couple weeks. I went to VT from '86-'92 for architecture.
I am currently an architect in NJ working for the same firm I worked for during college summers.
I have a wife, Christine, A 19 year old daughter Liz, and A son Tyler who passed at age 18 in 2014.
Name is the same, age is pretty close, we were only off by 1 year in terms of time at VT and we are both in NJ.
Edit: Guess I should have added a question. What is your favorite NJ Diner and what is your favorite NJ Diner food?
Loved my years at VT from '83-'88 and never missed a football game or basketball game. Many nights and early morning slept on the sidewalk in front of Cassell waiting for the ticket window to open for big games. And Stonegate and Bargerfest were awesome (as much as I remember of them).
On a more serious aside, condolences on losing a child; to me that is an unimaginable pain.
Sounds like we could have been buddies! Thanks for the condolences. Its a pain that you have no choice but to learn to live with.
We had a diner called 'the Prestige diner' here in East Windsor that I liked alot. Unfortunately they closed like 2 years ago. Always had to have the Matzoh ball soup there.
Whats the most almost arrested you've ever been?
Fully Arrested. For cocaine possesion in my wild single youth. Somewhere around 1995. I gave up doing drugs around 1997 thankfully.
I'll answer more questions after work today
okay but what's the most almost-arrested you've ever been
Clearly the other drugs
Yeah that too.
Well there were a few, but a real interesting one was when I was about 19 I was home for the summer driving my car one night and I get pulled over. Next thing I know there's about six cops surrounding my car with guns drawn on me. They pull me out put me on the ground and handcuffed me. They stood me up and I was just about pissing in my pants and they pulled up my left shirt sleeve and the one cop says to the other nope that's not him. They were looking for a guy who robbed the bank the day before who also drove a blue Camaro with t-tops, but had a particular tattoo on his left arm.
Cocaine possession and a blue camaro with t-tops. Hokietopher was wild to hang out with back in the day.
this must have been you....
I thought that was John Oates from Hall and Oates for a minute! but yeah....I was good for some fun times.
What's so great about living in NJ that keeps you from moving away from that cesspool to God's country (rural VA)? I keed, I keed.
What is something that lifetime rural VA residents don't know about NJ that is worth knowing?
I bet it's tough to live in NJ if you are a NASCAR fan, because you can't make a left turn anywhere in that damn state.
But if they put a road course in the dang city as they seem to keep pushing you can do whatever you want.
Great comment DFW!
NJ has a little bit of something for everyone, from very rural areas with large amounts of farmland, to the souther pine barrens, to the northern highlands, to congested cities and everything in between. Many people would be surprised to know how much farmland we actually have. I live near the center of the state, so Ive got less than an hour to NYC, Philly, the Delaware river, and the Jersey shore. Atlantic city is 1-1/2 hours away, NY Adirondacks 5 hours, Baltimore or Pennsylvania Dutch country 2-1/2 hours. DC 4 hours. Boston 4-1/2 hours.
NJ is pretty convenient to get to a lot of places.
This is one the nice things about Greenville, SC, but really lots of places in SC. Less than 2hrs to Charlotte, 2-2 1/2ish to Atlanta, 3hrs to Charleston, 4hrs to Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head/Savannah GA, The NC Triangle, little over an hour to Asheville, and of course, 4hrs to Blacksburg.
The best thing about where I live in NJ (which is closer to NYC than topher) is that a lot of what i want to do is less than an hour away. It's nice to be within a half-day or a day's drive of a lot of places, it's incredible to be within an hour. Decent hiking, shore towns, big city, farms, all within an hour of northern Monmouth county in NJ
Which of the snack cakes/cookies (swiss rolls, fudge rounds, zebra cakes, etc. Hostess, Tasty Cake, Little Debbie) is the best. And why is it Star Crunch?
Pretzels are my go-to snack, but I've always been a fan of the Little Debbie Swiss rolls and Oatmeal Creme Pies.
Cant say I've ever had the Star Crunch. Gonna have to try that.
Ill get to more questions this evening folks!
Star Crunches are unbelievable.
They are good. It's been a hot minute since I had one, but now that they have been brought up, I kinda want one. But will it taste like childhood?
I don't think they'll disappoint.
Aren't they a lot smaller than they used to be?
Probably...
or maybe you're just a lot bigger than you used to be?
Little Debbie Cakes have that effect
Wow, I either missed or forgot you were an architect.
Ok rapid fire arch questions: Most overrated architect living or dead? 3 hot takes other architects will find controversial? What was the type of work you dreamt of doing while in school and how close have you gotten to that?
Love these questions and were way better phrased but on the same premise I'd thought of.
OK- I'm back at it for a couple of hours here -
Wow - great questions Fernley- ill do my best....
Overrated? I'm guessing we are talking about 'Starchitects'? IDK - Frank Gehry? Every time I look at one of his buildings I say to myself 'oh look there's 30 places where that building is gonna leak'
3 hot takes:
The newest energy codes (2021 IECC here in NJ) are getting out of control. R-60 (prescriptive) for a residential ceiling/attic? And the air leakage requirements are insane. Im not a fan of hermetically sealing a house. They have to breathe a bit or you're gonna have mold/moisture issues.
Although maybe the most emotionally satisfying for an architect, most residential projects are $$ losers (especially additions). Public work (especially schools if you can get it) pays really well, and although roof replacements, HVAC upgrades, ETC can be boring, they are easy to produce and solid money makers.
Some clients are just idiots, or just can't see the big picture. Accept it. Sometimes you have to just give them what they want, even when you've explained why this that or the other thing is not in their best interest.
Your last question, I'm gonna wrap in with Mr. Storm your Field's question directly below.
Gehry is an excellent choice. Plus he and Rem are two of the biggest douches you'll meet in the business.
Interesting about residential being a money loser, but understandable with additions and such especially for single family. Typically residential is boring as shit but a money maker for me. I dealt primarily in high density multi-family or huge mansions/villas.
I'll throw one at you whose work I always really liked but nobody talks about a lot.....Paul Rudolph.
ooh, nice pull. I am a big fan of the Lippo Center in Hong Kong. Really impressive design and an iconic Landmark in the city.
About 10% of the residential that tries to come my way has any chance of making money. The other 90% want the cheapest set of drawings they can get to push them through permitting and pricing. I pass most people off before I hit them with how much it SHOULD cost. I usually feel bad if I do have to tell them. They're looking for less than $1000. And it's just not worth my time, or the insurance, for that.
Same Here. When we have enough Commercial or Public projects to carry us for a while, we tend to turn away all single family residential addition work. There is no addition we are doing for $1000. Maybe $3,500 to $5,000 for small simple additions. Larger additions/alterations can run over $10K.
as someone considering an addition to their house, this is a helpful reality check on budgeting for a good architect
Keep in mind we are in NJ....things are more expensive here usually. You may very well find a less expensive architect in your area, but keep in mind, like everything else, you get what you pay for. The general numbers I was throwing out for my firm DONT include construction observation, interior design, MEP design, site work, etc., but realize we are going to spend 100-200 man hours on your project for a large addition with zoning review, preliminary design, revisions, and a very good set of arcitectural construction documents, including structural design. When hiring an architect, you have to know what's included and what isn't, and what you want to handle yourself (selections of colors/materials/fixtures, etc.) Having both a good architect and a builder with long time reputations in their area is paramount.
Also, if you need to go to your township planning board for any variances, that will increase your costs for the architect, and possibly your civil engineer, and potentially an attorney depending on how things work in your town.
This is great advice for anyone in a customer-facing field, especially a creative one where you are putting a piece of yourself into the work. Logo design, commission paintings, music, writing, any of it.
What was your career path like as an architect? I don't know much about the field other than "architects design buildings" lol. I'd imagine new grads aren't immediately the lead role, so what type of stuff do they work on? Do they get smaller projects or is their work more sub-sections of larger projects?
A Structural Engineer may disagree with your statement that "architects design buildings", lol.
+1 for defending my honor
So I was probably a little different than most in that I knew I wanted to do this pretty early on. I actually started working for architects during my 16th summer. I knew it would be a long learning curve. While I was at Tech, I worked summers for the same family firm I work for now. You definitely don't go into a lead role right out of school. it's a gradual process of learning the 'big picture' of what a project entails. You definitely start off with small stuff, like learning how to measure and do 'as builts', how to draw real working drawings & produce specifications (didnt happen in school when i was there), that kind of stuff. Working for a small firm which does almost any kind of architecture you can imagine really was desirable to me. It has allowed me to experience almost all of the types of projects an architect could be involved in. (Check out our website https://potterarchitects.com/ if you'd like to see the variety of stuff we do.)
Isn't an architect just an art school dropout with a tilty desk and a big ruler?
EDIT: Yeesh. You all disappoint me.
I guess I should have said:
Read this as "titty desk" and was intrigued...
I wish I had a titty desk. id enjoy work a lot more!
I wonder if they have titty desks at the TD bank in Quebec?
Every architect in the room has a burning desire to stab you with a koh-I-noor nib right now.
I used to have the rapidograph set.
Beats the alternative of not dropping out and becoming a barista instead
I finished art school and am on year 15 of my 1 year gig to work on my reel.
I've been pretending to be an architect for about 35 years!
As an architect, which building on campus do you like most, and which least?
What other sports/leagues/teams do you follow/support?
If you drink bourbon, what are your top three favorites?
What are you reading at the moment?
If you could erase one other school from existence, which one and why?
I feel like this one could be its own thread...SO many options....
I intend to ask for any and all AMAs we do.
Each person has to pick only one school. We all have teams/schools we hate. But I think most of us hate one most, and some may have unique or interesting reasons.
Or it's just everybody agreeing the answer is Liberty, which gives us the consensus needed to nuke it from space.
Liberty would be light years away from my top pick to eliminate.
Well now we all have something to look forward to in your AMA! Also wanna know about the bear, though I'm almost certain you've explained that in old threads.
Buildings....wow (remember there's like twice the buildings now compared to when I was there....)
Favorite? I'm kinda an old school guy, I guess l like the original drillfield buildings the most. I always liked Burruss.
Worst? Hated the old Slusher tower and was never a big fan of McBryde.
Bourbon #1: Beer
Bourbon #2: Beer
Bourbon #3: also Beer.....sorry I rarely drink any liquor, and if I do its vodka, rum, or tequila. i mostly stick to beer. Specfically, I love IPA's and Belgians.
I'm a big Steven King fan (Hi TKP user Steve the King!!!), but I like most fiction works of all types. Tom Wolfe is good. I just re-read SK's Insomnia for the first time in 10 years or so, and I'm about to crack a collection of short stories called 'flight or fright' all about flying from various authors over the last 100 years or so, edited by SK.
Erase a School....man....this is tough.
It cant be UVA, because beating them is so fun and I'd miss that. Up until this year, I would have said Syracuse cause Fuck Jim Boeheim. He's an asshole. but he's gone. So I have to go with Notre Dame. Fuck those domer pricks. Fully join a league or fuck off.
*edit* - sorry, Imissed part of your question....
NFL: Cowboys π
MLB: Yankees βΎοΈ
NHL: Devils π
NBA: Don't watch at all. Can't stand the NBA game. Only watch College BBall.
Soccer: Nah maybe a bit during the world cup. Used to go see Pele, Chinalgia, Messing, Birkenbaurer, etc. Play for the Cosmos when they first built Giants Stadium In the Meadowlands when I was like 8 years old.
Tennis: meh.
Curling: Cool. I want to do this some day.
NASCAR: sorry...not my thing.
I just want to say, it sounds like you've lived a fascinating and full life (despite some heart break). I was very uninterested in the member AMAs, but I've enjoyed reading this.
Anyways, hit me with your best parenting advice. Second is on the way.
Thanks, Bar- it definitely hasn't always been easy, but who's life really is? I've made many mistakes and had a few victories too. We all have peaks and valleys and burdens to bear. I've taken what cards were dealt and played the best hand I could. I hope to have many more years - I'm about to hit my five-year survival having had stage IV cancer (originally about an 8% survival rate) but I'm not giving in to that shit anytime soon. Im currently healthy and in a stable place with my residual metastases.
Parenting advice- you're putting me on the spot.....but here goes...
When we had kids, I always thought they would grow up to be miniature versions of me and my wife. Nothing could be farther from the truth. They are going to be who they are. I wish I had a whole bunch of moments to do over with my son where I wasn't trying to project myself onto him. Teach them right from wrong and to be respectful of all the people and the world around them. Make sure they read well. Reading is knowledge. Love them unconditionally, and let them blossom into themselves. Encourage their interests even if they they don't align with yours.
Congrats on your new child buddy!
Right on target here! Though my parents weren't perfect (then again who's are?) they DID do most all the things you mentioned. Especially the reading and letting the kids be themselves, not mini-MEs. The only thing I would add is to teach them especially to respect and appreciate their parents and grandparents (and if they are extremely lucky their great-grandparents) while they are still alive. My grandparents (all but 1 anyway) were gone before I was 2 years old so I didn't know them at all; my dad's mom was not the nicest person in the world but he had her live with us instead of a nursing home til his siblings forced her into one right before she passed. My parents have been gone since 2004 (dad when I was 39) and 2011 (mom when I was 46). My kids were lucky enough to know and spend time with them til they were tweens and teens! You can't get time back- don't waste a precious moment of it -cause no one is guaranteed tomorrow!
Ray Boltz said it well in his song "The Anchor Holds": "I've had visions, and I've had dreams; I've even held them in my hands; but I never knew... those dreams could slip right through....like they were only grains of sand."
Thanks man - great point about the parents and grandparents. I'm lucky that both of my parents and step-parents are still here, albeit all in their 80's now.
Would you rather:
Run a blue liner in a non-ventilated room or letter with a Leroy for 48 hours straight?
In my early days, we had the old school ammonia blueprint machine. Definitely used to get a little high off of that thing LOL! But id take that over the Leroy any day!
Blue Liner refers to the old style blueprint machines which shone a light through your drawing on vellum onto a piece of paper coated with a light reactive coating. Ammonia vapors were used to actually develop the blueprint itself. You could pass out from the fumes if the area wasnt ventilated well.
Leroy lettering was a kit with letters engraved on plastic strips which you would use a stylus jig to trace the letters onto a drawing one letter at a time. Its was annoyingly tedious.
So kinda like back in my early mortgage days where they were using Lotus 123 and manual clearing/entering monthly data in fields on production reports(which process took 5 days) instead of using multiple tabs on an Excel spreadsheet with ytd figures updated using cell references(which took it down to 2 hours AND gave YTD figures as well as current month figures)?
We would rock/paper/scissors for running prints on Friday afternoons. Zero ventilation but typically would save $10 a happy hour by running prints for a few hours.
Have you ever been to the train station in Morristown NJ? If so does that intersection make you want to murder the architect?
Yes- I've been there before, and actually I was just at Rod's Steakhouse ($$$) right next door for my Mom's 80th birthday! It's not a great traffic intersection there for sure-
I'm like 90% sure we went there fir my grandfather-in-laws 90th birthday
Did you eat in one of the old restored Pullman train cars? They are probably like 1900-1920s vintage and are an amazing experience to dine in instead of the main restaurant. We just did this for my mom, and about 15 years ago for my dad as well.
we did not, I didn't know that was an option, I haz a sad
Sorry didnt mean to give you the sads...- Also, I meant dining cars, not pullman cars. (those are sleepers). I looked it up, and they are actually from the 1890's -
Video: https://6abc.com/the-madison-hotel-morristown-new-jersey-train/10914079/
If I'm not mistaken, aren't you also quite a skilled horticulturalist growing orchids? With a O&M strand? If that is you, how did you get into that and how long did it take to cultivate what you were looking for? Personally I have the opposite of a green thumb. kill everything. Ironic given the absurd amount of landscape I have designed in my life π€£ but I've always been in awe of natural gardeners.
Well, I'd never call myself a horticulturist for sure....I tend to plant stuff, and if it lives, I continue to water it LOL.
the thing you were thinking of (in my avatar) were Asian Lillies, which happened to be in O&M colors. Alas, after 10 years, those particular ones stopped reproducing and slowly died out and I have none of them left now, but I have lots of other Asian lilies, among lots of other plants. Maybe I'll share some garden photos once things get really rolling here this summer!
So I'm happy to report that after a 1 hear hiatus, a couple of my 'hokie' lillies have reappeared! Nowhere near the group I used to have.....but I'm not gonna complain!
That's really pretty.
Thanks! I'm taking their resurrection as good MOJO for the football team's season this year!
Man, Fuente even killed your flowers? Talk about taking the program to new depths!
I think Cornelson (almost) killed them, and Fuente just stood there and watched it happenπ€ͺ
Wow, I just have to say this was a wildly interesting read, and your responses are both interesting and informative.
If this is the quality of AMAs on random TKP members, I'm glad I didn't volunteer π
Thanks Rocket! Throw me a question! How bout something not architect related? Random stuff?
Sure- maybe I'll play off a common question. If you could go back in time, say to grade school, and give advice to your best friend at the time, what would it be? I see this question a lot about giving advice to your past self, but I'm curious how it would change if you were giving advice to a friend.
Hmmm....interesting.
How about don't become an architect? Just kidding.
Ok....my buddy- you need to figure out what you want to be/do by the time you reach the middle of high school so that you develop a plan and get ahead of all the other people trying to do the same thing as you! Also...invest every last bit that you can afford right from the get go into your retirement/kids college fund fund instead of partying through your 20's.
Saw above that you're into IPAs and Belgians. What are you favorites (in particular Belgian styles)?
What's your favorite brewery in NJ?
As far as Belgians, I particularly like Abbeys, Trappist, Witbiers and Dubbels/Triples, and Belgian Strong Pale Ales. I homebrew (not as much lately as I used to, but I used to make a Tripel in the winter that ran around 9.8-10.2% ABV, dryhopped with bitter orange and coriander. I used to call it the winter warmer mind eraser.
IPA's- I've never met one I didn't like. I love Hazy IPAs cause like my homemade they are not super filtered and carry a lot of character from the fermenting process.
Favorite NJ brewery lately is probably Jersey Girl Brewing. They are making some really good stuff.
quick fire general q&a:
favorite after school television show?
favorite breakfast?
favorite place you've ever traveled to?
where did you meet your wife?
After school - Zoom was one of my favorites, along with Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch. and the Schoolhouse Rock shorts.
Breakfast - Weekdays I don't typically eat breakfast, sometimes just a bagel, but on the weekends I can go for bacon, eggs, and hash browns or corned beef hash, or even better, Taylor ham, egg & cheese on a giant criossant.
Favorite place - Probably Costa Rica or St Maarten.
My wife and I met in an AOL chat room in 1997 believe it or not.
hokietopher - doing online dating before online dating was cool
LMAO!
..........................
you live in mercer county and call it Taylor Ham and not Pork Roll?????????????????????????????
what's next, "central jersey doesn't exist"??????????????
Well, to be fair, i grew up in northern NJ (Parsippany and Maplewood), and it was called Taylor Ham up there.
Central Jersey absolutely does exist! I live in it!
okay, one outta two aint bad
South River represent!
lol i grew up in Old Bridge, now in Matawan
Favorite golf course you've played?
Bucket list course you haven't played, YET?
Favorite? probably Pacific Grove (A Poor Man's Pebble Beach) which is on the same peninsula as Pebble, Spyglass, Spanish Bay, and Poppy Hills.
Bucket List - Augusta National.....but that's never happening.
I'll keep taking questions until say 5PM today.
My first nominee to go next is dcwilson40, but he hasn't been around much lately. We'll see if he responds.
in the other thread, fernley volunteered to be next. so how about him lol
I say DC gets dibs but if he doesn't show up, then Fernley
OK- Thats fine by me. You or SenatorJohnBlutarski were gonna be my second choice, but if you want Fernley instead, I'm Ok with that.
I'm flattered, but I'm really not all that interesting, tbh
Oh I'm sure you're plenty interesting.
What is the first job you had (and how old were you?)?
What is the worst job you've had? And why was it so bad?
What is the best job you've had? And what did you love about it so much?
What the heck would you do if you had all the money in the world and didn't need a job?
First job was probably being a paperboy. I was probably 9 and my brother was 12, and we did it together.
Worst job was probably one summer working at a really crappy boy scout camp for 6 weeks when i was like 14.
Best Job is the one I've had for 35 years now (discussed above)
If I had all the money in the world, I'd take care of all my family, make a huge donation to VT athletics, and travel everywhere I could while playing golf, and eating amazing food around the world.
I'm trying to do this without all the money. And it's not easy.
LOL Brent! Trips to St Andrews will do that to ya!
What songs would be in the soundtrack of your life and why?
Wow - great question... I'm gonna go full albums instead of individual songs here. I just gonna list a few cause i could go on forever. These would be the soundtrack of my life, because they were all part of me as i was coming of age, and gave me (and still givee me) many many hours of enjoyment, and they all had lyrics or melodies, or emotions that touched me in some way.
Rush - Hemispheres - my son used to love listening to the song 'The Trees' with me when he was little.
Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans - there's just such great melodies throughout
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the key of Life - So soulful - Stevie in his prime.
The Beatles - Abbey Road - just as the band was falling apart, they make this gem.
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland - pure genius
Pink Floyd - The wall
Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus
The Allman Brothers - Live at the Fillmore East
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin 1
James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
Steely Dan - Aja
Boston - Boston
Frank Zappa - Apostrophe
Billy Joel - The Stranger
I could go on for a while....
Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus
One of the greatest live albums ever. Top 3 party album
I just saw them last fall here in NJ performing the album in its entirety during their tour celebrating the 45th anniversary of the album. It was a really great show. I also saw them do a split bill with the Allmans at Burruss Hall when i was a student in the early 90's.
Little Feat is probably my favorite band of all time, starting in the early 70's and spanning many decades. I mentioned it in other threads, but I was at the 8/77 Lisner Auditorium show @ GW when they were partially recording Waiting for Columbus. They definitely lost something when Lowell George died shortly thereafter, but Paul Barrere later did a great job of fronting the band. I don't think their rhythm section (one of the best of all time, IMO) was ever the same after Richie Hayward passed. He was one of the most underrated drummers of all time. Listen to his playing on 'Day or Night' from that seminal album. Craig Fuller did a decent job, but I was never that much of a fan of the Shaun Murphy era.
A couple of years ago I had tickets to see Feat up here in Boston. I was taking my oldest son, a professional musician/producer in his own right, to see them. That was fun because his mother, who I met at VT and later married, was my date to that Lisner show in 77. Unfortunately, Barrere had fallen ill for the last time and didn't take the stage, he died just a week or so later. I also mentioned in the music thread that I'm going this fall to see Feat in Boston with three of my oldest friends (2 are VT grads), all of whom were there at Lisner as well.
Awesome that you were at the 77 Linser show!
I have a set of Richie's sticks from a show at Kings Dominion in the later 80's when Craig Fuller was with the band and doing vocals with Paul. Really wish I could have seen them when Lowell was alive.
So it looks like there's no new questions- I guess I'll call this one wrapped. Thank you all for some really good questions! I had a lot of fun doing this, and look forward to throwing some questions at you folks.
I'll give dcwilson40 until tomorrow morning to see if hes gonna do this, otherwise Fernley is up next!
for the recordοΌI'm all aboard the DC AMA train and happy to push mine to later. Also since I have done one previously also totally cool to focus on more of the awesome Hokies here that haven't done one before.
That being said, good to go if you all would like π
All good Fernley....I pushed a nudge at LBT...who apparently is a friend of his to see if he's interested. Otherwise, come tomorrow morning, I say give the people what they want...and it seems to be you again...there's a whole summer to get through so many interesting people on here! I wish I could nominate a couple dozen people!
Well - looks like your up Fernley! I say go ahead and start a thread for your AMA.
Paging Fernley!!!!!
I think the International Man of Mystery has disappeared. Maybe he is on a secret mission.
haha, sorry, was busy with some government meetings. I'll post up little later today
Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich with, or without, pickles?
Popeye's spicy sandwich, with pickles. I'm never eating at Chick-fil-A again after they gave me the most pathetic sandwich outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn when i was there 2 years ago for our ACC championship.
My last Chick-fil-A was at the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta. It was that bad.
Hello fine distinguished members. Lets do this! I'm back
He DC- Fernley is gonna go next cause we didn't hear from you - I'm sure he'll be happy to nominate you to go after him, right Fernley?
No worries. Thanks
welcome back, though. Looking forward to the next two AMAs (Fernley, DC)
You go for it first DC! I'm gonna be stuck in some negotiations over the next few days so won't have the amount of free time I'd want to answer quickly.
I'll happily follow after you
Ok DC! looks like you're up!. Go ahead and start a thread for Summer TKP users AMA#2 - dcwilson40. Don't forget to list your basic background info!
Is there any reason to not roll two concurrent ones? It is the off-season. Content is a bit hard to come by sometimes.
It's a long off-season. We may want to stretch it out.
The offseason:
Stretch Armstrong, the ball buster.
Okie Dokie.... Lets go gents/ladies... AMA.. fire away
How about you start a new thread: 'TKP users AMA#2 - dcwilson 40'
and give a little background info on yourself- and start off with a brief summary of first name, age, dates at VT, major, current career, current location, marital status, and kids, etc.
I don't have a question, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. hokietopher you're one of my favorite posters on this site.
Well damn Joe. I'm utterly flattered. Thank you for creating this site and for everything you do to keep the lights on. I'm really glad to just be a part of this community.