Saturday, July 30, 2005

Answers for Yoj

Here's the answers to Yoj's questions. I'm not passing on the tag. I'm burned out by coming up with both questions and answers for these things. But it was fun while it lasted! Questions are on their way to Bek, Chuckster and Jonathan. Here we go--

Yo Osbasso- here's your questions baby!

1. What the hell does Osbasso stand for? Please explain.
    I actually did a post answering this question in January. Essentially, it's sort of an invented word (actually two words--I usually separate them: os basso) made up of two Latin words. Definitions below:
    • os n. pl. os•sa
      A bone. (think osteoporosis or osteoarthritis)
    • bas•so n. pl. bas•sos or bas•si
      An instrumental part written for a bass instrument.
    So, literally, bone bass. Those of you who have bothered to check out my profile, you'll see that I play the bass trombone, or, using hip jazz lingo, the bass bone. And keeping my 9th grade Spanish in mind, I seemed to recall that in almost every language but English, the noun comes first, then the adjective. Therefore, bone bass, or in Latin, os basso.

2. What was your favorite childhood dish, who made it and do you still eat it?
    My father's entire heritage is Czech. His mother and father were the only ones who could speak English. My grandmother made the most wicked chicken & noodles on the planet. Homemade noodles--I can still see her chopping the noodles so fast it made your head spin. Never sliced off a finger either! And the chicken stock--I don't know what she did to it, but it was perfect! Almost every Sunday night my family would go to my grandparent's for dinner. Unfortunately, my mother's culinary skills were adequate, but never a priority, so all the old recipes disappeared with my grandmother's death when I was 12. But I can still remember the taste like I'd had it yesterday.

3. If you had to chose between having your toenails ripped out by jackals, listening to Celine Dion the early years while strapped down for hours, or drinking liquid dirt mixed with grubs, what would you chose and why?
    The toenail thing is too painful, and in spite of my size, I don't eat everything put in front of me (I'd never make it on Fear Factor). That leaves Celine, the early years. The early years are far superior to the crap she's been singing over the last 10-12 years. I think I could do it. As long as I didn't have to actually look at her. Goofiest looking Canadian I've ever seen!

4. Who's one of your musical influences and what is it that's just so darn special about them?
    This one's tough. I've never really thought about it. At some point during the 4th grade, The Monkees, Simon & Garfunkel, Sister Eucharista and Sister Mary Thomas converged and my abilities and love for music came shining through. But as an influence, it would probably have to be Dr. Thomas H. Cook from the University of Montana. He was my advisor in grad school, and I was his grad assistant. My 3 years of grad school were a time of enourmous maturing for me, and he taught me a great deal about music and life. I think I actually learned more about life from him than music. As far as a "name" musician that's influenced me, I guess I don't have one. I absorb as much as I can from recordings of a variety of jazz musicians, and I'm very interested in the compositions/lives of Bernstein, Copland, Holst and Sousa. But there's no primary musical influence.

5. If you had to live out the rest of your days in one single location, never being able to leave, say a 2 mile radius- what location would you pick? Gonna tell me why? Would you bring Candy?
    There's a semi-public beach on Lake Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho. It's surrounded by a mix of modern and turn-of-the-century houses, all having their own beach access. It's secluded from the bustle of town, though it's in the middle of town. There is a world class golf course down the way, and a brew pub nearby. And there is very little in northern Idaho that's not absolutely beautiful. I found this area in the summer of 1980 with Volcano Girl (see my post from May 18th), and I'll drive around when I'm in the area just to soak it in and reminisce. As for "Candy", since you've capitalized it, you must have someone in mind. Unfortunately, I don't know who that would be (do I?), but she'd be more than welcome to join me!

iTunes: Everybody's Everything, Santana

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